What’s Up (With The Ashes?) Wednesday

March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres6 Comments

Today is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent – a time for us to do some spiritual spring cleaning and focus on the Lord – we will focus a lot more on Lent and what it really is all about tomorrow. 🙂

Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the Liturgical Calendar. Why? Because it gives us an opportunity to truly wear our hearts on our sleeves. Even wearing a cross around your neck could be taken for granted in today’s society. It could be just a fashion statement, or even a mockery. However, wearing a black smudge of ashes on your forehead is noticed. And thus, a wonderful opportunity to share a small part of your faith.

My personal tradition (since Craig is never in town for Ash Wednesday) is to wake up early (now, I’m typically up and out so early it felt late!) and go to the 6:55AM Mass at a church close to my office, and head to work afterwards. I cannot tell you what an amazing (hidden) opportunity this is! It’s 1:45pm in the afternoon and I have had no less than fifteen conversations about Ash Wednesday and Lent and the meaning of it all since I arrived at the office at 7:55AM – and these were both in the office and when I headed out for a quick bite of tuna salad around lunch time.

If not enlightening others about the meaning behind the ashes, it is discovering others in your place of work or around town who share your Christian faith. Community is a wonderful thing, and you don’t have to be Catholic to participate in Lent or Ash Wednesday. Head to a service right now!

Like I said, more tomorrow on Lent! Don’t miss it!

In other newlywed news, I’ve been ramping up my workout by adding in two days of cardio every week, in addition to 3 days of Pure Barre. I’m getting very very addicted to exercise – a concept I never thought I would understand!!!! If I can get excited about working out, any one can. Trust me. There is hope for us all!

Most of our other time this past week was spent with the furs – as usual – when we weren’t at work or working out:

Our little Lucy is a mama’s girl and she does NOT realize she is enormous and no longer a puppy! She is such a big girl nowadays she literally steps up onto the couch and lays down on top of me – and that’s the end of it. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz! and not a thing we can do about it! (And we wouldn’t have it any other way!)

Just look how much she’s grown!!!! This was taken just a year ago!

And finally, on Saturday, we went to LaGrange and had our hair done (Yes, Craig too!) 🙂 . Then we had a sweet visit with my grandmother, Mama Dee, and ended up going to dinner with my parents.

Pardon my red eyes! 🙂

We ate at The Farmhouse At Serenbe, and it was such a wonderful experience! I wish we had taken a picture with my lovely parents, but I think we were too mesmerized by the dessert to think about such things! Yum!

*Don’t forget about our giveaway! iParent.tv graciously donated this free one-year subscription to us, and we can’t keep it for ourselves! Maybe you know parents who could benefit? Enter to gift the subscription to them! Today – All you have to do is comment below. ANY (NICE) COMMENT AT ALL – wins you one entry!*

Join us tomorrow for our first Lenten Edition of Thirsty For Christ Thursday, and right now – head to an Ash Wednesday Service near you!

Oh, and one more thing! CLICK THE IMAGE for a beautiful and FREE Lenten devotional by the amazing Ann Voskamp, brought to you free of charge by Ann herself at A Holy Experience.

Your Devotional Is At The Bottom Of Her Blog Post – But Make Sure You Read That Too! How Beautiful!

Until tomorrow y’all,

Monica at Equipping Catholic Families

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Chris at Campfires and Cleats

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Tina at Truly Rich Mom

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Tracy at A Slice of Smith Life

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TTC Tuesday

All It Takes Is One

December 17, 2013 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres7 Comments

Good Morning Everyone!

Remember how I told y’all last week the Metformin is really helping my insulin resistance?! Well, it continues! Probably the most common ‘symptom’ of insulin resistance (which is the root cause and/or side effect – depending on how you view the situation – of PCOS), is fatigue, and not only has the medication greatly improved my morning commute to work, but this morning, I was able to leave the house at 4:45AM and make a Pure Barre class near my office that began at 6AM! I even made it through the 55 minute class, and arrived at work with 10 minutes to spare! Winning! 😉

Yay for Metformin and for exhilarating morning exercise!

In other TTC news, our doctor’s office called late last week to:

Let me know that after looking over my sonogram results, it appears I did have one mature follicle. (That’s improvement over NONE and means the Letrazole and Metformin are doing their duties!) ALL IT TAKES IS ONE!!! {Praying. Praying. Praying.}
Inform me the doctor had written “PCOS” on my sonogram results. “Ma’am, were you aware you have PCOS?” REALLY?!?!?!? Oh my goodness. This practice…

Craig & I both read an AMAZING daily blog you too can read here. Basically, it is a daily devotional based upon one of our favorite books (as you well know), Jesus Calling, and today’s devotion gave me chills as I read it – thinking in conjunction with our journey of hope, disappointment and sadness as we have tried to conceive to no avail.

Today’s Jesus Calling contains these words:

“Come to Me with your gaping emptiness… Facing the emptiness inside you is simply the prelude to being filled with My fullness… If you persevere in this dependence as you go through the day, you will discover at bedtime that Joy and Peace have become your companions. You may not realize at what point they joined you on your journey, but you will feel the beneficial effects of their presence.”

God is so good. Thank you, Lord, for the hope you give for tomorrow, and the joy and peace you provide for today.

Keep us in your prayers, please.

All Our Love,

Uncategorized

Blessings Through Raindrops

December 24, 2012 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

Yesterday morning I was fortunate enough to enjoy my morning coffee on our back deck, looking out into the distant hills and enjoying the crisp Georgia breeze. While I sipped my coffee, I prayed the same prayer Craig and I have been diligently praying for what seems like forever…and then glanced down to notice that what had once looked like tree-esque weeds, now were almost actual mini pine trees…Which reminded me that God provides. Always. Matthew 6:25-34 comes to mind and is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

And speaking of blessings in places you don’t expect, if you know THIS Newlywed Lefebvre, you know how much I despise dedicated exercise. I love to be outside hiking, playing ball, enjoying nature, swimming, but when it comes to saying, “Ok, time to exercise for 30 minutes,” typically, I would rather be told I would be denied food for a week. HOWEVER, Craig and I decided to start running together in the mornings during the week about a week ago and we have been pretty good about keeping it up, I’m even running on my own when he’s on the road. Why and how is this a blessing you might ask? Well, first, it’s more time we get to spend together. The extra hour in the mornings before I head off to the office have now become something we actually look forward to, and in ADDITION, we are doing something beneficial for ourselves! It also makes ME thankful for modern science…as we discovered one early morning last week, without my asthma inhaler and knee brace, running is…well…not a blessing! 😉

Craig called this morning to tell me he was heading out from Oklahoma City on the last leg of his trip right as I was using my inhaler and heading out the door for my run…he warned me about the rain…and about halfway into my run, it started POURING…and I was drenched! I considered picking up the pace and running straight back to the house, but then I looked up at the sky and I thought about those little pine trees in our backyard…and how God was providing for them everything they needed to grow and mature…and I thanked God for the rain and continued the final 15 minutes soaking wet! It helped to reiterate to me that GOD WILL PROVIDE for Craig and I, and we will keep praying and thanking Him for all we already have. We are so blessed.

“Blessings” by Laura Story

On a side note, we have been promising a picture of the dresser we refinished… This dresser is Stickley and when I found it a few years ago at the antique store it was stenciled in horrid varying shades of green and red and yellow…Hideous barely begins to describe it. People would see it in my old condo and comment on its ugliness! I assured them of its potential! If you have never heard of Stickley furniture, read about it here. The antique store where I found it didn’t know what it was either, and allowed me to take it off of their hands for a mere $200!!

After removing the horrible paint and sanding down the surface, we stained it a bluish grey and replaced all the knobs with clear glass ones:

What do you think? 🙂

Well, y’all, Happy Christmas Eve! I need to finish laundry so when my better half is home in a few hours we will have something to wear to this evening’s soirée, and finish getting ready myself! We wish you all the Merriest of Christmases! May God rain down His blessings on you all!

Much Love,

Pier & Craig