Valentine's Day
.jpg)
A Year of Growing
G-Growing seems to be the best word to pick as a theme for our past year, in more ways than one! Growing through difficult moments, growing in our marriage, Karis growing like a weed and watching Jenny's belly grow with little baby Isaac inside of her! God has been faithful through each moment and we can’t help but be thankful for His goodness to us.
R-Rest is not something we have felt much of over the past few months. Steve’s job keeps him fairly busy and with Jenny being pregnant and several sicknesses traveling from each of us during the entire month of January, we have found ourselves a bit worn out lately! We decided that it would be good to take a much needed break before baby number two is born. So the first weekend of February, Karis had fun at her first sleep over with her cousins and aunt and uncle! Meanwhile, Steve enjoyed a day of playing golf while his caddy, Jenny, read a book without interruption in the golf cart and relaxed! We were able to enjoy a quiet dinner and an overnight stay in a local hotel. It was refreshing and we were very grateful for this time to slow down and rest.
O-Orlando is still becoming home for us, even after almost 3 years of living here. We often feel that this is not where we will settle down for years to come, but we know that the Lord has us here for certain reasons in this season of our lives. Steve has experienced many changes within his job but is gaining priceless experience through it all. Jenny really enjoys getting to know the neighbors and have frequent play dates with the other mothers and their children on our block. She meets new people all the time with little ones and it has created a fantastic opportunity to love our neighbors.
W-Work situations have changed drastically for us this past year. In June, Steve was offered the Director of Recruitment/Assessment/Deployment position at Converge Worldwide on a permanent basis (instead of just temporary as it started out) and this allowed for Jenny to quit her full time job at Converge Worldwide and stay at home full time with Karis. This has been a tremendous blessing for us and we couldn’t be more thankful for how the Lord orchestrated the entire process.
I-Isaac Haddon Valentine is due March 7, 2012 and we anxiously await his arrival! Jenny thinks it would be great to have a Valentine’s Day baby, but since that would be a bit early, we joke about how he could be a leap year baby instead! The last doctor appointment showed a healthy baby heart beat and a growing belly! We are hoping to deliver him naturally this time and avoid a second C-section for Jenny. We continue to pray that he remains head down and Jenny goes into labor on her own. Should those circumstances not happen as we hope, a C-section is scheduled for March 15, 2012. Whenever he comes, we are praying for the Lord to provide for all our needs, that he will arrive safely and Jenny will recover without complications. *We found out last week (after we had written this letter) that he is head down, so we praise God for this*
N-No Steve has not quit school to work full time. He is still pursuing his master’s degree at RTS and takes classes on a part time basis and as his work schedule allows. We anticipate him being done between December 2012-Spring 2013. We continue to pray and seek out what the Lord may have in store for us following his graduation. We ask that you join with us in praying that we will have discernment in the Lord’s leading.
G-God! This is the answer we hear from Karis when we ask her, “Who made you?” As we teach our daughter about her Creator, it has been a constant reminder to us that we serve an amazing God who did in fact make us (and all things) for His glory alone. We are often overwhelmed by God’s goodness to us through Jesus Christ and know He loves us more than we can imagine! This Valentine’s day, we hope that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. 3: 17-19
Enjoying God’s great LOVE for us,
Steve, Jenny & Karis Valentine
Comments
Post a Comment