Lessons Learned | Laurie Coombs

Archive for the ‘Lessons Learned’ Category

{Lessons Learned} Rely Upon Jesus

Posted on: February 14th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Trust, Lessons Learned, Lessons, Learn, saying yes to God, God's will, will, free will, following Jesus, impact lives, impact, lives, life, meaning of life, discernment, why are we here, what is the point of life, discernment, discerning God's will, figuring out God's will, grace, joy, peace, wisdom, follow, murder, correspondence, wait, sign, illusion, direction, clear direction, react, respond, react vs respond, pray, seek, seek God, seeking God, skeptic, seeking Jesus, seek Jesus, will of God, reliance upon Jesus, rely on Jesus, impact of our lives, surrender, presence of God

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven….” – Matthew 18:2-3 Lord, I can’t do this without you, I prayed. Help me. Give me wisdom. Show me the way, and I will follow. I can’t tell you how often I uttered these words throughout my correspondence with Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. I was under no illusion I could take even one step without clear direction from Jesus during this difficult journey. I was terrified to be outside of His will, for I knew things could go very wrong in a situation like this apart from God. Each time I received a letter, my emotions ran high. I wanted to react quickly, with little grace. I wanted to rebuke Anthony. Set him straight. I wanted him…

{Lessons Learned} Do Not Fear – How to Change the World

Posted on: February 5th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment

Christ, Christian, Jesus, God, fear, do not fear, faith, impact, bold, boldly, live, living, how can I move past my fear, moving past fear, anxiety, peace, how do i find peace, finding peace, evangelism, world-changer, world, life, Laurie Coombs, Coombs, Laurie, do not fear, only believe, believe, evangelize, how to change the world, changing the world, Mark 5:36, courage, courage is doing it despite out fear, despite fear, 1 john 4:18, do not fear only believe

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” – Mark 5:36 “Mommy, I did it!” Ella said as she walked in the door. “I went down a really steep hill on Slide Side.” Travis took the girls skiing last weekend while I laid, sick on the couch. “What?!?” I said, eyes wide and smile broad. “Great job, Honey! Were you scared?” I asked. Ella thought for a moment. “A little.” “Do you know what being brave is?” I asked. “What?” “Being brave doesn’t mean you don’t feel scared. Being brave means you do it even when you are scared.” Now, I’m not advocating reckless actions. But fear cannot motivate our action. [Tweet that] When I began to correspond with Anthony, I was terrified, but what if I gave into my fears (which I have done plenty of other times)? What if I remained paralyzed…

{Lessons Learned} Get Over That Hurdle

Posted on: February 4th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

difficulty, trial, roadblocks, hurdle, overcome, God's will, will, God, Jesus, Christ, forgiven, forgive, forgiveness, forgave, why forgive, Christian forgiveness, Christian, Lessons learned, following Jesus, follow, following, discernment, God's plan, plan, path, journey, correspond, warden, letters, denial, deny, visit, visitation, reject, murder, Anthony, Laurie Coombs, Laurie, forgive, love your enemy, enemy

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. – 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 The door shut. I was presented with a significant hurdle. Lord, I thought You wanted me to bring Anthony a Bible, I prayed. How can I bring him a Bible if I can’t visit him? I held the letter from the warden I received that afternoon. He denied my application to visit Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. Still, I knew what I knew. I knew Jesus called me to forgive Anthony. I knew Jesus called me to love Anthony, my enemy. I knew Jesus called me to have contact with Anthony. Of these things, I was sure. What I didn’t know was how it would play out, now that I couldn’t go see him. Every journey Jesus calls us on is coupled with resistance and difficulty. Roadblocks and…

{Lessons Learned} Jesus Accomplishes the Impossible

Posted on: January 31st, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

impossible, possible, God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Christianity, following Jesus, follow, with God all things are possible, Jesus is what you need, jesus is your answer, hope, peace, salvation, trials, suffering, pain, loss, forgive, forgiveness, Christian forgiveness, why do we forgive, luke 18:27, prayer journal, Jesus is your answer,

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” – Luke 18:27 When we follow Jesus, He accomplishes the impossible. [Tweet that] Lord, I pray for Anthony. Help him. Have your will be done in his life, and please, Lord, if he is truly a Christian let him be used by you in prison to turn lives around for your glory. Let him gather your people to you in prison! Lord, help him truly submit to you and your will and help him to be a true strong believer who turns from evil to your light. – My prayer journal, May 2010 I prayed this prayer often as I began correspondence with Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. I prayed for Anthony to come to true repentance. For him to be brought to his knees and to transform him into a strong man of God who gained…

{Lessons Learned} When It Just Doesn’t Make Sense

Posted on: January 28th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

Isaiah 55:9, God's ways, grace, follow, following, Counterintuitive, Jesus, Christ, Christian, faith, prayer, answered prayer, peace, healing, God, sense, make, it just doesn't make sense, when it doesn't make sense, doesn't make sense, what do you do, pray, prayer, how to find peace, finding peace, healing, healing from my past, past wounds, past hurts, past tragedies, how do you move on from tragedy, follow Jesus

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9 “It just doesn’t make sense,” I said. “I know what God’s calling me to do. I know I need to bring Anthony a bible. But he probably already has one; He claimed to be a Christian at the time of the murder. What good will this do?” I began to pray for clarity; I prayed for grace to follow despite the fact that none of what I was being called to made sense. Ultimately, it was given. I sent an email to a friend at the time and wrote: Frankly, I have no idea to what purpose God would send me there to see [Anthony]…All that I know is that God seems to be leading me in this way, and I feel like I need to follow Him. Crazy? Yes! But…

{Lessons Learned} When Jesus Calls, Follow

Posted on: January 24th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

Jesus, Christ, Christian, God, call, calling, follow, trust, trusting, fear, faith, when jesus calls, when you hear God calling, jesus calling, calling, what is your calling, what am I supposed to do with my life, what do I do with my life, forgiveness, forgive, called to forgive, how do I forgive, why forgive, writing, called to write, writing calling, is writing my calling, am i called to write, choosing to follow, what happens when we follow jesus, wrestling with God, wresting with Jesus, fighting God, fighting Jesus, striving, why am i so rebellious, rebelling against God, rebelling, rebel, follow jesus, bringing god glory, living at the center of god's will, god's will, what is god's will for my life, called to write, matthew 21:28-31, matthew 21, doing the will of the father, on the right path, run the race well, running well, Good Shepherd, narrow path,

We’re called to follow Jesus daily through every little intricacy life has to offer. But there are times Jesus calls us to follow Him to do something much bigger, something that will alter the course of our lives. I have two such events in my life. The first was the call to love and forgive Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. The second was to write about this experience––both on this blog and to begin writing a book––to show others just what God can do when we choose to follow Him. Now, you would think the difficulty came when called to interact with the man who murdered my dad. But when Jesus beckoned me to follow Him toward forgiveness––which I knew would require that I delve into the deepest, darkest parts of my soul––I was given grace to follow immediately, without reservation, without rebellion, without questioning Jesus or reasoning with…

{Lessons Learned} How to Let Go of Control

Posted on: January 21st, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 3 Comments

control, God, sovereign, Jesus, Christ, Christian, trials, God loves you, Colossians 1:16-17, Colossians 1:17, Colossians 1:16, God is in control, control is an illusion, let God do what only god can do, what only god can do, god is sovereign, God loves you, love, god is love, you are his, you are known, known by God, trusting god when, how do i trust god, how do i trust, how can i let go of control, letting go of control, how to let go, letting go, trials, believing god is in control, when hurting, tragedy, believing when trial,

…all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. – Colossians 1:16b-17 Ultimately, we’re not the ones in control. God is. For most Christians, it’s easy to trust that God is in control of our lives when all is going well. The difficulty comes when the heat is turned up. When we’re struggling to see the outcome. When we’re scared things might not turn out the way we’d like. It seems the moment we sense our jobs, our health, our finances, or any other area of our lives might be failing we grasp hold of any and all control we can, not realizing that this response is futile. Control is an illusion. Sure, we have a responsibility to do what we can and to be good stewards of the gifts we’ve been given, but the outcome is, ultimately, not in…

Lessons Learned Through Forgiving My Dad’s Murderer

Posted on: January 10th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 4 Comments

Colossians 1:23, Gospel, the Gospel, fallen nature, sin nature, truth, God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Jesus saves, gracious, merciful, God is gracious, God is merciful, redeem, redemption, God saves, why does god save us, why did jesus have to die, lessons learned, loving your enemy, obey god, obedience to god, repentance, murder, forgiving murder, following Jesus, forgive, forgiveness, forgiveness testimony, christian forgiveness, god's plan vs our plan, healing, hope, know your God, jesus died for us, why did jesus die, Matthew 11:29, come to Jesus, coming to Jesus, rest, rest Jesus, lessons from forgiving, lessons from forgiving murder, forgiving the unforgivable,

The Gospel tells us about God. It tells us about our fallen nature. It tells us we serve a merciful and gracious God, who had every reason to simply write off humanity, but instead, choose to die on our behalf. It speaks of redemption, that we have been redeemed and are being made new. And finally it speaks of restoration, that one day, all things will be made new, and we will live eternally in the presence of God. All of creation proclaims God’s truths to humanity, but God, Himself, also speaks to each of us, through His Word and in many other subtle ways throughout our lives. Every time we come to Him, He honors us with His teaching. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” All we must…