Hi.

I’m Laura.

I’m an author and a pursuer of God in all parts of my life. I look for Him in the easy parts, and I look for Him in the nasty, hard bits too.

I share our story in my book, Clouds: A Memoir (originally published as Fly a Little Higher and now updated and revised to coincide with the release of Clouds, an original movie availible for streaming on most streaming platforms). It’s a story about a kid, my son, Zach Sobiech, his battle with bone cancer, and how his song “Clouds” changed people… like, really, really changed them (I know because I still hear from them ever single day).

Zach taught us that even a dying teenager from a small town in Minnesota can bring hope to our troubled world. That story of hope, and the remarkable things that followed Zach’s extraordinary rise to international recognition and heartbreaking death, gives us all a glimpse of just how big big can get.

I have shared our story internationally with both secular and faith-based groups, including: women’s groups, youth groups; high school, middle school and college assemblies, school district, healthcare provider, and pharmaceutical corporation conferences, as well as non-profit conferences/fundraisers and a state prayer breakfast. It’s been quite a ride – as it always is when we let God drive.

Before the extraordinary part of our story happened, my life was pretty ordinary.

I was raised in Lake Elmo, a small town just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. I’m the oldest of seven. Growing up, we didn’t have much money, but our home was always open to people who needed a soft place to land for a while (at one point in time we had seventeen people living in our house). Mom and Dad taught us that Christ shows up in different ways and forms, and it is best to open the door whenever one gets the opportunity.

I met my husband Rob when I was nineteen; we married when I was twenty and I had our first of four children when I was twenty-one. Which means while I was raising my kids they were, in a sense, raising me. They’ve taught me what really matters in life: faith, hope and love.

Some other things about me: I am a childhood cancer advocate and work at Children’s Cancer Research Fund, I like to puzzle while listening to 70’s Lite Rock or Gregorian Chant, I love to vacuum (clean, fluffed up carpeting is soooo satisfying) , I prefer deep conversations to small talk. My perfect day would be a Minnesota blizzard outside, a pot of soup on the stove and thousand piece puzzle waiting to be put together.

I believe in the power of faith, the power of a story, and the power of a smile. I have witnessed firsthand how big of an imagination God really has, and how He can use average, not-so-extraordinary people to change the world in unimaginable and extraordinary ways.

I believe in the power of faith, the power of a story, and the power of a smile.

Laura sobiech