Laura Crosby

Page 51 of 99

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

One Word for a New Year

December 31, 2014 /

It’s New Year’s Eve day.  A day of goal-setting, resolutions, and One Word 365.  This is the third year I have decided to choose one word to focus on.  Call it “aspirational” or “anticipatory”.  If you’re considering this practice for 2015 here are some questions to ask as you pray about it:

  • What character quality do you think God wants to nurture in you?
  • What does your soul long for or what do you need?
  • What challenges do you think you’ll face in 2015 that might inform your word?

Continue reading

5 Reasons Why I Go to Church

December 29, 2014 /

If anyone anywhere is going to go to church, Christmas is the most likely season that they will feel compelled to go.  I’d be surprised if anyone reading this hasn’t been in a church service in the past week.

After all, it’s family, and candle light and sweet baby Jesus.  All the warm fuzzy feels. And most churches put on a pretty good show.  There’s special music and sometimes cookies.

But the Christmas season is the exception. Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church, and church attendance is declining. IMG_8923In the past few months, these are actual reasons people have told me that they weren’t in church:

  • We had to re-grout our bathroom.
  • My tennis coach had an opening for a lesson at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.
  • We had to go watch our son do mountain bike racing.
  • I had to go to a baby shower scheduled during church.
  • We had a friend in from out of town.

Continue reading

#nofailchristmas

December 24, 2014 /

Merry Christmas Eve Morning!  I’m guessing if you’re reading this either you’re ahead of the game with ALL OF THE THINGS done and the Hallelujah Chorus playing on Spotify, candles lit, and presents perfect, or you’re hiding in the bathroom binging on Christmas cookies, reading this and pretending you don’t hear your kids fighting outside the door.

For us it has been a delightful week of having both our daughters in town with lots of hugs, and catching up, laughter, and a Christmas before Christmas brunch with Maggie who headed to Texas yesterday to be with her husband and in-laws.

IMG_6864

But lest you picture our lives as a Norman Rockwell painting, let me just share a few other snapshots. Continue reading

Are You Sure You Want to be Blessed?

December 22, 2014 /

I’ve been thinking a lot this Advent season about the word “blessed”.

It all started with a post I read by Jamie Wright about the word “blessed” that quoted Inigo Montoyo from the Princess Bride: “You keep using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

She wrote:

We’ve created a culture in which we measure God’s “blessings” in terms of dollars and cents, comfort and pleasure, wealth and well-being. So, if we’re happy and healthy and have everything we need, then we’re blessed, and we should thank God on social media. We tend to ignore the secondary message this sends to those who are unhappy or unhealthy, or for whom things are just generally crappy. Too bad, so sad, if your life sucks, you’re #NotBlessed.

The second thing that led me to focus on this word, “blessed” was that John and I were preparing to preach together on Mary, the mother of Jesus and there was that word again!  In Luke 1 it refers to Mary twice as “highly favored” and then Mary herself says: Continue reading

I Fell and I Couldn’t Get Up

December 19, 2014 /

About ten years ago I fell and I couldn’t get up.

Unlike like our friend from the video Monday who eventually managed, I was helpless on my own. Upside down.

I was “turtled” (see video below). Exposed. Vulnerable.  Not a pretty sight, and certainly not in line with the “always pulled-together on top of things” image management that I strove for.

I thrashed against the pain and injustice.  I frantically flailed my legs and arms.  I cried a lot in frustration and anger.  I was getting nowhere.

But I had a team of “push-overs” and “under-duckers”. Continue reading

5 Questions To Ask Your Family This Christmas

December 17, 2014 /

So you’ve done the running around and the shopping and cleaning and baking and now we’re getting close to the time when family will be arriving at your house, or you’ll be traveling to theirs.

Our daughter Maggie arrived this morning at 3:30 a.m. to spend a few days before she heads to Texas to be with her in-laws, and Katy arrives Saturday.

Sometimes we’re so stressed and busy during the holidays that we don’t really reflect on what we want to have happen while we’re together – you know, how to be truly present to each other. Then before we know it Christmas is over, family is gone and we’re left thinking “woulda-coulda-shoulda”.

So I got to thinking about questions I want to make sure to ask when we’re around the dinner table, or at the coffee shop. Continue reading

I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up!

December 15, 2014 /

Have you ever felt like you’ve fallen and you can’t get up?  Maybe recently?  At the mall?  At work? In a family drama?  Flailing on the sidewalk trying to get back on your feet?

Who are you missing seeing that’s a “man down”?

Ok, John and I are not into slapstick, and we don’t want to see anyone suffer (note the wave at the end of this video), but we laughed so hard at this I just had to share it.

Let’s keep our eyes open for fallen brothers and sisters out there today and lend a hand!

 

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