Darren LeBlanc

A couple new galleries:

Kyleigh, Taylor, Kelsey and Spencer

Sarah

I deleted a comment from yesterday. I don’t do that often. There was nothing offensive or anything, but there was a link…to a site to pray for a girl Abby. First, I need you to know that I am  100% in support of praying for Abby, and I encourage you to continue that. But I took the link down because I am not sure I agree with some of his statements. I do not have the time to read this whole site and respond to everything, so I have pulled the link. Please email me links if you would like them posted in the future.

I, unlike the writer of Abby’s blog, believe that your prayers can affect the outcome in a situation. And as such, I ask you all to pray for my friend Nicole. She has a pretty significant surgery coming up (most likely monday) and I’d like to lift her up. She has a pseudo-tumor that causes her eye sight to black out. Her surgery will hopefully save her vision. To give you a little background, Nicole lives in Detroit and our paths had never crossed until she emailed me a few months back about heping me publicize Misty’s story (while we were still expecting a miracle). Well, one thing led to another and Nicole ended up being the Marketing Director for Anthem of Hope. She has quickly become a great friend and a major driving force in AoH. I hope you can join me in praying for her today. You can visit her and leave a comment at:  http://nicole-lifeadventures.blogspot.com/

PS…On a completely different note: I was thinking something nice about someone today, so I just told them out of the blue. It made a difference in their day. Hmmm…we should do that more often :)

Last January I wrote this: 

Dear Abby,
I’m addicted.

It’s been a few years really; I’ve been hooked ever since the drug was first so casually, yet so ubiquitously, pumped into communities across America. As with most drugs, the more you feed it the worse it gets. Increased heart rate, cold sweats, mild euphoria and insomnia are just a few of the very real effects I have experienced. I find myself lying awake at night knowing I need to sleep, but just needing one more dose. One more is never quite enough.

The good news is that availability in my region is limited, so I’m able to manage my addiction moderately well. I find myself only able to use for a few days out of a year. A few days and I’m through all the DVDs I get from the dealer…then I have to wait for the next season of 24 to come out.

Sincerely,
Addicted in Long Branch

Well, the next season of 24 starts tonight. Good luck to all of you addicted souls :) As for me, I’ll be hanging with my Olivia till bedtime, then working on Anthem of Hope. That’s the routine lately…and unfortunately there wont be room for my favorite vice. However, this post is of utmost importance, beacuse while I’m not participating in the weekly revelries, I do intend to fully overdose on the DVDs at some later date in my life.

So… don’t tell me what happens!!!

Click on the picture to check out the photo gallery from Olivia’s 2 yr birthday. Thanks to Ann for being a great photographer and taking all of these.

There were a few others from this party that I took in this gallery.

Ok, first I need to thanks Shannon for posting those pictures to facebook. I really got a kick out of them. They were from my 6th grade trip to PEEC (pocono environmental education center). It was 1992 and apparently baseball hats were “in”. I had a black Chicago Bulls hat plastered to my head for a good two years (I was ashamed of my curls back then).

And thanks to Colleen for bringing up the fact that at least 6000 people around this globe have told me I look like Justin Timberlake. Here is me in 6th grade and him in the mickey mouse club:

And no, Misty wasn’t in the first picture. She and I unfortunately didn’t meet until high school (and we went to separate schools).

I don’t know what it is, but I get an uncanny amount of people telling me I look like one person or another. It’s really quite odd how often I get this and how varied the comparisons. I made a list a couple years back of all the comparisons people have made – I’m going to try to find it. It was quite amusing.

In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a couple recent ones (within the past year) that are pretty comical. These are 100% true comments I have gotten from people:

1) Fidel Castro (when I wear my green hat)
2) Mr Tumnus (the fawn-man in chronicles of narnia)
3) The “free-credit-report-dot-com guy” (the one that sings)

Oh there are so many more…

ps…i need to create a category called “if you have anything significant to do, don’t waste time reading this post”. This will be the first entry :)

I’ve been kinda MIA the last couple weeks (meaning I post like 3 times a week instead of 7!). I apologize to those of you who still look for daily posts here. I have been working over 50hrs a week on Anthem of Hope and with my mandatory Daddy-Livi time everyday and my full time day job, I’m just too wiped at 3am to stay up later and type (haha). Anyway, thats where I’ve been lately.  I suspect I’ll be back to everyday post someday…but not now.

That reminds me…A friend of mine posted these on facebook a couple months back. Can you find me? (if you happen to be in this picture or something, or you are my mom…you can’t vote!)  And if I’m guessing right, this was probably only about 3 years before I started dating Misty…we were so young.

For a while now, Olivia will respond to an I love you with “I Yove You”. That is of course nice in and of itself. Then recently, she will break out with that line out of no where…with no prompting. Well, tonight we hit a new level. I was tucking her into her new big girl (well…big little kid) bed and I said, “I love you Liv”. Without batting an eye she responded “I yove you more”. Not sure where she heard that one. That was it though…uncontrollable smiling inevitably followed.

I was reading part of the book of Luke today and I wanted to share a verse:

Luke 14
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Most scholars would agree that Jesus is speaking figuratively here, suggesting a priority of relationships. I would tend to agree because certainly the rest of the Bible supports loving your family, not hating them. But the strength with which this comparison is made certainly raises concern. It makes me think: Is there a clear delineation between 1st and 2nd priority in our lives? Is it obvious that we love God more than our family? And what does that even look like? How do you actually “love” God more than your family?

I see this from a different angle today than I did when Misty was alive and healthy…but what about Olivia? Do I love God more than Olivia? Hmm…not sure. Food for thought for today I guess (or tomorrow…its 3am and I need to get to sleep).

I need some volunteers to comment on sections of the Anthem of Hope cd set…as they are created. Right now, I have the scriptures compiled for the Encouragement Disc and need comments before we hit the studio with the hired voices. If you are interested in reviewing the script, please send an email to the address found in the contact page on this site. (go up to the right top and click contact) Please put AoH in the subject line.

Thats all for now. Hope your weekend is going well :)

Tonight seems like a bit quieter than many new years eve’s. The big 2008 seemed to just retreat quietly without as much attention as usual. In light of that…there is something I’m finally bringing myself to write about. It’s not a theological discussion, so let’s stay away from that…just something that is on my heart often.

We all know that I think the world of my Misty. She was an extraordinary woman…for many reasons. And one of those reasons is that she was amazingly discerning. She always knew things that other people didn’t pick up on. She seemed to have perhaps a sixth sense, if you will, about many things in life.

In the final few weeks of Misty’s life, she began to act differently. She would run her hand down the back of my neck, more affectionately than usual. She would make eye contact for longer as if she wanted to say something, but the words weren’t there. And she would sit and watch so intently as Olivia would play. It was as if she were drinking in every moment…cherishing every smile and every laugh.

When we were in the hospital that first day of her last stay there, she was in and out of consciousness all day. When she was awake, she wasn’t able to do much…but she rubbed my hand. She held my hand and moved her fingers around as best as she could. A couple times during the day and during the night she’d wake and rub her hand on mine for as long as she was awake. The next morning she went into a seizure and came out in a coma. Her hand rubbing that night was the last communication I got from my best friend.

I didn’t know it then, but I believe she was saying goodbye – all those last few weeks, just saying goodbye. I believe she was saying that she knew it was time and that I shouldn’t worry. It seems clear now. I remember that she tried to tell me she knew she was going to die – it was only a few weeks earlier and she wanted me to guess at what she was thinking (she couldn’t talk at all) and that is where we ended up. I basically ignored that and told her we were believing God for a miracle. But she was a step ahead of me. She trusted God so intimately that she was ready for whatever was next. She wasn’t stuck on needing to be on this earth anymore..she was ready to be used by God in whatever capacity he chose…whether in life or in death. It was the extension of that faith that stirred so many of our hearts.

So, as we quietly say goodbye to 2008, I can’t help but remember another goodbye of 2008. A parting that, unlike this evening’s expected calendar change, cannot be characterized as quiet, expected or usual. As Misty slipped away, she wasn’t able to physically say anything at all, but her life spoke so loudly and served as an example for many. She is missed tonight and every night of the year, but I’m so thankful for the years I did have with her and for the legacy of faith she has left for me, for Olivia, and for many of you.