Steve and Jenny Valentine

Being a person who is musically inclined, I often find myself being encouraged by music, by the lyrics and find my spirit lifted. In fact, all along our journey to move to Poland, I can pin point certain songs from different phases of the process and what each song meant to us in those moments…music is powerful! Steve also enjoys music and as a family we like to play certain songs (rather loudly) in the car and sing at the top of our lungs. In turn, our children (even little Olivia) will clap and sing to the songs. It has become a normal family tradition when we ride in the van. One of those songs lately that we will crank up is called Forever. We had been given the latest Passion CD from a sweet friend (along with some fun busy games for kiddos) as a gift before we left on our month long trip last month. We are grateful for this sweet friend and her thoughtfulness in giving us this gift before we left, because we found ourselves blessed (during our travels) by the music on the cd da...

So I've been reflecting a lot in the past few days about how soon we leave Texas! One month from today we will be leaving and driving across several states to start our lives in the Sunshine state. Seems kind of crazy to think about this. One day I seem so joyful and full of excitement and the next day I cry over a Bethany Dillan song I play as I get ready for work! We are so thankful to see how the Lord has been working in our lives in the past week and will continue to do in the upcoming weeks, months and years. Things I'm currently thankful for at the moment... God teaching me new things each day. Being able to speak truth to those I'm around daily. Pepa who listens to me talk and buys me ice cream when I have a long day! My small group girls and sushi. My wonderful husband. Jenny

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...