A new LeBlancLife Blog!
After a few years of hibernation, my inner blogger is itching to write again. The timing is quite good actually because God is doing some incredible things with my family, my friends and in my community and I feel like the stories must be told. LeBlanc Life has always been a place for transparent dialog about faith in the midst of struggles and my hope is that once again this can be a place for that, albeit in a different context.
My family is wrestling with the next hardest thing we’ve experienced; now instead of cancer, doctors and drugs my family is branching out to plant churches for a people group that has largely given up on church.
Where are the LeBlancs?
For those of you who have followed for a while, I want you to know things are great! Due to nothing of my own personal doing of course, God has blessed me and Kristin in ways we never imagined. We have three incredible girls, Olivia, Sophia and Amaia. They are just these beautiful, smart, happy girls that make me feel like I’m on the top of the world. That said, most days as parents of three feel like we can just about barely hang on! Parenthood is crazy! But there is beauty and joy in the midst of chaos, for those with eyes to see it. We live in NJ around so many longtime friends and three wonderful extended families (yes, mine, Kristin’s and Misty’s). We are thankful.
On the professional front, I’m the VP of a small company that does some really great engineering work. I get to work with some of the smartest people I have ever met and do some pretty cool stuff to help make the world a better place. I’m also pastor of a new church called Branch Church. Branch is a church uniquely about collaboration across demographic and denominational boundaries for the sake of connecting with the next generation. We want to plant new churches that reach all generations and help revitalize older churches to do the same. There is SO much to discuss and I’m excited to share about that soon!
In the next couple posts I’ll be sharing about where we are with ANTHEM OF HOPE and with BRANCH CHURCH.
What about the old blog and the stories about Misty?
There were many of you who walked with me here each day through my chronicles of faith and doubt; of life and of death. You all made LeBlanc Life an award winning blog followed by almost 10,000 people daily. We all watched as my first wife, Misty, fought so well against the impossible enemy of glioblastoma (or “GBM,” a stage IV brain cancer). Since then, people around the globe have shared stories with me about how Misty’s faith during that time radically changed their lives. People have come to Jesus because of her faith. I’m thankful for the way God used the hell in our lives to introduce others to heaven.
Unfortunately, the old LeBlanc Life site was wiped out by an internet virus. Thanks to some web magic though, we have been able (with the help of web genius Scott Basgaard) to get all the posts about Misty in order on a new site. To honor Misty’s legacy, every last post post about her is saved at MistyLeBlanc.com. Here are a few of a few well known posts:
- BACK TO THE DAY MISTY DIED – a memoir from 6 months later
- MY ENCOURAGEMENT, MY COMPANION – my post from the night Misty passed
- NO MORE CHEMO – I’m still inspired by Misty’s strength in response to her prognosis of 2 weeks to live.
- BRIEF HISTORY – summary of things through July 2008
- ART & THANKSGIVING – I am still shocked by this image of how much medication she was taking
That site will remain as both a memorial for generations past, and as a source of faith and hope for generations to come. Misty’s faith during her too-short season on this earth will continue to bless, encourage and challenge.
That’s all for now, but more again soon. I’m looking forward to this.
Darren
If you’d like to get very infrequent updates about major things here, you can add your email address to our occasional mailing list HERE
Or, if you’d like to be notified of ALL new posts immediately, you can follow the blog through bloglovin: SUBSCRIBE HERE
Scroll down to leave a comment 🙂
Ann Valerio
LeBlanc Family
Always love watching you all grow in so many ways.Its unique and Gods way for each of you.
Darren
Oh thanks Ann 🙂
Nicole
I’m so excited to see you blogging again! It brought me so much hope to read your blogs in the past and I really look forward to hearing about all of the great things happening going forward!
Darren
Thanks Nicole! Hope all is well with you!
Lois Gelman
Darren, Through your old blog, I felt like I knew you before I even met you. I love your transparency in your blogging and I’m looking forward to reading your blog! You are Blessed!!
Darren
Thanks Lois!
Thanks for the encouragement!
Alison
We love to read these updates. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing you, your family (married by your grandad, get an anniversary card every year!), playing soccer with Misty at CJ and Mark knowing Kirstin. It’s an interesting Mix of life events. In this area, we are very interested to hear about a new local church!
Darren
Hey Alison! My grandmother is good at sending cards isn’t she?! And, yes – it’s crazy and beautiful how small the world is 🙂
More on Branch Church coming soon!