http://www.lauraleighparker.com Life Overseas {a missionary blogs of life in Asia} Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:05:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/88ea54a0b2c7b923e211db41c950105b.png?s=48 http://www.lauraleighparker.com http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/08/everything-is-spiritual-except-when-maybe-it-isnt/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/08/everything-is-spiritual-except-when-maybe-it-isnt/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:10:16 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=5259 We were in our mid-twenties when we tasted utter failure in one of our first “ministry” jobs.  It was a train-wreck on every level– landing our family of three into my parent’s basement with no money, no job, and a whole heckuvalot of hurt to muck through. Conflict sucks.  Especially conflict in Christian ministry. And [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/08/everything-is-spiritual-except-when-maybe-it-isnt/feed/ 40 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/07/community-church-example-photography/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/07/community-church-example-photography/#comments Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:14:56 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=4011 Enjoy this post from the archives {originally written January 2011}.  It’s one of my personal favorites. I think I just like the pictures. Community is a tangle of lives. It’s a continuous intersection of time and opinions– a chaotic convergence of Stories and personalities. Community means inconvenient birthday parties and trashed playrooms and awkward moments [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/07/community-church-example-photography/feed/ 23 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/06/stories-of-hymns/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/06/stories-of-hymns/#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:23:50 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=2758 Enjoy this re-posting from the archives about how the rolling of my eyes in church one day led to tears in those same very eyes during the singing of a certain song.  And I’m not one to cry-much.  Originally written October 2010. So I’ve been honest about my church snobbery in the past {and all [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/06/stories-of-hymns/feed/ 25 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/03/friendship-gift-showing/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/03/friendship-gift-showing/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:08:13 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=4311 He said that the greatest love is to lay down your life for a friend. And I agree. Because, hey, it was Jesus who said it. But, I think Jesus also might have said that a fairly strong showing of love is in just showing up– especially when the showing up involves the taking of [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/03/friendship-gift-showing/feed/ 30 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/01/ways-church-support-missionary/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/01/ways-church-support-missionary/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:52:09 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=3775 . . . the missionary family should say “thank you” on Missions Sunday. Here’s our family doing just that for the church that has become our main avenue of support, Woodland Park Community. Click on the photo below to view the 2 minute video, and try not to be too amused with how difficult it [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2011/01/ways-church-support-missionary/feed/ 9 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/12/wrong-orphan-crisis/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/12/wrong-orphan-crisis/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 05:19:52 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=3233 As I begin to enter the conversation about how to help the Orphan Crisis, I am reminded of a post I wrote last year.  It went something like this: “A Church in Texas ran a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News.  Big black letters, boldly declaring an apology.  No excuses, no requests for money.  [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/12/wrong-orphan-crisis/feed/ 18 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/10/mary-demuth-thin-place/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/10/mary-demuth-thin-place/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:29:42 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=2781 I’m guest-posting over at Mary DeMuth’s site today, a story of my own Thin Place, where God gave, extravagantly. If you are visiting from there, thanks for stopping by.  If you enjoy this glimpse into a life on Latitude 18, consider subscribing. It’s free and easy, and you’ll be notified every time a new article [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/10/mary-demuth-thin-place/feed/ 2 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/09/question-church-snob/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/09/question-church-snob/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:03:20 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=2368 Okay, I’ll admit it, I am a recovering church snob. Back in the States, there was no shortage of criticisms I could hand out about any given church I happened to find myself in on a Sunday morning, or a Saturday night {if that was a cooler time to have the service}.  I’ve snubbed postmodern [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/09/question-church-snob/feed/ 13 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/08/community/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/08/community/#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:18:39 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=2032 Take it from someone who doesn’t have much of it right now, Community is more important than you think. Whether you call it family or sorority sisters or a small group, community is a tightly-knit team, maybe without the matching jerseys.  Community means friends who know your Story and can hand it back to you [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/08/community/feed/ 7 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/07/five-ways-church-support-missionaries/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/07/five-ways-church-support-missionaries/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:50:20 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=1973 Since Matt is not here with a specific missions organization {rather, he is working for a Christian NGO}, our church in Woodland Park, Colorado {where he has worked for the past four years}, has become the group that has sent us out into the wide world.  And, as it turns out, they are doing a [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2010/07/five-ways-church-support-missionaries/feed/ 5 http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2009/10/we-were-wrong/ http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2009/10/we-were-wrong/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:10:00 +0000 Laura http://www.lauraleighparker.com/?p=344 A Church in Texas  ran a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News.  Big black letters, boldly declaring an apology.  No excuses, no requests for money.  Just an admission and a plea for forgiveness.  In the last two years, this particular church has started to mean what they say by radically impacting their community and [...]]]> http://www.lauraleighparker.com/2009/10/we-were-wrong/feed/ 0