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.

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

A Porch With A View

August 28, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

If you’ve ever asked God to lead you and to work in your life miraculously, you know the warmth that overwhelms your entire being when you recognize His will, follow Him and watch Him work. It is absolutely incomparable to anything else you’ve ever experienced.

Almost a year ago to the day, Craig and I knew we were ready to move on from our house in Dallas. Where were we to go? We had no idea. But we knew it was time for something different. At the time, we figured just another house in Georgia would do, and so we set about looking at the worldly ‘figures’ of how we would make that transition. With the market the way it was, we knew our house needed something to make it stand out from the crowd and with our new addition, Lucy, we decided that something was a fence.

So, we started building. And while it was a great addition for Lucy, and not much later, Caroline, when we finally got around to putting our home on the market, the fence wasn’t enough. We needed something more.

We prayed. We asked for God’s Will to be done. We gave up OUR desires and OUR dreams and OUR “ME ME ME!” attitude, and we asked God to soften our hearts to hear His voice in the matter. It wasn’t long before we ended up at FullTurn Church, where we began to insurmountably grow in our faith, and it wasn’t long thereafter that Craig came to me with the ‘suggestion’ from God that we simply “PACK”.

As you know from previous blogs, we ignored that suggestion – until we absolutely couldn’t let His voice fall on deaf ears any longer, and we packed.

Never in our wildest dreams did we consider God would move us to Maine. But He did.

As I sit on our patio this afternoon, with a cool breeze blowing in my hair, I look out at the steeple and the cross I can see in front of me, and I feel the warmth of His Presence.

As I sat in my office at St. Bartholomew’s in Cape Elizabeth yesterday, I pondered how will I get everything ready for my youth group in time?!?! And God whispered, “Don’t worry. Follow me. I will show you. I will lead you. I will guide you. Don’t forget, I lead you here for my purpose.”

It is a wonderfully freeing understanding to realize that following Jesus doesn’t mean you are ‘dropped off in an unknown place’ and left to your own devices. It means that as long as you are in His Will, He’s holding your hand.

Isaiah 41:10

¹⁰Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Sometimes I don’t think we realize just WHO God is. The King of the Universe is your guide – not your horrible boss, or your overbearing ruler. He is both your Creator and your constant companion. Take heart.

Love You All.

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Conversations With God

August 7, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

So often people send me an e-mail or stop me in a conversation and tell me how ‘lucky’ I am that God speaks to me in the way He does. I have simply replied with a smile or a knowing nod, and left the topic at that. Thinking I should elaborate, but never delving into that discussion.

Until now.

This entire week, I have been nudged by the Lord to speak about this – about the way He speaks. To all of us. Yes, every single one. All we have to do (and we aren’t) is listen.

Job 33:14-18

¹⁴For God speaks in one way,
    and in two, though man does not perceive it.
¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on men,
    while they slumber on their beds,
¹⁶then he opens the ears of men
    and terrifies them with warnings,
¹⁷that he may turn man aside from his deed
    and conceal pride from a man;
¹⁸he keeps back his soul from the pit,
    his life from perishing by the sword.

Why do we think that the God of the Bible isn’t the same One who reigns today? He is the same miraculous, omniscient, wonderful Guide and Counselor who spoke to Moses, Abraham, Job & Paul. He wants nothing more than to have a real, true relationship with His children – and we are His children.

Let’s take into account what prayer is. Prayer is a conversation with God -conversation means both parties speak! When you pray you come to God was thanksgiving; you come to God with requests; you come to God with concerns. But do you realize that if you only sit and listen, He answers?

You may not hear from Him in verbalized words. He may speak to you as you are reading His Word. He may speak to you through a friend or loved one. He may speak to you in the written words of another. He may speak to you within a sign in the environment. Remember that this world is His creation, and He can speak to you however He chooses.

He chooses how you will listen best.

Personally, I have asked God to be blunt with me. I need that. I will be the first to admit I am hard-headed as a brick wall! And literally, He answered that prayer for me! He is blunt
with me… As long as I listen!

Think about the nature of God. The Bible tells us that God literally is love. So what kinds of things do you think of when you think of love? What are traits that go along with love? Generosity, kindness, happiness, goodness, caring, diligence, compassion … If God is love and these traits and many others are representative of love, then wouldn’t these things be spoken to you by God?

We humans, by nature, are not filled with love and generosity and peace and goodness. We are filled with the greed, with selfishness, with anger. These things are human traits. These things are of the world – not of God.

So when you feel something deep in your bones that is good, honest and pure. That is God. That is not you; that is not the world; that is not Satan.

When the desire to do something out of the kindness of your heart comes about, that is the Lord speaking to you.
You can even test what you heard to make sure that it is of God and not yourself. You can read the Bible to see if what you feel is coming from God is biblical. You can pray about what you feel God is telling you. You can see the work of God in the lives and environment around you, and qualify that it is verifiably from God.

If you are one of a married couple, you can speak to your husband or wife and let them know what you feel God is telling you. I tell Craig when I feel God is speaking to me. We both pray about what I feel the Lord is saying or what Craig feels God is telling him.

If it is truly from God, and not of ourselves, we will both begin to feel the same way and feel without a shadow of a doubt that the message is from God. If not, we know that it is a personal desire and not of the Lord.

For example, when we first put our house on the market, we looked at another home. We both, after much prayer, felt that the Lord was leading us to humble ourselves. We felt that He was leading us to do more for His Kingdom and less for ourselves. The home we felt He was leading us to would be small and well under our budget.

We found one that fit the bill and I, for one, fell in love with it! It was way under budget, and it was the kind of house I could see us in, complete with a front porch swing! Craig did not feel the same way. Not at all. But still I really felt like this could be our house!

We both prayed about it for months! But Craig never felt God speaking to him in that way at all! In the end, I realized it was my own personal desire. I felt the house would be a quick fix for us, and I personally wanted the house. God was not leading us to that place. He was, in fact, leading us to be more humble, but not to that house.

He really does speak to all of us! We need only be still and listen to him!

TTC Tuesday

Pack!

August 5, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

When we listed our home for sale on the morning of March 28th, it was with excitement and a sense of the unknown. We knew we wanted to move into a new home, but we weren’t sure where…or when…or what it would be like; we just knew that we were not living in “our” home. But besides the feeling we were living somewhere that wasn’t ‘the place for us’, there were no onlookers to our home, not many bites, no phone calls of interest….and frustration set in.

Not too much later – some time in April, Craig came to me and said, “God is asking us to pack.”

But, sadly, we didn’t listen. Each weekend there was a different excuse:

“I’m tired.”

“We’re too busy.”

“Where will the boxes go?”

“What will we eat off of if we pack up all the plates?”

…so we never really packed…

Until, one day, we truly decided to delve into making Maine our new home. We had chosen that I would take my Post-Baccalaureate pre-requisite courses through the University of New England – in Maine, and Craig would be flying out of Portland…On a whim, I sent out applications for several positions in the Portland area…and like a rocket got some responses…Then an interview…and then, I felt a still, small voice whisper that I needed to be looking in the local church bulletins, not on Craigslist.

And so I did… and lo’ and behold the first bulletin I found was for “Cluster 22” which included 3 parishes and a parochial school just outside of Portland…and they were looking for a Youth Minister…and contemporary musical talent.

Thank you, Lord, for your bluntness.

I need that.

I e-mailed the contact person…and she e-mailed back…and we scheduled an interview…

And before I knew it, I was standing in the narthex of St. Bartholomew’s in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, after just having seen what would be my office, and discussing Athens, Georgia – the common birthplace of both me and my interviewer!

The flight I non-revved home that evening was supposed to be full – as in no way, no how was I going to make that flight. And before I knew it, OVERSOLD turned into 7 available seats…and my name was miraculously at the top of the list.

I returned home excited. We talked things over. We prayed. I got a job offer from St. Bartholomew’s to become their Youth Minister. And then a phone call for a ‘shadow’ with the other position I had interviewed for.

I turned in my notice at work, and we began making plans to move. Packing.

And later that week, I received a phone call from a real estate agent. For some reason, she had chosen my number from the three listed – our realtor (my Dad), Craig and me – but I was at work and able to talk which is very unusual – and also in an extremely ‘tell it like it is’ mood.

She asked if she and her clients could view our home that morning. Craig just ‘happened’ to be home, and was able to spot-shine the house and take the dogs to the park – so that worked out perfectly. But before I let the agent get off the phone, I told her, “Please tell your clients, if they like our home, to make an offer. We are very motivated. We are moving to Maine, and we are ready to sell and move forward. Make an offer, ANY OFFER! Oh, and by the way, we have upped our commission to 4% for the buyers’ agent – just wanted to make sure you had seen that in the listing.”

And that evening, we received a phone call. Not only had we received an offer on our house. We received a full-price offer with (only) a 3% commission – not even taking the 4% we had offered!!!!

And today, when Craig was waiting for the inspector to show up the couple who have our home under contract made it a point to let him know, and to share with me, that our home was the answer to their prayers. They feel led by the Lord to our home!!

Whoa….

When we submit to His Will…the things that can occur are nothing short of miraculous!

The moral of the story is: “When He tells you to pack, don’t wait one single second. PACK NOW!”

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

How Much Faith Do We Have?

July 10, 2014July 10, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

FAITH

{PLEASE VIEW THIS POST WITHIN A BROWSER TO VIEW THE VIDEO(S) BELOW. THESE ARE PART OF THE EXPERIENCE FOR THIS POST.}

As Christians (as humans, really), we have a decision to make: our way or His.

Are we going to make decisions based solely on our desires or will we wait on our Lord to direct our steps? True surrender to God takes TRUE FAITH that God is The Supreme, Our All In All, The Lord of Our Lives. Is that the kind of faith we live with on a daily basis? Do we make our decisions and take our steps based on His Word or our whim?

Hebrews 11 is known as a text of the Bible that truly describes how to live a life of faith. (I urge you to read and study the whole chapter on your own. It’s powerful, friends.)

Hebrews 11:1-3

Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God. Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God’s command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.

FAITH makes us sure. Faith is confidence in God and in our total surrender to Him. And here, is also explained the difference between HOPE and FAITH. We don’t HOPE in God. We have FAITH in Him. “Faith makes us sure of what we hope for…” Hebrews 11:1a

The difference is this – Faith supersedes hope. Noah didn’t build his ark at God’s command because he HOPED it would rain. I seriously doubt he would have spent longer than the average person’s LIFE SPAN to build a huge boat on dry land based on something he only hinged HOPE on. Noah must have been 150%+ sure The Flood would come.

And THAT is the kind of faith we need to have.

Matthew 17:20

Jesus replied: It is because you don’t have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.

A mustard seed. Do you realize how teeny-tiny that is??

With THAT little faith, we can command a mountain to move. I am not one who believes Jesus spoke in riddles all the time. I have faith that the Bible is literal. Unless Jesus says He is telling a parable, I have faith (not hope) that the Bible is completely true, accurate and literally written. So, when God says it only takes mustard seed-sized faith to command mountains, I begin to wonder how teeny-tiny our faith is??

If mountains are not moving in your life, you need to increase your faith! Here are three simple steps to do just that:

HEAR, don’t just read silently, the Word of God.

Romans 10:17

No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ.

2. OBEY/LIVE OUT God’s Word, i.e. “Don’t just talk the talk; rather, walk the walk.”

James 1:22

Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.

3. PROVE God’s power in your life. The Lord tells us to test Him in one way – by tithing, with the first ten percent of your income.

Malachi 3:10-11

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty.

James tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3, NIV).

Faith. It changes everything.

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,

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Pray. Even On A Bad Day. Pray.

June 26, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Y’all.

It’s one of those days where I am so fired up about something at the office that I don’t even think I can write a blog. Not a soul-searching, Thirsty for Christ Thursday one for sure.

My mind is flooded with which e-mail to send to whom, what day which meeting is on and who to invite…and then there are the catty/chatty goings on about the office; my boss in my ear about my counterpart here at work; rumors that changes are ‘about to take place at the company’…. A lot of noise.

But it dawned on me that really, when you need to pray and worship most, you usually aren’t ‘in the mood’…

When you feel like praying the LEAST, that’s when you should the MOST.

{Watch the video above (in a browser) for a great song about prayer!}

He will get you through. Whatever storm cloud you’re caught up in – stress, sadness, worry, discouragement – Jesus, and Him alone, can pull you through your troubles.

John 8:12

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Colossians 2:7

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Let Him be your light. Even on the worst or most stressful day, He makes all things work together for the good.

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Relief

June 19, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres8 Comments

Aaaah…I can honestly say that one of my favorite parts of the week is going to the chiropractor. Each week I go, during lunch, and have an adjustment and then an hour-long massage. All the tense muscles from the stresses of daily life become relaxed, and I feel like a brand new girl.

Seriously. Hands-down. Best. Lunch. Ever. 🙂

But as I was lying there today, my muscles relaxing, my tension releasing, I heard the familiar PING of a text message come from my phone.

When my massage was complete, I checked my messages and saw the one that had arrived during my moment of relaxation. It was from my dad:

Ma is doing much better now. They moved her to a regular room; sodium levels are up and white count is down…Prayer does work. I’ll keep y’all updated.

Love, Dad

Wow.

The relief of that message took more tension out of my neck than the massage I just had had. And then, it hit me – The relaxation. The release. The awesome feeling of having a massage. That’s what God wants us to get from prayer.

Being in His Presence should be a wave of warmth and comfort and peace over us. Our faith in Him should lead us to healing. Out reliance on Him should cause tension to leave us because we don’t have any reason to worry when we are following the Lord with all that we are.

Matthew 11:28 (AMP)

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

Do you truly realize that we serve the God of the Universe who wants to hold us tight and make us feel like a million bucks?!

Just as I laid on the massage table this afternoon and my tired muscles found relief, so is the feeling for your whole body, soul, mind and spirit when you lift your heart up to God in prayer and worship. He wants to have a “Daddy” relationship with you!

Let him be your relief from this world.

P.S. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you who lifted up my grandmother in prayer! He listens. He answers. He is The Healer. He is The Sustainer. We are blessed with your prayers, your love and your friendship!

My Choice Monday

He Calls Us Out Upon The Waters, The Great Unknown…

June 16, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres3 Comments

So “My Choice Monday” means we can post about whatever we want to today, right? 🙂 It doesn’t have to be a product recommendation or a recipe, does it? Because I don’t have that for you today…

I do, however, have a recommendation in the way of life, though…

Have you ever sung or listened to a song a million times…and then FINALLY been struck – off guard – by the lyrics, and what the song actually means?

About 5 (+ or -) months ago, I was listening to the radio (Victory 91.5 – for all you Atlantans!) and one of the morning dj’s from Rise & Stein – my favorite show – mentioned this song that she just LOVED and was SO MOVED by: “Oceans” by Hillsong.

Although I love and adore Hillsong, I had never heard “Oceans”, nor had I even heard of it…So I set myself to looking it up as soon as I arrived at the office. I listened. And then I listened again. I liked the song…but it wasn’t my favorite. I’m certainly somewhat OCD when it comes to music – I like symmetry: A verse, a chorus, a verse, a bridge, a chorus. End of song.

But this song is not written that way. So I was a little distracted from the words.

At the same time, I felt like I needed to sing something on my own. And the Holy Spirit told me it was this song.

I wasn’t thrilled. It’s a little bit of an odd range for my voice. It isn’t the symmetrical type of song I jive with most of the time. And I hadn’t sung something so ‘full-of-spirit’ since my high school youth choir touring the U.S. days.

But, we got the backing track and Craig and I set to work on practicing and recording and perfecting this song over the months. And somewhere along the way, the Lord led us to FullTurn Church – where, as I was leaving my first Wednesday night, they played “Oceans” as the recessional-esque song. And then He led us to the knowledge of our future baby “Jonah Elizabeth” and we began ‘building our ark’, so to speak, in faith. He asked us to take a giant leap (of faith) and plug into a new church…and as we have moved at His Word…the lyrics of this song began to really sink in. It was like an ocean wave slapped me in the face with all of the truth standing right in front of me.

Read those lyrics. Whoa.

So, the recommendation for this My Choice Monday? Listen for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. Let your soul rest in His embrace, and allow Him to lead you – where your trust is without borders.

And while you’re at it, listen to this song {open in a browser}, and we will share the recording of my singing it on Sunday very soon!

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Encounter!

June 12, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

{To View The Video Below, Please Open This Post In A Browser By Clicking The Title (If Opening Within An E-Mail)}

We would absolutely truly appreciate your prayers during this time. We are so excited to see what God is going to do this weekend and how He will touch and change our lives!

Galatians 1:13-20

The Message (MSG)

13-16 I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God’s church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother’s womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.

The Apostle Paul’s encounter with Christ completely changed the entire course of his life, and we know that God can – and will! – reach out and dramatically alter our hearts, minds and souls to advance His kingdom – If we only open our hearts to Him, and say YES.

Until Monday, we bid you farewell! Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there, especially ours and the two NEW SOON-TO-BE DADS in our life – Mike & JW!!! All our love!