Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour

Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour

On November 2, 2006, Gayle Haggard’s life changed forever when her husband, Ted Haggard, founder of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, was publicly exposed in a scandal. In the days and months ahead, everything in Gayle’s life was at stake—her beliefs, her marriage, and her relationship with the church community she had been a part of for more than 20 years. In Why I Stayed , Gayle walks us through the choices she made in her darkest hour and shares her renewed passion for the central message of the Bible—the liberating message of forgiveness and love. Why I Stayed reminds us of what less-than-perfect people desperately need—a community of family and faith that offers healing love and a path to restoration. Gayle’s ‘risk of love’ reveals a healing path that few would have ever predicted. You won’t be able to put this book down. (Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott Founders of RealRelationships.com) “I kept asking myself the crucial question: Who am I going to be in our story? Will I be the woman who washes her hands of the situation and walks away from Ted, or will I be the woman who loves him and shows forgiveness? . . . The choice was mine. A mountain stood in front of me, a difficult climb, and I didn’t know what lay on the other side.” — Gayle Haggard “Evangelical Leader Denies Accusation of Paying Former Gay Prostitute for Sex” “Amid Allegations, Haggard Steps Aside” “Haggard Admits ‘Sexual Immorality’” Gayle Haggard never imagined she would be reading these headlines about her husband, Ted. She couldn’t believe her ears when she heard a man on the radio accuse Ted of using illegal drugs and having a three-year homosexual affair with him. It was inconceivable. Ted Haggard was the senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church and the highly regarded president of the National Association of Evangelicals. More importantly, he was Gayle’s loving husband of twenty-eight years, a devoted father to their five children, her closest friend, and a man she knew fully. At least, she thought she knew him fully. But when Ted told Gayle that parts of the allegations were true, her world shattered. Suddenly, everything in her life was at stake—her beliefs, her marriage, her family and friends, and her ministry. What has happened since then is nothing short of astonishing.