Laurie Coombs » 2015

Archive for March, 2015

Losing Your Life to Save It – The Illusion of Control

Posted on: March 27th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

My daughters are beginning spring break today, and so I’ll be taking the next two weeks off to spend time with them. We’re looking forward to park days, bike rides, time with friends, painting our Ethiopian kids’ room, a trip to the travel medical clinic for our trip to Ethiopia, and applying for the girls’ passports! I’ll be back with you soon! Have a blessed Easter! I felt like I was in control of my life before my dad died. I had everything planned. I knew just how my life would play out. But then my plans shattered. The moment I was told what happened, it seemed my whole world came crashing down. I hadn’t planned for this. Life was not going my way. And all sense of control vanished. I didn’t realize I was doing this at the time, but after that, I tried to grasp hold of control….

Expectation v. Expectancy

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

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…

Jesus Prom Book Review

Posted on: March 12th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 5 Comments

I was asked several months ago to review a book that was released last October called Jesus Prom, by Jon Weece. I didn’t quite understand the book at first glance, to be honest. I mean, what does prom have to do with Jesus, anyway? But after reading this book, I must say that Jesus has a lot to do with the kind of prom Jon’s talking about. You see, Jon pastors a church in Kentucky, and he and his people throw a party every year for two thousand mentally and physically challenged adults. They call it “Jesus Prom.” Jon uses this example as a metaphor of the message he shares throughout the book. In Jesus Prom, Jon calls attention to many verbs we, as Christ followers, ought to be acting upon. “Nouns need verbs,” Jon says, and I believe he’s right. We (the nouns) need to do stuff (the verbs). The Christian life,…

The Correlation between Our Thought Life and Mental Health

Posted on: March 10th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs

I wrote an article for iBelieve a few weeks ago that I’d like to share with you here. It’s titled 9 Steps to Overcome Anxiety and Depression, but really, it’s an article intended for everyone of us, whether you’ve experienced anxiety and depression or not. It’s about our thoughts, deliberately choosing to think life-giving thoughts. I believe our thought life is the greatest contributor to mental health for each of us. And so I invite you to take a moment to stop by iBelieve today.

Will You Hold onto the Faith? #PromisesOfGod #Adoption

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

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…