Meet Laura Crouch

Our daughter, Elizabeth, has cerebral palsy from a terrible virus she had as a baby. I know suffering intimately. Elizabeth was admitted to Dallas Children's Hospital many times and was cared for at home 24 hours a day for the first three years of her life. From seizures to medical issues to just plain misery, Tommy and I have suffered with our child. I walked through a dark, sickening trail of grief that I know also grieved my precious Lord. He was right beside me, sending unselfish people to love me; a husband to be a rock; and the Holy Spirit to comfort me.  

Through the last seven years, God has continuously revealed His loving nature to me. Because I COMPLETELY surrendered to Him, He has been able to mold and shape me. While suffering is still an active part of our family, worship and praise interject His beauty into a dark world and keep our minds UPWARD. It has been an amazing process in which I have learned many things, such as:
1) Our Lord is a loving God who wants us to live His Kingdom here on earth. (1 Corinthians 4:20, Psalm 107:20)
2) He desires our complete healing. (Psalm 103:2-3)
3) He did not dream up religious systems in which we have to act like we are perfect. We all are sinners, and religion would have us look and act a certain way to be a Christian. I have learned that putting Him in a box only limits what He can do in our lives! (Psalm 118:8-11)
4) He loves each of us. He created us as individuals, and we are meant to seek His will for our lives. Trust me, if you ask in earnest, He answers! (John 16:24)
5) Worship and praise should be a daily part of our lives. (Psalm 134:2)

The greatest gift the Lord has given me, through His supernatural grace, is the ability to worship and praise Him in the midst of a storm. 

(Watch Blake Holmes talk about his family's suffering with their precious child on 3-16-2008 at
http://www.watermarkradio.com/index.php?id=153&series=73&message=18).