The Way Life SHOULD Be.

June 7, 2016 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

If only we all kept that verse written on our hearts…Take heart, JESUS has overcome!! We have no reason to fear, if we only follow His Word and His Leading.

If only we had more carefully heeded this Scripture last May…

Check out the video below to find out how God redirected everything and is bringing us full circle: {click or tap on the image below and the video will play}

2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”

I cannot express to you how immeasurably that verse fits into our impending move and new journey for His Kingdom! The Lord has made this next step an increasingly joyful one for us! Gone are the fears about money and creature comforts and being tasked with a hugely important endeavor – for we have the freedom of knowing we are in the will of God. We know without a shadow of a doubt He has provided and will continue to! We walk in His freedom as His children, joint heirs with Christ!!

What a weight off our backs to allow Him to guide us and carry our heavy loads of worry! What a joy to serve our Sovereign Lord and King! What a privilege to be entrusted with such vital ministry!

Please continue praying for us and please pray especially for this grassroots youth ministry!

I promise to do a better job of keeping you all posted on God’s work in our lives and through us. As soon as this move is complete…and our house is painted…and unpacked…I think I’ll have a little more time on my hands… #wishfulthinking Well, at the very least, I won’t have a 29 mile = 2 hour commute. Each. Way. #bethankful

We love you all and hope you’ll all pay us a visit!!

What's Up Wednesday

Catch-Up/Catch-All

October 22, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Today’s post doesn’t fit in any little category…Not Thirsty For Christ Thursday, not What’s Up Wednesday…Perhaps, I should just call today Catch-All Thursday – Because there’s a lot going on with this post-er’s brain today and I’m gracing you with my presence and scatter-brained monologue.

You’re Welcome.

~~Someone~~ Several of you have reached out to me, oh so sweetly, and said you miss the regular posting on this blog. I can’t tell you how much that warms my little heart. Thank you for the love and for sharing it with me! Sometimes the day just gets away from me…Ever happen to YOU? 🙂

So to catch you up on the Lifestyles of the Not-so-Newlywed Lefebvres, we shall begin with Minnesota. You all know we traveled to Minnesota for the baptism of our beautiful Goddaughter, Charleigh Mae:

Miss Charleigh is so adorable! We are so excited to watch her grow up and honored to be her ‘spiritual parents’. If you haven’t had a chance to read about the absolute miracle that Charleigh is, go back to this post to read Dani’s story!

While in Minnesota, we also got to spend time with our beautiful little niece, Eden:

Isn’t she just precious?? I’ll give you one guess as to who bought her that shirt… 😉 It might just have been a Georgia grad and her husband. 🙂

Miss Eden particularly liked her Uncle Craig – She just couldn’t take her big beautiful eyes off of him – I don’t blame her! 😉

We took some fun family shots will we were up north, too:

We also made a trip to the Foshay Tower in Downtown Minneapolis, which is an especially special spot since that’s where Craig’s grandfather proposed to his grandmother. #swoon

While we were there, we found this vintage photo:

And decided to re-create it, with a modern touch:

I don’t think it’s half bad! 🙂

Since we have been home from Hawaii and Minnesota, our enormous moving truck from Maine arrived – We are officially completely in Georgia! Although, in our tiny rental house, we are overgrown with boxes now and have completely filled one room from floor to ceiling with boxes, not to mention the entire garage, all the closets, and one POD – which is now at the storage facility. I just keep telling myself…In less than a year, God-Willing, we will be alllll settled down in one place.

We celebrated a little bit by returning to the restaurant Craig and I went to on our third date…

I’m so glad we made it past that third date…not our best. 🙂 I truly married the most amazing man in the universe! #sorryladies

And when we haven’t been busy, we have been thoroughly enjoying the arrival of our treasured bikes from Maine! Yay!!

We did 16 miles this past Sunday, in under 2 hours. Not bad for the ‘non-serious’ casual bicyclists.

And I’ve been baking/cooking, too:

I made this lasagna from scratch (well, the noodles came from a box – but otherwise…) for Craig to take on this week’s trip. I just love to cook! I wish I had more time to do it and more calories to devote to eating the food I make!!! #alas

And this past weekend, Craig finally got to join my side of the family for University of Georgia Homecoming to enjoy his first ever SEC Football experience and Georgia game! We had an absolute blast!

Daddy & Craig 🙂

Mama & her BFF from Law School – in deep legal discussion, I’m sure! 😉 #precious

My little brother & his lovely girlfriend

And us! 🙂 (Notice the super enthusiastic man behind us… #photobomb)

And in other news, I spoke last night to a beautiful group of women at St. Francis Catholic Church in Cartersville, Georgia. Honestly, I just love love love sharing my faith journey with other people! If you are part of a group you’d like me to speak to, just send me a message! You can visit my ‘website’ here for more information, and links to some recent events.

Well, I think you’re now all caught up with us. 🙂 I promise to be better at blogging in 2016. I’m excited to put all of our suitcases away (and boxes too, soon!) and begin to nest again, as we get fully settled back in Georgia.

TTC Tuesday

Dani’s Journey: My Victory Over Infertility

September 29, 2015September 28, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Good Morning Folks,

We have a special special treat for you today! One of my dearest did us the honor of authoring a guest post for this edition of ‘Thank You, Jesus! Tuesday’ and boy, does she have a powerful journey to share!

So…a Looooonng while back I was asked to share my experience with infertility and how waiting on the Lord was a challenge. I’ve been married 3 years this November and when we were married I wanted a baby like “yesterday”!

However, there was a button on pause for us. I had been on the Depo-Provera shot for 3 injections prior to marriage to help with my hormonal imbalances, but this caused my pituitary gland to essentially “turn off”. With this crucially important gland not functioning, my body was not able to create the proper hormones which make uterine lining, ovulation and proper mucus.

The doctor’s rule was I couldn’t be considered infertile until I tried naturally to conceive for one full year. I can’t put into words how hard it was to know that for one year “all I could do” was pray. Sounds silly that I was disappointed by this, right? I didn’t feel that way at the time.

I was impatient and frustrated and sad as the months passed with no period and therefore, no possible pregnancy. After a year of marriage, I was ready to get into that doctor’s office and “DO” something! At first, I was put on hormone medications to hopefully, kick-start my brain into producing the hormones naturally. Oh how I prayed to God that He would make this work! I wanted Him to give me instant results, as my heart was aching for a precious baby.

After many long talks with God, I still didn’t understand how He could put such a strong and deep desire in my heart for a baby, but was making me wait. I knew that I’d have a baby someday, but what I didn’t know was when or how my child would come. My doctor was confident that I’d be able to have kids one day, and this kept me on the path to get pregnant.

After almost six months on hormone therapy my periods started!!!!! I was ecstatic! I was praising God for His miracle that now pregnancy was a possibility. Although I got my period back, it was not consistent. I had an ultrasound done to see if I was ovulating and I wasn’t. After finding out this information, I was devastated and found myself once again asking God why? It seems silly now to me how I went from happy bliss towards God to disappointment so quickly…

I began praying more often but wasn’t truly letting go and letting God take over. For the next 3 months, the plan was to start taking a medication to help me ovulate and then to plan conception. For two years I had been crying regularly and couldn’t understand why God needed me to wait. After all, He was the one who put this desire in my heart…

After two of the three months passed on this ovulation medication, I was a complete mess. I was sick and tired of feeling helpless and disappointed! I mentally, emotionally and spiritually could not handle it and fell to my knees in prayer. I made the decision to stop the treatment to get pregnant and to let God take over.

This was HUGE for me! I had been trying to do this for months but always had one foot in and the other out. I now had to trust God completely that He had a plan… and sure enough, He did! I had continued to track my cycles but had no more medical intervention nor did I have that heart, heavy with disappointment. I stopped the medication in April of 2014 and conceived in September 2014! The Lord had answered my prayers and given me that baby He promised! 🙂

Within days of finding out I was expecting, I then knew why I had to be patient for this gift. I was very sick with hyperemisis gravidarum until week 16, followed by migraines that could knock a full grown man to their knees. Both conditions caused hospital visits due to pain, dehydration, blindness, etc. I was pretty much bed ridden from week 4/5 to 21. It was awful.

Then, the migraines, vomiting, and blackouts let up. I found out at week 22 that we were having a girl!

I knew it all along but was always told “you never know”. I was so happy and once again, thanking God!

Little did I know that just a few weeks later, what I thought was my turn for the best became my turn for the hardest. At twenty-seven weeks along, I developed gestational hypertension. The following week, I was admitted to the hospital for 3 days due to high blood pressure and water retention. Within days of coming home, I went into kidney failure with Pre-Eclampsia and was told that without immediate intervention I would lose my life and my baby’s.

My daughter was born at 29 weeks to the day at 2lbs 7.2oz. She was a fighter, but I became more ill after delivery and ended up with Post-Eclampsia. It was days before I pulled through and could see my own daughter!

I still had a long road ahead with our stay in the NICU and my own recovery to health. But because of my faith and reliance on God, I was able to handle the situation.

He knew if He prolonged my waiting for a child, I would eventually surrender (I’m very stubborn) and rely on Him wholeheartedly – and I did. Without His timing I would not have been prepared mentally, emotionally or spiritually. God gave me a peace when I had to deliver her. I was not concerned with anxiety but had faith it would all be okay. “God’s got this!”, I thought.

Each day I prayed for something new of healing with my daughter and every day each prayer was answered! God is amazing and works miracles!!

Because of His timing, I’ve gained patience, understanding and have learned humility! These were all my worst traits before, but now, they are my best! God knew what He was doing when He had me struggle with infertility. He was teaching me and preparing me for His bigger purpose…His bigger plan.

For anyone struggling with a desire of their heart they know the Lord placed there, rely solely on Him for it. He placed the desire, and will fulfill it one way or another. It may not be the way that you expect or take the you on the journey you thought you were prepared for, but He has a bigger plan for you than you have for yourself.

He says He has a purpose for you and a future! (Jeremiah 29:11) Take a moment today to reflect on what it may be that you are struggling to let God take control of…now try to think why? If you keep it simple, then the answer is simple – because you are not ready. But thankfully, He knows when you will be, and He’s preparing you! 🙂

In Christ,

Dani

Wasn’t that a beautiful story of God’s grace and love? Keep this one in your pocket, or on your bookmarks bar to uplift you when you feel like His Promises aren’t for you. They are. Remember, God doesn’t play favorites. (Acts 10:34) Craig and I are the proud Godparents of this amazing miracle, and can’t wait to share pictures from her baptism this weekend!

TTC Tuesday

I Am Weak, But He Is Strong

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

Dear Friends,

I confess – it’s been way too long since we poured our hearts, convictions and faith out to you via this blog. I have felt guilty –‘wake me up in the middle of the night’ guilty…because I know that the Lord wants to use me, my marriage, my hardships, my faith, as a vessel for leading others to Him. But…it’s hard, y’all. It’s really hard.

You all know we followed His call to Maine this past summer – almost a year ago! But you may not know that we are back in Georgia. After nine months of sharing His love with the precious youth of Southern Maine, God planted the desire for ‘home’…and with that, the desire to adopt a child…and with that, the necessary funds to make all of this happen with a promotion to Captain for Craig and a great job for me.

So, here we are, back in Georgia – ‘home’, and totally neglecting this blog and this ‘ministry’ – after we have been so immensely blessed. And I feel so guilty.

And while you may think this is a shrug your shoulders, no big deal, get a grip lady! kinda thing…it really isn’t. You don’t know the e-mails we receive, telling us how something has touched one of our readers; the requests for prayer from some who follow this blog from prison…Yes, I feel guilty for letting these people down when I am so unimaginably blessed, and so many are broken.

But I confess something to you…I try to be strong. Full of faith. Hopeful. Prayerfully diligent. But I fall so hard.

There are at least two days every week when I sob and ugly cry alone because ‘it just isn’t fair’ that I can’t give my sweet husband a child.

It just ‘isn’t fair’ that instead of going out for lunch with my co-workers, I head downstairs to the building’s gym to work-out during my hour-long break. I don’t eat gluten, carbs, sugar, anything fun. I drink apple cider vinegar with baking soda, and take a regimen of coconut oil, but no matter what, my blood sugar refuses to cooperate, my hormones will not level out and I can’t shed a pound, let alone maintain my weight.

I’ve felt like Job.

I’ve felt like David in a mournful Psalm.

I try so hard to be strong, but I’m not.

Thankfully, He is.

Lamentations 3:19-24 (Contemporary English Version) says this:

‘Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
makes me miserable.
That’s all I ever think about,
and I am depressed.
Then I remember something
that fills me with hope.
The Lord’s kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed.
The Lord can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
I can depend on him!”’

Peter tells us this truth about our Savior:

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

Because friends, we are all human. We all cry and feel helpless and worry. But that isn’t the life the Lord wants for us. We are blessed in that our Lord tells us to hand everything over to Him, and just keep moving forward.

When I start to worry that Jonah will never arrive, that the adoption process will never move along, that I will never be able to have a body that functions like “it should”… I remember that He’s got this.

I remind myself that:

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.” Philippians 3:8-9a (NLT)

And when I lay aside everything else, and focus in on Him and His AWESOMENESS, my troubles melt away and nothing else matters but basking in that love and sharing it with other people.

As my “Jesus Today” devotional reminded me this morning:

“The world applauds self-sufficiency…However, this is not the way of My kingdom. I want My children to recognize and rejoice in their utter dependence on Me…When the strain of living in the fallen world is getting you down, resist the temptation to feel sorry for yourself. Instead say to yourself, ‘I am blessed and thankful – and on my way to His Glory!’”

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Let’s Be Honest…

November 13, 2014November 13, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

Let’s be honest here.

Living a Christ-centered life isn’t easy.

I promise you that if I had my way things would look a lot different in my life. I probably would have said “FORGET THIS!” whole thing about waiting on God and His timing for a child a long while ago, and taken matters into my own hands. I probably would have chosen the big, fancy house we were looking at in Georgia, instead of the teensy, third-floor apartment 1,200+ miles away from either of our families. I probably would have chosen to continue working in a WELL-PAYING job so we could buy our groceries at Whole Foods and our clothes from Nordstrom, instead of at Wal-Mart and GoodWill.

But…God tells us to live otherwise. He calls us to live in Faith.

Get out your Bible this instant and read with me Hebrews 11. {God, specifically, just said to me-just now, “Look at verse 11:11.” If your know our Jonah story, you know that 11:11 is significant for Craig and I. If you don’t know our story, watch and listen here. Read verse 11:11 – Oh my goodness, right??? Goosebumps. Make that Godbumps. }

Thank you, Jesus.

But back to Hebrews 11. This entire chapter is subtitled “Faith In Action”, and that is how we, as Christians, are called to live our lives. “Faith In Action” should be your subtitle!

Hebrews 11

Faith In Action

11 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

This is just the first verse, but already we can see how to live the life to which Christ calls us: by faith. You see, it is faith that tells me God is in control and that Craig and I will be parents. That God doesn’t need our help for that to happen. It is faith that reminds me, as I sometimes sit and think wistfully of our family and friends so far away, that we were called here for a purpose. It is faith that assures me that even though we aren’t able to live a lifestyle rich in things of this world, we DO have a life RICH in Jesus.

Let’s be honest. This Christian life isn’t easy. Sometimes it isn’t pleasant. Sometimes it doesn’t go the way we want. But remembering our life is not our own, helps to put things in perspective. Remind yourself each day – Not my own will, Father, but YOURS, be done.

What's Up Wednesday

Uncle Craig & Aunt Pier

October 15, 2014October 15, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Lucky you! You’re in for a NEARLY wordless Wednesday – but stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog…it’s FULL of WORDS. 😉

This weekend we traveled to Minnesota for the first time from Maine, all to see our beautiful niece, Eden.

Isn’t she adorable? 🙂 Can you say a quick prayer for God to bless us with sweet Baby Jonah soon?? This experience only increases the baby fever! 😉

We also spent some time with Marty & Danielle – Marty is Craig’s first cousin, and Danielle is his beautiful wife. 😉 We always have a BLAST when we get to spend time with them!

And, of course, NO family trip can do without some group photos! These turned out really well!!

Until tomorrow!!

TTC Tuesday

Where Has Our Faith Gone?

September 30, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

Speaking of thanking Jesus, today we have a special ‘thank you’ to our Creator and Almighty God – my best friend, Ashley, and her husband John, welcomed their daughter into the world yesterday afternoon – Willa Drew! Congratulations Mommy & Daddy! Between Willa and our niece, Eden, who is only one month older, we have been seriously blessed in the past two months with precious new life!

Thank You, Jesus!

I spoke with a woman the other day who asked if when we, “gave up on God giving us children naturally” we thought we “might consider adoption”…

While Craig and I would love to adopt a child or preferably children, doing so wouldn’t be about our giving up on God or lacking faith in His timing. There are so very many children who need a good and loving home, and two parents who want nothing more than to care for them…why would we consider that ‘alternative’ as Plan B? Frankly, our only hold-up to adoption is cost!

But really, comments like these always make me think…Where has people’s faith gone? When did the God of the Miraculous become the God of limited power?

Psalm 113:9 says, “He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the LORD!”

Why do we limit our Lord? Miracles happen every single day, and all of them are God-given.

Remember the God we serve. Faith in Him is an incredible thing.

TTC Tuesday

What Is Your Whale?

July 8, 2014July 8, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Thank you, Jesus, indeed, as always!!

And this time, thanks to all of YOU! Your letters, e-mails, texts and phone calls have been so sweet!! It’s comforting to know that our being M.I.A. from the blogosphere this past week didn’t go unnoticed! 🙂

We are happy to report that nothing is awry, we are just busy and were a little under the weather from the end of last week through the weekend. And when I say busy, I mean BUSY! Busy as in I have been at my desk since 7:45AM and have only gotten up once, to fill my coffee cup. Busy as in as I was making my page-long to-do list, three more e-mails arrived to add to that list.

And it isn’t just work, we are involved in so much, and very thankfully & happily so. There just aren’t enough hours in the DAY, let alone WEEK to accomplish everything needing to be done! And while we are blessed with my ‘job’ and the income it provides for our family, that’s really all it is. A job. Not a career. It’s a means to an end until we meet Jonah Elizabeth face-to-face. Or at least, it was…

Things are beginning to change at the Lefebvre household, folks, and we will have a teeny-tiny snippet of just what that means tomorrow! But for today…

…let’s focus on our infertility journey and remembering to thank Him for His ever fertile faithfulness.

Two Sundays ago, Pastor Alan spoke about Jonah. Now, we at The Newlywed Lefebvres certainly know the story of Jonah and the whale – right? Or do we…actually?

Read Jonah 1 – 4.

The story of Jonah shows a prophet of God running from His Will. Now, certainly, this is something none of us have ever done. Right? 🙂 Nope. Not relatable in the least… Ha.

Jonah ran from what God asked him to do, and then he got caught up in a very horrible storm. Again…not familiar at all, right? 🙂

He was thrown overboard by the sailors on the boat with him, sure he was about to die.

But God sent a big fish – a marlin, a tuna, a WHALE…

…not to EAT Jonah…not to harm Jonah…not to hurt Jonah…

God sent the whale to Jonah to SAVE him and to redirect him on God’s chosen course for his life!

Wow, huh? That’s a different way of looking at things… and it made me and Craig take a step back and think.

Our infertility has been our whale.

God used this season in our lives to bring us back to Him, and to work for His Kingdom. To truly discover Him and who we are in Him, as His children. He is using our story to bring others to Him. It is truly a miracle…and how apropos that our little miracle will be named Jonah. 🙂

What is something that might be (or might have been) the whale God placed or saved you with in your life?

Thinking of our trials in a whole new light may bring God’s Will for your life into the light, as well. 🙂

Until Tomorrow,

Food For Thought Friday

Before The Honeymoon’s Over

May 30, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

Do you have a list – either on paper or in your head – of the things you ~~want to~~ have to do before you ~~get married~~, ~~turn 30~~, have your first child (or other milestone occurs)?

I’ve seen a lot of these “Bucket List” type of posts recently, and thought I would share our list with y’all:

Yep. That’s our To – Do list for our marriage before Jonah Elizabeth is brought by the stork 😉 Some of the items will be quite the feat; some are small yet meaningful; some are already in the works…

What about you? What’s on your list?

Have a wonderful Friday & weekend everyone!!

Love and God’s Blessings To You All!

TTC Tuesday

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!