Where Life’s Detours Bloom Into God’s Divine Direction

I’m an author, artist, and speaker who is passionate about pointing those who suffer towards the transforming power of our Great Physician.

My story is not one of a miraculous healing. God had a different plan for me. It is how through trauma and suffering, God came alongside me and gifted me a valuable perspective that rings true for both the chronically ill as well as those who have their health.

My eighteen year long health crisis taught me that God truly is close to the brokenhearted, that suffering and healing are not based on merit, and that a slower pace of life can bring forth greater satisfaction and meaning.

This website, these books, my artwork are the story of my relationship with My Good Shepherd.  A God who was always near to me.  My intimacy with God gave me lessons for life whether suffering or well.

Pain and neurological symptom management was a full time job.  The years of Botox into my neck combined with my genetic loose ligament condition called Ehlers-Danlos, caused a perfect storm of neck instability.  I was about to travel from Oregon to New York to get my neck vertebrae fused together when COVID hit and NY was shut down.  I was desperate for relief and devistated that surgery was placed on hold.

My local doctor suggested one other procedure we could try while we waited for the neck fusion.  He thought there was a slight chance I could still be leaking CSF after 18 years.  Once Oregon allowed non-essential surgical procedures to start again in May of 2020, I had another blood-patch.  As I lay in the recovery room, my constant headache began to fade, the spasms from the Dystonia completely stilled, and I drifted into the deepest sleep I had known in nearly two decades.  Over the next two weeks, all of the other neurological symptoms fell away and the Dystonia never came back.  My neurologist of 13 years did a thorough evaluation on me and declared the Dystonia secondary to the CSF leak.

Since then, I have learned to adjust my lifestyle to keep my CSF leak sealed, processed decades of PTSD, and began writing about my journey with hopes of creating awareness about Ehlers-Danlos, Dystonia, and CSF leaks.  I desire to encourage the chronically ill as well as those struggling with all facets of suffering.

“Tough Mother” sparked from a conversation Laurie had with God in 2004. Already two years into her health crisis, Laurie laid in the dark of her bedroom floor because it brought more comfort than her bed. She wore a neck brace, rib binders, and a hip brace trying to keep her vertebrae from dislocating. As she listened to her exhausted husband care for their two young toddlers, she cried out to God in pain and anguish. God’s response was a vision of a simple, wooden podium. It was so out of context from where Laurie’s heart and body were that she laughed out loud. She told God that if He would heal her to the point of being able to stand behind a podium, she would say anything He wanted her to say.

Over the next sixteen years, Laurie and her family rode a roller coaster of searching and suffering that ultimately did lead to a proper diagnosis and healing. Along the way, Laurie gathered battle tactics to conquer adversity which matured into unwavering hope. She provides a tender, yet raw voice to the underdog, the lonely, the Christian uncertain of God’s reality, the mom who tries to protect her children from her pain, and the desperate patient trying to navigate the medical community. Laurie’s story sheds light on all that humanity tries to keep hidden during seasons of suffering. Walk with Laurie and discover how life’s detours can actually be a compassionate God’s divine direction to foster lasting healing for your own suffering soul.

“Tough Mother” will be published and available at the beginning of 2027. Join my mailing list below to learn about early order specials.

From an early age, Laurie had an eye for art, noticing beauty in the world around her and recognizing the fingerprints of a Divine Creator.  Laurie fell in love with painting.  During her health crisis, art became a source of therapy and joy even if her pace was very slow.  Laurie has turned many of her paintings into greeting cards and home decor items.  She sells them now to fund her book publishing opportunities.  Explore the Laurie McDowell Inspire collections of art and always STAY INSPIRED!