Tears of Joy

May 13, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres8 Comments

I spent a majority of Mother’s Day evening in tears.

Do I doubt God? Do I doubt Jonah Elizabeth’s introduction into our little family?

Not one little bit.

But the enemy is trying – hard.

I am a redeemed child of the Most High God. He died a criminal’s death to forgive me for every single sin that I have committed. He protects me and He loves me – unconditionally.

Does that sound like someone who would constantly remind you of all your failures and regrets and hurts?

Does that sound like someone who would repeatedly say you aren’t good enough?

I used to think God was punishing me by not giving us a child – but that isn’t how He operates. That voice of doubt and fear and sadness and regret – That isn’t God!

When those thoughts pop into your mind, push them away and have FAITH in the God who loves you as the child of His you are. He doesn’t break His promises, and He doesn’t throw things back in your face.

Little Jonah will be here just as He promised. And the only tears I have to cry are those of joy from being loved by the King and Creator of the Universe.

Keep the faith – and remember the character of our Creator!

My Choice Monday

Give Me Faith

May 12, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Happy Monday! Here’s hoping all of you had an especially wonderful weekend and Mother’s Day!

Today I wanted to share with you a song (both video and lyrics – so turn on your speakers and watch this post in a browser)…I first heard this last Wednesday evening at church, and was SO.MOVED. by the lyrics and the heartfelt passion with which the singer sang it.

After this weekend, which as you may imagine was a ~~little~~ lot emotional for us, words and music like that which follows is such a beautiful reminder that, although we are far from perfect, He has everything under His perfect control. Waiting on the Lord is not easy. We have total faith and trust in Him, but we are still human and imperfect.

I may be weak, but Your Spirit’s strong in me. My flesh may fail, but My God you never will.

Verse 1:

I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
To see that You’re shaping my life

Pre-Chorus:
All I am, I surrender

Chorus:
Give me faith to trust what you say
That you’re good and your love is great
I’m broken inside, I give you my life

Verse 2:
I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you pierce through the dark
And cleanse every part of me

Bridge:
I may be weak
But your Spirit’s strong in me
My flesh may fail
My God you never will

– See more at: http://elevationworship.com/songs/give-me-faith-the-song/#sthash.5EwDStQ2.dpuf

This is originally an Elevation Worship song, but the small group singing it above (Worship On The Porch) does such a beautiful rendition, and they are SUCH an inspiring ‘organization’. If you like this song, listen to their version of “Holy Spirit” by Jesus Culture – another one of my absolute faves.

In Jesus, we have it all – truly. But we are still human. Our flesh is still weak. We still battle the enemy and deal with the world on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter how strong our faith is, we need to ask Him for faith and strength every single day.

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Remembering the 1 Samuel 1 Woman this Mother’s Day

May 12, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there – even those of us who are only mothers in our hearts, waiting on God’s perfect timing. I hope you are as touched and blessed by my dear friend Elisha’s blog post here as I was.

Love you all!

Waiting for Baby Bird Ministries

Do you remember the excitement you had when telling your husband, best friend, sister, or parents that you were expecting? Do you remember how pregnancy changed your body–it was just a little at first, but then as your baby grew, so did your belly and you rejoiced with each belly rub, or picture taken to show the progression? Do you remember the emotions you felt when your miracle kicked for the first time? Or had the hiccups?

What about when your baby would move inside of you at the sound of your voice? How about the overwhelming sense of joy you felt when you gazed into their eyes for the first time and counted their fingers and toes?

Now try to strip yourself away and imagine never having those memories or experiencing those climatic moments. Take a moment to close your eyes and place your hand over your womb while…

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Food For Thought Friday

A Busy Weekend!

May 9, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres6 Comments

Oh my goodness – the word Friday may never have sounded as beautiful as it does today! This week has been a BLESSING, but also exhausting since last night was the first night this week I have slept well – If you guessed that Craig finally got home late last night, you’re right! 🙂

We have a busy weekend planned!

Tonight, we are running in the 8th Annual March Against Meth 5k.

And then we are going to reward ourselves with SUSHI NIGHT!!!! MMM! I am hungry just thinking about it! 😉

Tomorrow, we will be putting together the Princess Packages for the women who have been rescued from prostitution and sex trafficking by “Out Of Darkness“.

We cannot wait to share the pictures of everything we are donating to this wonderful organization! I asked my co-workers to contribute to this cause, and their response was overwhelming!!! Between my raiding Dollar General and all of my clothes closets, and their bags upon bags of toiletries and make-up and gently worn clothing….We have SO much to share with these women!!!!! I am SO THRILLED!!!

Today, you can round out our Love On Purpose week too! In the top left part of the sidebar (you will have to view this post in a browser to see it – and the video above), there is a link to donate to help fund a missionary’s trip to Bolivia! This is such a great great cause and every little bit will help!

And now for a little bit of our regularly scheduled programming – Food For Thought Friday!

In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, check out these sweet baby ducklings who think this man is their father!!! Awww!

And this one is just plain frightening…

The Average American Can’t Answer These Three Simple Finance Questions

Why schools don’t teach finance and money-management classes at the high school level, I don’t know… I don’t believe there is ONE of us out there, though, that wouldn’t have benefited from some lessons early on! 🙂

And finally, The Nativity Stones – Do you remember this awesome company for whom we reviewed one of their necklaces back around Easter? If you haven’t already found something special for your mother, one of these beautiful crosses would be a wonderful idea! They have just asked us to do more photography for their advertising and marketing, and Craig and I are so thrilled to have maintained our involvement and support of such a truly beautiful company!

If you haven’t read the story of these stones’ origin, you should and you can right here.

Whew! Time to grab some lunch and get ready to run!!! I’m ready!!! (The faster I run, the sooner we can eat sushi! 🙂 )

Have a wonderful weekend and a beautiful Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there – especially our own, and the two mothers-to-be – you know who you are!! 😉

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John 5:5-7 (Asking the Impossible)

May 8, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

Today on Thirsty For Christ Thursday we are re-blogging this post from The River Walk, a blog for Christ that I am so inspired by every time I read it. This particular post speaks of God as the Healer. The God of The IMPOSSIBLE. That’s OUR King!

Be blessed!

THE RIVER WALK

One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” (John 5:5-7)

Read: Ruth 4:13-22, 1 Chronicles 2:9-55, 1 Chronicles 4:1-23, 1 Samuel 1:1-8

Relate: I was reading a few months back where a woman was browsing in a small country store where she came across a small wall picture that asked a question that stuck with her. If you knew that you would not fail, what would you attempt? That question didn’t just stick with her, it stuck with me. For days that question bounced around inside my head. It stirred up a…

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Thirsty For Christ Thursday

A Whale Of A Tale

May 6, 2014May 6, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Happy Thank You Jesus Tuesday!

By now, I hope you have all watched our vlog from last week… If not, watch it here and the rest of the post will make more sense to you. 🙂

Craig and I have completely surrendered our fertility to God, and everything that goes with it – and if you’ve watched the vlog, you know that included our long held onto “baby girl name” of Olivia Florence. We are excited to one day welcome into our home and family a little girl named Jonah Elizabeth! What a blessing total surrender to our Lord is!

So, we all know the story of Jonah in the Bible, right?

God asked him to do something, and Jonah was scared. He ran away and was thrown off a ship, but instead of drowning, he was saved by God and swallowed by a whale. He lived in the belly of the fish for three days (the Sign of Jonah), and was delivered by the Lord – this time deciding to obey His commands!

So, Jonah is associated with a whale…And Jonah is typically a boy’s name… and all things whale and little boy are typically blue…

But after we received our revelation from God, and shared it, in faith, with all of you, Craig and I were walking through Target this past weekend and saw these things:

ALL THINGS PINK AND WHALEY!!!!!!!

Craig looked at me and said, “This is definitely an affirmation from God! We have to buy Jonah’s first blanket in faith!” and so we did:

How awesome!!! We serve such a wonderful God, and if we only ask He will respond. Never think your prayer or request is too small. Have faith in Him.

The point of the story of Jonah is that God rescues His people – and He doesn’t require earthly measures to accomplish His rescue! It doesn’t matter that doctors say I can’t ovulate on my own. It doesn’t matter that doctors don’t believe I can become pregnant without their assistance. God doesn’t rely on science and human knowledge. He created science and He operates in the supernatural.

Psalm 46:10

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

10 Let go of your concerns!

    Then you will know that I am God.

        I rule the nations.

        I rule the earth.
PS – Don’t forget about Love On Purpose Week! Today is Intentional Kindness Day! Do something for someone else! #loveonpurpose

My Choice Monday

#loveonpurpose

May 5, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

Happy Monday Everyone!! I hope everyone’s weekend was as gorgeous as ours! The weather just couldn’t have been any more perfect!

This week marks the beginning of Love On Purpose Week and “my choice” for you today is to get involved in your community by loving on purpose!

Monday: Today is all about saying THANK YOU to our first responders – police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, armed forces.

If you can’t think of anything else to do, pray for our troops, police, firefighters and EMTs’ safety and well-being! Let them know they are loved and appreciated with baked goods!

Tuesday: This is Intentional Act of Kindness Day. Do something intentionally kind, for no reason at all – other than sharing the love of Christ. Pay for the person behind you in line at Starbucks. Buy lunch for your co-worker. Bake brownies for your neighbor. Wash that dirty car in your cul-de-sac.

Wednesday: Make an INTENTIONAL effort to spend time with the Lord today. Learn about His Love by worshipping Him and spending time in the presence of His Holy Spirit.

Thursday: Thursday is the day to show your appreciation for teachers! We don’t have children, but we do have a very good friend who is a teacher and she is getting dinner out tomorrow on me. 😉 If you do have children in school, here is an awesome idea I saw this morning on Facebook:

Friday: Friday is the day of the Paulding County Meth Walk – Click here for more information. If you live in the area, you can walk or run to support the fight against this horrible addiction, or, if you live in another area you can make a donation by clicking the same link!

Saturday: Saturday is the day I am most excited about! We are collecting women’s (gently worn) clothing and shoes, and new, full-size containers of women’s hygiene products to create Princess Packages in support of a ministry called “Out of Darkness” which rescues women from the world of sex trafficking and prostitution. By clicking the link, you can find out how you can help! If you live in the Atlanta area, you can drop items off to me at my office or our home (e-mail me), or to FullTurn Church. I’ve begun a collection at my office for items, as well as raided our local Dollar General and my closet! Help us help these women turn their lives around!

And on a lighter note, this little “app”/game I found on Google Chrome this morning has me entertained…

I’m stuck at “59” elements…Help. 🙂

That’s all for today folks! Let’s show Christ’s love all over the world this week (and always!)! And take pictures to post, using the hashtag #loveonepurpose all week long!

Food For Thought Friday

I Could Do The Tiny Burrito Diet…

May 2, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Y’all. Have you seen the tiniest hamster eating the tiniest burrito? OMG (oh my goodness) this is the cutest thing ever!

Seriously!? How precious was that?? He is even served his tiny little burrito at a teensy weensy little table! Awww!

That should be enough to melt your heart for the weekend!! 🙂

This one is a bit thought-provoking…

That, my dears, is seawater…magnified 25 times. Hmmm, you may want to try extra hard to keep your mouth closed tight the next time you’re diving head-first into the ocean… I guess both my father-in-law and husband are safe (and probably saying, “I told you there was no good reason for swimming!” right this second), but not me – When we venture to the beach in 2 months, I am going to bask in the glorious sun, salt and sea – disgusting microorganisms or not!

And finally, in honor of the Kentucky Derby coming up this weekend:

Click the image above to find out how to pick this year’s winner! And p.s. don’t expect much in the way of guidance – I could have given you the same advice. 🙂 I just didn’t want you to miss the opportunity to wear your big floppy hat and cheer on the horses!

And now to wrap things up for the day! My husband is home (happy dance – yay!), and I have some mint to muddle and a hat to buy for tomorrow’s race! 😉