Hope | Laurie Coombs

Archive for the ‘Hope’ Category

More Practical Thoughts on Anxiety and Depression

Posted on: March 26th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

This is an extremely rough post. It’s an unedited response I wrote to someone this morning, and felt the Spirit tell me to share it here. I, quite frankly, don’t have time this morning to go through and refine my prose, so I won’t because after all, that’s not what it’s all about. Email after email is pouring into my inbox. There are so many of you struggling right now, and I just don’t have the heart to hold this back for the sake of making it read better. Some of you need this now. Some of you are hanging on to your lifeline by a thread. So here it is. It’s not pretty, but here it is. On another note, my daughters are off for spring break for two weeks beginning next week, so I’ll be taking some time off with them. BUT, I will be posting scriptures that…

Overcoming Anxiety and Depression {Part 1}

Posted on: March 26th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 15 Comments

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I think last week’s post, When Anxiety and Depression Threaten to Pull You Under, struck a cord. It seems the darkness I had experienced has been experienced––or is currently being experienced––by many. Over the last week, many people have contacted me asking for help, and with each email that I received, I realized just how important it is that I speak out with complete transparency about what I went through and how I got out of it. I originally decided to write these posts on anxiety and depression in response to correspondence I received from a man I sat next to on an airplane a few weeks back. It was one of those encounters that you know God ordained, but you’re not quite sure why you’re telling a complete stranger your entire life’s story until later. Now, I’m accustom to telling strangers about the crazy story of how God redeemed…

Do NOT Give Up

Posted on: March 5th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

Have you ever had a moment (or many) when you wonder whether or not God will deliver what you believe He’s promised? I sure have. For the last three and a half years, I have heard God tell me, “Do not give up!” Over and over, “Do not give up! Keep moving forward. Keep moving toward your adoption.” But nothing has happened. We’re still waiting. Travis and I began our adoption with nothing but faith, a desire for more children, and confidence in God’s call to adopt. With no money saved and little to devote to such an endeavor, we took the leap, believing God would provide for what He was calling us to do. And He has. Time and time again, provision has come in one form or another usually at the very hour we needed it. This may be too much information to share, but we’re over $20,000…

Trusting God to Fill in the Gap

Posted on: February 25th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment

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“If we could just get this stuff right,” I said to my husband, “our lives would be amazing.” I had just finished listening to Pastor Andy Stanley’s Breathing Room sermon series, which addresses the importance of the way we spend both our time and money and argues that life is simply better with breathing room. Relationships thrive when there’s breathing room. We experience greater joy and peace when there’s breathing room. And ultimately we have more opportunity to grow in our relationship with God when there’s breathing room. Now, I realize this message may seem like common sense. We know this stuff. It’s nothing new. But I question how many of us still live our lives to the limit. We live in a fast paced world––in a society that makes productivity and “success” top priority. As Americans, we’re called to work hard and achieve the fallacious “American Dream.” But I don’t believe this…

Receiving from God

Posted on: February 6th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments

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Receive healing, God told me. I’ve already given it to you. You simply needed to receive it. “Okay. I receive,” I prayed, trying to will myself to receive. But nothing happened. “I receive your healing,” I prayed with greater passion, “I receive!” Still, nothing. “I don’t get it,” I complained to God. “I’m trying to receive! What am I doing wrong?” For many months, I continued to try to will myself into a position of receiving yet saw no indication that God was moving. I was stumped. I have a hard time receiving, in general. Especially from other people. But I do know how to receive from people. It’s pretty cut and dry. To receive from people, you simply take what’s been given to you. But how do you receive from God? Though I know all we have is ultimately from God, the gifts we are to receive from Him are…

An Intense Season of Growth

Posted on: January 28th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment

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God has had me in an intense season of growth over the last month or so. It has been a time of refinement through trial that started the moment I began praying for God to work absolute surrender in me. And though life has been a bit more difficult lately, I have been blessed greatly during this time by the presence of God and by an outpouring of truths He has spoken over me. Last week, I began compiling a list of all God has spoken over me during this season, and as I did, I felt compelled to share the list with you. Some of you may have learned these truths already; others may be learning these truths along with me. But either way, I believe these truths are powerful. So, no matter where you find yourself, I ask that you take these truths in and contemplate them. Pray for God to…

A Lifeboat to Endure the Storms of Life

Posted on: January 23rd, 2014 by Laurie Coombs

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You are loved. With a love unmatched and unparalleled by anything else. With a love incomprehensible to the human mind. A love so great, so unfathomable that many will never fully comprehend its depth this side of heaven. In the book of Isaiah, God tell of His love for us. God speaks these words over you, over me, as an affectionate Father whispers I love you in the quiet, intimate moments before lying his child to sleep. He says: But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your…

On Plans, Yielding, and Walking With God

Posted on: January 14th, 2014 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

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It’s time for a new beginning. Don’t you think? We all need a new beginning from time to time, and what better time than the present. Now, I know you’ve probably heard quite a few messages on the topic of “New Year’s Resolutions” already, so rest assured, this is not another one. “Resolution” messages, while valuable, are often the same. Evaluate your previous year. See what worked. See what didn’t. Set goals. Plan. Plan. Plan…. But honestly, while these exercises do have some merit, I believe most people, while making these plans, unintentionally fail to factor God into their equation. I just finished reading Me, Myself, and Bob over Christmas. It’s written by Phil Vischer, the founder of Veggie Tales, and let me tell you, it’s a good read. In his book, Phil tells the story of the rise and fall of Veggie Tales, a popular Christian children’s video series. In…

A Son Was Given

Posted on: December 19th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 5 Comments

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). A son, born to die––heaven sent––lay swaddled in a feeding trough. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). Immanuel––God with us. Christ the child, through whom salvation had finally come. I will provide a way, whispered God to His beloved. I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you. For, you are Mine. A promise, whispered throughout the ages, was fulfilled in that moment through the birth of this child––this beautiful child, full of grace––the Light of the world. And on that first Christmas morn, light shone like never before into the darkness, terrifying and commanding the powers of darkness to flee. But elsewhere, God spoke a soothing word to His…

Being Thankful for God’s Grace in All Things (Even Our Trials)

Posted on: November 28th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments

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There are times I forget to be thankful. Times when circumstances––and all that is simply life––seem to get in the way of being able to clearly see my life for what it is. To see all the beauty found in all the little things. All the big things. And all those in-between. Life is full of blessings. Full of grace. And I must choose to see. To see every bad day as evidence of my need for Jesus and as a chance to draw close to Him. To see interruptions to my daily schedule as a opportunity to abandon myself––and my agenda––for the sake of loving someone else. And to see every hardship and every trial as a blessing in disguise (which is something I know well). We serve a God who redeems. A God who takes what is broken, sinful, and ugly and uses it all for our good. Nothing…