Blessings Among the Battles

By Terry Chilcote

Have you ever felt as though everything in your life was falling apart and you had no control over it?
Does it feel like you are walking through a dark tunnel with no end? I am going to share a time in my life when I felt as though our family was in a never ending upheaval, as if we were under attack. We nearly had everything taken from us. It seemed as though I had barely coming up for air, when I would be in the amidst of another battle. I suffered from health issues, empty nest syndrome, financial loss, loss of our home, and of many other material things. But most importantly I started to lose sight of The Lord! If you are in the midst of a battle, whether they have been few or many, please know you aren't alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terry Chilcote
• Release date: May 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310281839

Terry Chilcote

Terry Chilcote is a Colorado native, she has lived on the Western Slope of Colorado all of her life. She enjoys all the seasons of the year along with the weather and the unpredictability it has, she loves enjoying the beauty of the outdoors and outdoor activities. When possible she loves to hike, snowmobile, spend time at the lake where she kneeboards and wakeboards, she also loves to take walks along the rivers and streams and enjoy all of God’s creations, most importantly Terry enjoys spending time with her beautiful family! When Terry is unable to do the activities because she struggles with Fibromyalgia she enjoys spending time at her families mountain cabin; where she reads, rests, writes, and finds peace and closeness with The Lord.Terry is married to her husband of 18 years and she has been blessed with two wonderful sons, and a beautiful daughter. She had a full time job for several years until she became ill, after a few years of not being able to work she felt somewhat empty inside and felt like she should be doing something with her time. Her sons had graduated from high school and were on their own, her daughter was in 6th grade and attending school. Terry prayed for God to guide her to do something with her life. After several months, actually several years of praying, Terry felt a calling from The Lord to write a book about the hardships she and her family battled to give others hope and healing in difficult times.Psalms 27:5-“For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.”

Book preview

Blessing Among the Battles

By

Terry Chilcote

Copyright © Terry Chilcote, 2015

ISBN: 9781310281839

Smashwords edition

Book cover art and book formatting: Erika M Szabo www.authorerikamszabo.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations, reviews, and articles.

Acknowledgments

I want to start with acknowledging God for laying this book on my heart to write. I alone couldn’t have written this book. He not only opened every door but He worked on my stubbornness and lack of self-confidence until I gave in.

I want to thank my husband for believing in me and supporting me throughout the process of writing. I want to thank my three children and my parents for supporting me.

Thank you to all my Bible study ladies for all your prayers and support through everything including this book.

Thank you to Teresa Leonard who has always encouraged me and believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

To Author Shannon Sonneveldt, thank you for all your help and patience with me. You guided me; you proof read and shared your ideas. I can’t thank you enough for the time you spent coaching me and sharing the websites to assist me with the publishing of the book. You are truly a Godsend and a friend forever.

Erika M Szabo, thank you for coaching me with the formatting and publishing process of the book and for the beautiful book cover. You saw my vision and came up with the perfect book cover. I want to thank you for being patient with me as well. I highly recommend Erika M Szabo for her publishing coach service. You can reach her at www.authorerikamszabo.com

Introduction

Have you ever felt as though everything in your life was falling apart and you had no control over it?

Does it feel like you are walking through a dark tunnel with no end? I am going to share a time in my life when I felt as though our family was in a never ending upheaval, as if we were under attack. We nearly had everything taken from us. It seemed as though I had barely coming up for air, when I would be in the amidst of another battle. I suffered from health issues, empty nest syndrome, financial loss, loss of our home, and of many other material things. But most importantly I started to lose sight of The Lord!

If you are in the midst of a battle, whether they have been few or many, please know you aren’t alone.

There are several scriptures that refer to trials and tribulations; I want to share a few scriptures from the Bible that have helped me through my own trials:

1 Peter 1:6-In all of this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Peter 5:8-9- 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering.

John 16:33-I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

James 1: 2-4-2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

We will all endure battles; some may seem minimal while others are much. Regardless of the type of battles we fight, we must remain strong and faithful to God; we cannot allow ourselves to be defeated. God will see us through every battle.

This book is titled Blessings among the Battles. My references to battles are synonymous to trials and tribulations, hardships and any other form of a struggle.

I want to share with you a time in my life that was very dark, sad, painful and somewhat debilitating. By God’s good grace, I not only survived but have a deeper relationship with Him. My hope and prayer is that my story will give hope to others struggling with battles. To let others know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, don’t give up! This is solely my view and perception of the details of the trials and tribulations we endured. My perception is from a struggling mother’s viewpoint. I am married to my wonderful husband, Denny, and I have three awesome children; Josh, Jeremy and Rachel. They may have a different perception than I but that will be their story to share.

I became a single mother of two young sons after my marriage of seven years ended in a messy divorce. I met a wonderful man who loved me but more importantly he loved my sons and accepted them as his own; we married after two years of dating. My husband and I had endured prior battles in our lives but had time to deal with each one, and start the healing process before another battle hit. We battled fertility issues for years, we conceived twice but they both ended in heartbreaking miscarriages. Two years after the last miscarriage, we were blessed with a beautiful healthy baby girl. Sadly, my father-in-law passed away un-expectantly 9 months to the day of our daughter’s birth at the young age of 59. We were blessed that he was able to meet his granddaughter before he passed. We struggled with the battles, especially the passing of Denny’s father and the miscarriages. We silently dealt with the pain but with time and the Lord’s surpassing love, we were able to release any anger, hurt and pain we held onto. We will never forget our two babies or Denny’s dad as we rejoice knowing they are in heaven and we will see them again one day.

Unfortunately, Denny and I were not prepared or equipped for the battles we would soon be facing. Had we read our Bibles and memorized scripture I believe we would have fared better. If we had more knowledge of the Bible we would have known this happens to everyone, especially, those who believe in the Lord. There