Steve and Jenny Valentine

Advent is a time between Thanksgiving and Christmas where we celebrate the birth of Christ.  A time of remembering, to be thankful and ponder the many fulfilled promises that came through the birth and life of Christ.  We are enjoying this family devotional so far for this Advent season (published by our former church in Dallas): http://www.thevillagechurch.net/mediafiles/advent-guide.pdf Having time together as a family is a great way for us to talk and reflect about things that matter most during the holiday season.  Check it out!

I am a needy person.  Most people don't want to admit that about themselves, in fact, I don't really like admitting that about myself, but I am.  Even worse, some people fool themselves and say they are not needy, so therefore wouldn't need to own up to that fact about themselves.  Of course we do this...we live in a culture where we do not "need" anything from anyone.  We can literally provide for ourselves (given that we have the proper resources)... We have stores very close to our homes, where we can buy all the food, clothes and anything we need and/or want.  Or we could just stay in our home and order what we need off the Internet and have it delivered to our home, how about that for service! We have restaurants to serve us Entertainment at our fingertips Theme parks (especially for us Orlando folks) Cell phones (most with Internet access these days) Social media (where we burn up hours of time looking at peopl...

It has been a busy month in the Valentine home! Here are some things we're excited about: We're having a baby girl!  I'm 25 weeks crossing into the third trimester!  I had a moment the other day where this really hit me and I thought, 'oh no, I'm not ready to have this baby yet'!  Good thing the Lord has a plan and purpose for a pregnancy and Lord willing we still have 3 more months to prepare for our daughter's arrival.  We're currently attending birthing classes that we really enjoy and are both learning a lot.  The baby moves around all the time now and it brings a smile to my face whenever she moves around-even early in the morning!  (Pictures of me at 24 and 25 weeks below) Steve is almost done with his first year of seminary, I'm so proud of him!  He will take a break during the summer from classes and focus on raising support for his internship. We're moving into a house (if all goes as planned)!  When we found out our rent ...

Steve turned in his final papers and is studying like crazy to take the last of his tests for the semester!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with dad coming to visit and spend a week here with us.  I traveled to Chicago this week for work and have decided very strongly I hope to never live in a cold climate again...I was cold from the moment I got off the plane Monday morning until I got back to Florida last night!  I will say, though, that it was a great time to get away and spend some me time just reading and relaxing at the days end of work.  I never thought I'd say this, but I was so excited to get back to Florida-to see my husband, friends, co-workers, family and feel the great Florida heat! Here are a few pics of Steve and I recently taken-Thanksgiving day-yes my  hair is shorter :) It seems lately, there has been much endurance, heartache, pain, grief and healing taking place (some in our lives) but also in the ...

I like when I hear a song and it stirs my affection for the Lord and points me to worshiping the Creator God. I heard a song today that we used to sing at our church in Dallas as I was browsing someone's blog/website. It made my heart happy to hear it because it made me remember the sweet fellowship we had with our church in Dallas, but more importantly because the words are very powerful nuggets of truth. The name of the song is called Hosanna-Hosanna is a Hebrew word which means please save or save now , it can also be a cry of praise or adoration of Jesus. My prayer would be that, as the words sing out in this song, those who do not know Christ as savior personally in their lives would know Him and be saved and that adoration would proceed from my lips to point others to this saving Grace found only in Christ. (The words are below and I have attached a link to listen to, may it bless you today and the truths run deep in your heart). Hosanna http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

It has been a busy few weeks around here! We had my brother and his family in town a few weeks ago staying with us and then after they left, Steve's brother and wife were in town for baby showers and such. On top of that, Steve has been pressed to the max at work and it doesn't seem like it will let up until the end of May. So last week we attempted to lay low so that we could both recoup from the previous week's hectic schedules. Rest is important for your soul. I feel like I've recouped mostly, however, Steve still seems a bit burnt out and since work doesn't look like it's going to slow down for him anytime soon in the upcoming weeks, I have suggested that he maybe take a day of vacation so we could get out of town for a weekend...so he can get away from the stress of work and find rest. I really hope we'll be able to do so! As far as preparations go for Florida...because it's been so busy, we really haven't thought much about any details much...

There are many things in life that can be "out of place" without causing a much of a problem. For instance, In my classroom at my school there is a great chance during the day, with 56 kids in the room, for some stuff to be misplaced. Sometimes papers are placed in the wrong pile, supplies not returned, or books not put where they belong. When this happens it puts a small inconvience in the day. Now if I were to misplace one of my students this would be a different conversation. When things are not in their place in the classroom, though, I have not only myself to blame but also those 56 little ones that blur in and out of my room. My first tendency is usually to blame them. Funny though, many times it was me who misplaced something. Yet day by day my first response is to turn to the kids when something goes missing or is not in its place. What about in my own llife? My spiritual life (I say this loosley believing that my life in Christ has everything to do with everythin...