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Archive for the ‘Following Jesus’ Category

Posted on: May 11th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs
do it all

It’s essential to keep our focus on what truly matters. On the things and the priorities we’re called to pursue. When confronted with a busy season, or even just the complexities of life, it’s easy to unintentionally drift away from the things that are most important. Pastor Andy Stanley once said, “We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.” I believe he’s right. We can’t drift through life, thinking it will arbitrarily work out in the end but must be intentional instead. Now, I know it’s incredibly easy to allow the demands confronting us day in and day out to dictate what we do with our time. In our modern cultural, we’re pulled in so many directions. One demand after another cries out for our attention, and if we’re not mindful, we will lose proper focus, thinking all things before us are the things we ought to do, thinking every opportunity is…

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 16th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments
Adoption Fundraiser

I’ve been writing quite a bit about what God has done through our adoption lately. If you missed any of those articles, here are their links: Do Not Give Up (written in 2014) Filly Convinced (Feb 2015) All It Took Was One Word (Feb 2015) Will You Hold Onto the Faith? (March 2015) Twenty-One Days: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain (April 2015) God is just so incredibly good! He has once again done the impossible right before my very eyes, and I cannot help but sing His praises. As many of you already know, this has been an epic journey. What was supposed to take one to two years has turned into five (by the time they’re home). It’s been quite a journey. My family and I have grown in patience and compassion. Our hearts have been tested time and again. And every one of us (our two daughters included) can most assuredly say that our…

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 27th, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments
Lose our lives

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….

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…

Posted on: January 21st, 2015 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments
Not my will...

There’s a strange dichotomy that goes on in this head of mine. The moment I gave my life to Christ, I felt a strong, relentless desire to abandon myself to God’s call to ministry. A desire to proclaim the excellencies of God to this world. To shout His praises from the highest of high mountains that all may know and see that Jesus is who He says He is. So that, as 1 Kings 8:60 says, “all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God.” I wanted to lift my voice and proclaim boldly, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9). I had been plucked out of the mire, out of a deep dark pit of despair, and I wanted others to know what I had come to know. “People need to know this,” I’d say. “God is who He says He is. He is real. And He actually does, today, what He…