Steve and Jenny Valentine

A lot has happened in the past few weeks....so let's REWIND a little! A little about Steve's job: Shortly after Steve was offered and signed the paperwork for the tutoring job...he found out that there would be a conflict in his school/work schedule. We found out that he would lose his financial assistance if he wasn't taking all his classes (to make him full time) on campus. In order for him to work the tutoring job, he would have to take some classes online and some on campus (still being full time but not all classes on campus). Well the day we found out he'd lose his financial assistance from RTS if he did this, we started to wonder what we should do. That day at lunch he received a call for an interview at another job and told them he'd call back later after speaking with me about it. We started to weigh the options and came to the conclusion that it really wouldn't hurt for him to go to the interview and see what would happen. Plus the schedule wo...

God has been softening my heart to start teaching me some things about myself two weeks ago...He has been showing me that I am all to often reliant on my own efforts, my own abilities and my own decisions. That I don't rely on Christ for His Strength , understand that He gives me the ability to work through things and His Ways are better than my ways. I think a lot of this may stem from the way I grew up, being thrown into a world of independence and self-reliance. Although it's good to be a healthy, well rounded individual, as a Christian, I'm not supposed to be autonomous in the way the world would define it (Dictionary.com would define this as: self-governing; independent; subject to it's own laws only). As a believer in Christ I am to rely and depend on Him and His provision and direction of my life. However, the influence of the world can fog my mind sometimes. I especially realize that I'm falling prey to the way of the world when I keep trying at something...

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV) Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. I’ve always been the type of person that has a plan. I keep my “planner” close at hand in case something comes up throughout the day to plan a time and date. I plan all day long in my job… I plan meals for dinner… I plan how bills will get paid on time… I plan the budget… I plan the best way to get to there from here… I plan my day and make a checklist… I even plan how better to plan! I think you get it…I’m a planner! I’ve come to learn that being a planner isn’t a bad thing, especially when it's not your spouses strength…we complement each other well. Steve has the ideas, dreams and pursuit; I have the plan on how we are going to get there or get it done! So it’s not a bad thing, HOWEVER, I have learned that my interesting intricacies that God has placed within me, can be a drawback as well. Especially in light of what Proverbs 19:21 tells us. I can make al...

I’ve really been learning the importance of and joy that is found in the Truth of God’s Word lately. Not that this thought hasn’t ever occurred to me before, but something seemed to stir my affections for the Lord the other day about God’s Word. I was sitting in church and the pastor said something that stuck with me. He said we need to be “preaching to ourselves daily about the truths found in God’s Word”. This thought really changed the way I read scripture in the days following. I’ve known the importance of God’s Word for a long time and have thought that I need to be in the Word, studying the Word, meditating on the Word and saturating my life with the Word…BUT…if I’ve made a point to do that, how come in certain times of difficulty I say things like, “I know God is faithful but…”? If I truly did understand His promises that He talks about in Scripture, would I doubt Him and follow that statement with ‘but’? Most likely, as human, I would doubt at certain times in life…but ...

I'm reading a book right now and there is a chapter about stress. The author quotes another author saying this, "Our reaction to stress is an important key to longer, better living. When we feel stressed out, will we give up or keep going? Will we see it as an irritation or a challenge? Will we blow a fuse or let it charge us up? We hold the key. We can decide whether stress will work for us or against us--whether stress will make us better or bitter." This got me thinking...how do I handle stress, and especially, how have I handled it lately? Steve and I have felt stress (good and bad) in the past few weeks with weighty decisions we have been making about the future. When we first made the decision to go to Florida, I do not feel like we handled stress very well. This past week, however, after sorting through some things, I feel like we have handled stress a lot better. We are doing better at keeping things in perspective. I resonate with the above quote...becaus...