Posted on: June 18th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
I’m a starter. When called to something, I jump on it and get the ball rolling. But I have to admit, I’m not very good at finishing. That’s not to say that I don’t finish, but for me, finishing what I start does not come without a fight. All I kept thinking during those last few weeks finishing my manuscript was, “I want to quit! I want to quit!! I want to quit!!!” I knew I wouldn’t let myself quit, but I wanted to. I wanted to give up the fight. I wanted to take the easy road. I wanted to sit myself down in front of the TV or read a book or do just about anything other than write––all things I hadn’t done for months. But I was determined to finish even though it took every bit of will I had and a strength that truly was not my own. A…
Posted on: June 11th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
I’m back! Thanks for hanging in there with me while I took some time off to finish my manuscript. Here’s a post about the last few months. I hope you enjoy! Have you ever had a Gideon moment with God? You know. The kind where He makes the very thing He’s called you to increasingly impossible? The kind where He just keeps putting more and more on your plate as a deadline approaches? The kind where time is taken away when you actually need more of it, not less? I have. In fact, this is precisely what’s been going on in my life over the last few months as I’ve worked to finish my manuscript. If you’re not familiar with the story of Gideon, let me fill you in a bit. Gideon was commissioned by God to lead Israel into battle against the Midianites, the Amalekites, and “all the people of the East.” Israel was armed…
Posted on: May 14th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
Life has been busy. But good! I’m just about finished with my manuscript for my book, which is amazing. I’m in the home stretch, but time is getting tight, and so I’m going to have to go dark here on the blog for the next two-three weeks to finish. But I’ll be back with all new posts in early June. I think I have one more post on the topic of anxiety and depression when I return before I move on to write posts similar to what I had written before. But before I sign off, I just have to share some exciting news. About a month ago, I was contacted by Billy Graham’s producer of film who asked me to be in one of their “My Hope with Billy Graham” films! The filming crew was here last weekend to shoot the film, and let me tell you, it was…
Posted on: May 6th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
With permission, I’ve decided to anonymously share some of the correspondence I’ve had with readers about their struggles with anxiety and/or depression over the coming weeks. I think some of you may be able to relate with these individuals who are currently battling fear and darkness, and it is my hope that you find comfort in knowing that you’re not alone in this. And I also thought my responses may be of some use to you as well. To those readers who aren’t struggling in this area, I’d like to encourage you to hang in there with me for a few more weeks! I’ll be back writing as I had before long. Thank you for patiently waiting this topic out! I am sitting at work, at my desk, in tears over your article on depression/anxiety. I’ve been experiencing this for some time now and I just started going to a…
Posted on: April 30th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
With permission, I’ve decided to anonymously share some of the correspondence I’ve had with readers about their struggles with anxiety and/or depression over the coming weeks. I think some of you may be able to relate with these individuals who are currently battling fear and darkness, and it is my hope that you find comfort in knowing that you’re not alone in this. And I also thought my responses may be of some use to you as well. To those readers who aren’t struggling in this area, I’d like to encourage you to hang in there with me for a few more weeks! I’ll be back writing as I had before long. Thank you for patiently waiting this topic out! Laurie were you confident of your relationship with God when u went thru depression? I ask for a good reason. I may have another question depending on your answer i…
Posted on: April 23rd, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
With permission, I’ve decided to anonymously share some of the correspondence I’ve had with readers about their struggles with anxiety and/or depression over the coming weeks. I think some of you may be able to relate with these individuals who are currently battling fear and darkness, and it is my hope that you find comfort in knowing that you’re not alone in this. And I also thought my responses may be of some use to you as well. To those readers who aren’t struggling in this area, I’d like to encourage you to hang in there with me for a few more weeks! I’ll be back writing as I had before long. Thank you for patiently waiting this topic out! Dear Laurie, I am 40 and I have struggled my whole life with anxiety, phobias, etc. I have been “coasting” using meds etc for 15+years. I haven’t driven on the…
Posted on: April 16th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… – 2 Corinthians 4-5 (emphasis mine) When I was struggling with anxiety and depression, I truly thought I was going crazy. Terrible, irrational thoughts seemed to swirl through my mind continually, and I was pretty sure that it would not be a good idea to tell anyone what I was thinking. I thought maybe they’d take my kids away or admit me into some facility for the mentally ill. My thoughts were so far out there that I didn’t even know what I was capable of. I didn’t trust myself, and I think that’s what scared me the most. Now that I’m on the other side of that terrible season, I can clearly see that I was…
Posted on: April 9th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
My girls are home for spring break this week, and I’m taking some time to be with them. But I leave you with scripture that can help when you find you’re struggling with depression. This is God’s Word. It’s truth. Read it as such. God said these things about YOU! What I like to do is write the scriptures that particularly speak to me in that moment on index cards. I have a little index card binder I bought at Office Depot that holds all of them, and I try to read them out loud every day at some point. This is particularly helpful to do when you’re struggling. Instead of sitting in your struggles, turn to God’s Word and speak truth over your mind, your situation, and your feelings! God bless you! I’ll be back soon… Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for good…
Posted on: April 2nd, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
My girls are home for spring break this week and next, and I’m taking some time off to be with them. But I leave you with scriptures that address fear and anxiety. This is God’s Word. It’s truth. Read it as such. God said these things about YOU! What I like to do is write the scriptures that particularly speak to me in that moment on index cards. I have a little index card binder I bought at Office Depot that holds all the cards, and I try to read them out loud every day at some point. This is particularly helpful to do when you’re struggling. Instead of sitting in your struggles, turn to God’s Word and speak truth over your mind, your situation, and your feelings! God bless you! I’ll be back soon… Fear thou not; for I am with thee. – Isaiah 41:10 God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but…
Posted on: March 26th, 2014
by Laurie Coombs
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…
