Author: Laura Crosby (Page 50 of 54)

Everything Counts

January 26, 2015 /

Thanks to my friend Nancy Beach for prompting this post and for her great reminders this weekend!

I love Jesus, but I’m not the “share-the-Gospel-with-the-person-sitting-next-to-you-on-the-plane-and-pray-THE PRAYER-with-them-on-the-one-hour-flight-to-Chicago” kind of person.

Don’t get me wrong. I think any way we can authentically communicate the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus is cool. I’m super intimidated inspired by those who have the spiritual gift of evangelism.  That’s just not me.

My “evangelistic” efforts look more like “Hi, tell me about…” and “Want to come over for…” and “Can I help?”  Hesitant baby steps of relationship building.  I’m often tempted to think this doesn’t “count” in the world of REAL EVANGELISM. Continue reading

Stronger in Marriage

January 23, 2015 /

The other night two things happened.  I had my favorite salad at a cute little candlelit wine bar with friends, and John and I needed a do-over.

In the salad is sweet potatoes, spinach, pomegranate seeds, apples, golden raisins, goat cheese, bacon, and sunflower seeds.  I would never have thought to put all that different stuff together, but it’s awesome!

And that’s the kind of marriage John and I have.  We’re really different, but we naturally go together well.  I think we have a super strong marriage and although there have been seasons when I thought we could use a little less goat cheese in our salad, all in all we’ve had it pretty easy..photo-1

Which actually can be a negative because we can get lulled into complacency.

Maybe, it’s because it’s usually easy that it was a little surprising when John and I hit a little hiccup the other day…a misunderstanding in how to love each other well and we ended up hurting each other instead of helping each other.

It was an opportunity for us to say “How can we grow stronger in our marriage?” Continue reading

4 Habits of Happy People

January 21, 2015 /

The Huffington post had a fascinating article recently called 7 Habits of Unhappy People.  In it the author quotes Psychology Today research that states “40 percent of our capacity for happiness is within our power to change.”

Looking at those negative habits, I’ve been thinking about the habits that lead to happiness, or rather, I’d say joy, because I see joy as independent of circumstances.  Anyway, potato, potahto…

Here’s what I’ve come up with: Continue reading

Why we Need the Discipline of Looking Up

January 19, 2015 /

Have you ever thought about what down-lookers we are?  Everyday I get stuck looking down.  Down at my to-do list, and at the pairs of feet in line in front of me. Down the city street at traffic holding me up, down at my computer screen, down at the veggies I’m cutting up for dinner, and down at my shoes striking the pavement as I run, dodging ice or slush.

That changed for awhile this week when I had the incredible joy of joining a friend for a play date in Florida.

And in addition to all kinds of play and laughter and good conversation, we took time to look up.  A lot.

We looked up, towards the stars and the sun and the horizon and the magical rhythmic dance of day and night and day again.

We watched the sunset every night and marveled at the shape and color of the clouds and the crazy pelicans above, who in one moment can glide gracefully in formation over the water like the Blue Angels, and in the next minute plop straight down onto the water to catch a fish in the most UNgraceful mini cannonball move. IMG_9214 IMG_9222

As I was watching the sunrise this morning, and thinking how it was nighttime for my friends on the other side of the world, I also thought how this looking up is one of the most important disciplines of my life with God.FullSizeRender-2 Continue reading

When You Feel Unvaluable

January 14, 2015 /

My top three strengths are “activator” and “achiever” and “woo”. That means I really, really, really want to do ALL OF THE THINGS, to be awesome, and to have you like me.

So it stung, hearing the words. Out loud.  Again. A phrase similar to others I’ve heard over the years.

My husband John was recounting his day and a meeting he had had with a member of the church who had listened and given insight on the future of our faith community. John and his colleague in the meeting asked this awesomely awesome guest to return for another hour of conversation.

“Of course this will be pay-rolled!  We value your gifts and talents and expertise, so ABSOLUTELY we’ll pay you for your time!”

“Said no one to me ever”, is the place my slightly over-dramatic mind went to as I listened to him.

Validation. Whether you’re twenty-something, or….well, not… we all long for it and even when we get it in one form, we want more, or different.  We’re desperate to know we matter.  We add value.  We make a difference. Continue reading

5 Questions About Your Time

January 12, 2015 /

Time.  I’ve always felt like it’s there in limitless supply.

Oh, yeah, there are stress-filled days where there don’t seem to be enough minutes in 24 hours to get everything done, but there’s always Tuesday and Wednesday and June 25th 2020, full to the brim with more of life to live.

I buy into the conviction that I need to be responsible for stewarding my time well, but I also live like a perpetually bullet-proof twenty-something.

Over the past nine months John and I have had a friend teach us much about living and dying, about heaven and earth, time and eternity.  HIs name is Steve and he is dying of Pancreatic cancer.  He and his wife, Sharol, have walked this hard road with authenticity, faith, courage and vulnerability.  I asked Steve if I could share some of his thoughts on time in the post today.  These reflections come from a place of physical weakness and a greater awareness of limited time. Continue reading

Two Ways to Lean Into Your One Word

January 9, 2015 /

My friend Nancy has like the most awesome, toned arms of anyone I know.  And she’s my age which, let’s just say isn’t twenty-something.  When she is on stage sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on what she’s saying because I’m wondering what I’d have to do to get those well-sculpted arms in place of my soft, wobbly ones that cause me to shy away from anything sleeveless.

I know, it sounds a little whacky, but tell me you’ve never coveted a specific body part of someone else!  Anyway, stick with me here.

It’s not magic.  Nancy didn’t drift into arm amazingness. Just like people don’t drift into spiritual maturity.  Just like you and I aren’t going to drift into our One Word for 2015.

Change is a greedy, stubborn varmint.  He requires intention and attention if he’s gonna come through for us with sculpted arms, or growth in character.

I told you about my One Word fail last year, so I’m doing things a little differently this year with my One Word – STRONGER. Continue reading

The Spiritual Practice of Toilets, Parking Lots, and Crying Babies

January 7, 2015 /

In spite of the fact that I’ve had a lot more years to mature, there are many ways my daughters are way more Jesus-y than me.

I was uncomfortably aware of this again over the holidays when we were sitting around the dinner table and Maggie was sharing how she and her husband were talking about the possibility of adoption down the road because they feel it might be selfish of them to bring another child into the world when there are so many who need homes and parents to love them.  They know this isn’t for everyone, but were discussing it.

My immediate response was to recount the tremendous heartache and family upheaval of ALL OF THE PEOPLE I know with adopted kids.  Dealing with violence, mental illness, rejection, personality disorder, resulting divorce…

In that moment of conversation all my Mama bear protection and control impulses went into over-drive.

As I reflected on this later when I went to bed, it struck me how selfish I am, and how comfort is my true god.  That I couldn’t fathom disrupting my “Wonderful Life” to consider adoption as a way to live out God’s love for orphans is a sad reflection on my lack of spiritual maturity. I was disappointed in my small heart.

Now, I don’t think this is an easy or uncomplicated decision. It has far-reaching implications and consequences not only for parents, but for extended family as well.

But this post isn’t about adoption. It’s about our willingness to enter into pain and inconvenience.   Continue reading

Movies and Two Questions to Help You Live a Better Story

January 5, 2015 /

I, like 99% of Americans am bracing for my post-holiday diet.  This will include all the dis’s – discipline, discomfort, and disappointment that I let things get so out of hand.

I’ve been eating like a bear preparing for hibernation. But it’s not only food that’s been filling me up. With all the new holiday releases, we’ve had a bunch of titles on our “want to see” list.

We saw three movies over the past couple weeks and they filled me up in different ways.

In all three the main character faced pain, conflict, drama, and intense challenges.

I thought that all three were compelling stories well-told on the screen.

One left me sleepless – tossing and turning trying to process why I felt so sad and heavy from the watching.

The other two, although very different from each other, left me informed and inspired.  I walked away feeling stronger, more resolved to live a better story.

As we discussed the first movie around the dinner table I said I didn’t like the main character much. I didn’t like her values or her language.  Mostly I didn’t like the lack of redemption or the trajectory of her life I saw.  As I said this I probably sounded like uptight “Movie Mom” but it was honestly what I felt.

My twenty-somethings responded that this is real life.  This is the way most people live and talk.

Well, yeah, of course it is. I get that.  And I see value in authenticity and exposing ourselves to truth that may be hard to watch because life is sometimes hard to watch. We need to understand a world where not everyone grows the way we’d like them to.

But here’s the thing.  I aspire to something different than most of the “real” world.   Continue reading

One Tool For Growth in 2015

January 2, 2015 /

I know, I know…it’s almost New Year’s Eve so it must be time for another one of my “journaling is so valuable” posts.  Some of you will delete as soon as you see the word “journal”, just like me when I read “gluten-free” or “ab crunches”.  Just not gonna go there.

But wait! Hold on just a minute (or 5 as the case may be).  There’s a new resource I want to tell you about that is NOT these: Continue reading

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