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Archive for the ‘Hope’ Category

Posted on: June 27th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment
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Hi friends! Today’s the day Letters from My Father’s Murderer is released! I must say, it’s a bit surreal. This project has been in the works for three and a half years, and it’s finally out for the world to see! If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can grab it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever else you like to buy books. It’s available on Kindle and Nook as well, by the way (but not iBooks––whah, whah). If you’re still not convinced enough to pick up a copy, perhaps hearing what others are saying (outside of my friends and family) will give you the nudge you need: “Truthfully, I could not put the book down.” – Dan “Powerful! …This is a must read.” – Page “Been reading every spare minute…. I honestly had a hard time putting it down.” – Patty “Cannot put the book down! I started it last…

Posted on: June 17th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments
Keys to Biblical Forgiveness

My dad was murdered when I was twenty years old. It was a deliberate senseless act committed by a man whose selfish desires had left him blind. This man had taken my dad from me––stolen what was rightfully mine––and quite honestly, I hated him for that. Forgiveness was one of the first things God spoke over my life when I came to Christ nine years later, and though I was receptive to His leading, I was a bit confused. You see, I thought I had already forgiven that man. I honestly didn’t think about him very much at that point, and when I did think about him, I didn’t feel the hatred I had felt before. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like him one bit, but if he came to mind, I was able to keep my feelings in check. Still, I figured if God was calling…

Posted on: June 10th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments
Misconceptions about Forgiveness

I knew I needed to forgive. Even as a non-Christian, I knew it would not be healthy to hold onto all the anger I felt after my dad’s murder. For many years, I tried to forgive. I tried to move on, but without God in my life, I ended up burying my anger instead. Like a seed in fertile ground, my anger was effectively planted, yielding the corrosive fruit of bitterness that resided deep within my heart. You see, I had mistakenly subscribed to the “forgive and forget” mentality this world puts forth, but this way of thinking does not lead us toward true forgiveness or healing. Following the “forgive and forget” model only represses emotions––it does not heal them. I did not know real forgiveness––what it looked like, what it was, or how to do it––until Jesus showed me nine years after the murder, as He led me on…

Posted on: June 1st, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments
Not My Plan

One of the most frequent questions I have been asked over the last couple years is, “When does your book come out?” Over and over, I have given the same answer: “June 2015.” Quite honestly, June 2015 seemed like it might never get here, but with time flying by as it has a habit of doing, June 2015 has most certainly arrived. Can you believe it? You probably can, but I can’t! It’s hard to believe I’m nearing the end of this three-plus-year writing journey. Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness will officially be released on June 27th!!! (Though if you pre-ordered the book on Amazon, you may get it earlier, but you didn’t hear that from me!) To celebrate the month of my book’s release, I’m giving you (my readers) a sneak peak of the book today, one that’s not included in the official excerpt provided by my publisher, found here. I do…

Posted on: April 29th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments
Blessings Overwhelm

Nothing teaches you how best to walk with Jesus than a season of much. I’ve had many balls in the air for many years now. Things I knew God promised me. Things I have been praying about for some time. And with so many promises awaiting me, I inherently knew that if I had forced any one of these promises into being that I’d find myself in a heap of a mess and wouldn’t be able to handle it. And so I prayed, asking God to do it His way. And He has. God’s timing is absolutely perfect––absolutely perfect. I know this. But when I prayed for all my promises to come, I did not know that His perfect timing for each of these promises would be NOW. Writing. Speaking. Adoption. Three things God clearly called me to. Over four and a half years ago, God called us to adopt. The call to…

Posted on: April 15th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments
Daniel 1012

There’s an incredible account of God answering prayer in the tenth chapter of Daniel. I was amazed by it the other day and still am today. At first thought, most of us think only of Daniel in the lion’s den when we think of the book of Daniel, but this book has many more gems to mine than we may know. Now, I’ve always believed the truth taught in Daniel chapter ten conceptually, but even though I’ve read through this book several times before, I have never seen it for what it is. For some reason, I have been blind to what this passage shows us. As you read through the book of Daniel, it seems Daniel sought the Lord continually, but at this particular time in his story, Daniel decided to fast. For three weeks, we’re told, he “ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered [his] mouth.” He was mourning, as he considered the…

Posted on: March 17th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 7 Comments
Expectancy

There’s a vast difference between expectation and expectancy. These two mindsets can be applied to just about any part of our lives. They can be applied to our life-long dreams, our marriages, our children, our friendships, our careers, our ministries. And they can also be applied to our relationship with God. Expectation expects things. It expects a certain outcome. Or that the outcome will be derived a certain way. Expectancy does not expect things. Expectancy hopes. It has faith that good will come but releases the expectation of what or how it will come about. Expectations lead to disappointments and frustration and disillusion. Expectancy leads to faith and joy and thankfulness. I recently had the privilege to attend a weekend “Encounter.” The entire purpose of the weekend was to meet with God. To encounter the One and Only. I had heard stories of others going to their Encounter, coming home saying things like, “It changed…

Posted on: March 6th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 8 Comments
Hold the faith

All it took was one word! How amazing is that?!? I have to admit. The last few weeks have been a bit crazy here in the Coombs’ household. Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. I’ve been buried in piles of paperwork, all to bring our little ones home. Now, I know it sounds super cliche, but God truly has done the impossible once again. “Shell-shocked… Speechless… Dumbfounded… Ecstatic… Terrified… These are but a few of the emotions that I have been experiencing these past 48 hours….” my husband Travis wrote after receiving the news. But in order to understand the significance of those words, I must tell more of our story. We began our adoption journey four and a half years ago, full of hope and conviction for what we believed God was calling us to. Travis and I had been blessed with two healthy, absolutely amazing biological children already, but…

Posted on: February 13th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 6 Comments
Fully Convinced

I held my Bible as I sat with one of my girls on each side of me in bed. “Do you see a pattern?” I asked. They looked at the passage and said, “What pattern?” “Look at what I’ve circled and highlighted.” Almost in unison, they read, “‘And God said…’” Pause. “‘And it was so.’” Fingers ran down the page, “‘And God said,’” they read. “‘And it was so.’” Over and over, their little fingers stopped on each of my markings. “‘And God said… And it was so.’” “Do you see it?” “I think so,” Avery said. “What do you think it means?” “It’s like God says something, and then it happens.” “Yes!” I said, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. “Nothing is too difficult for our God. He speaks, and it is so! Just like He did in the beginning here in Genesis. Isn’t that amazing?” Both girls nodded….

Posted on: January 29th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs
For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

There’s a song that I just can’t get out of my head. It’s called “I Am Set Free” and is written and performed by All Sons and Daughters. The chorus is what keeps playing a loop in my mind continually. In fact, I’ve even woken up hearing the lyrics several nights in a row: “I am set free oh oh oh oh I am set free oh oh oh oh It is for freedom that I am set free.” It is for freedom that I am set free––words echoing a truth, written by Paul long ago to the churches in Galatia, that said, “For freedom Christ has set us free…” But I love what comes next in this verse–– “…stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1). I think we all have a tendency to slip back into old habits, back into things we’ve been freed from. When I read the…