Steve and Jenny Valentine

FOUR MONTHS: Not a fan of tummy time Finding her voice and enjoys hearing herself make noises Responds to her name Smiles and coos when you say "I love you" Beginning to grab at toys STATS: 11 lbs 7.5 oz (for the win of littlest baby at 4 months that we've had!) 23.75 inches long I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking :) I came home from being out and she had been giving daddy fits, finally falling asleep on him. Cutest thing ever! still wanted to be swaddled, but began getting out of the swaddle. We were able to have her not swaddled at bedtime during month four. And when she gets enough rest, yes she does wake up like this! first father's day with Olivia in the bunch and all smiles! she could sit like this if we propped her against the arm of the couch and apparently happy about it! sitting with assistance enjoying the play yard and hitting the toys The day she turned four months old... ...

I have had the thought, "this {raising support} would be easier if we didn't have three small littles underfoot"...but then I hear Karis from the other room singing, " Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more ".  What a great reminder, yes 'tis so Sweet to trust in Jesus! Her sweet little voice just singing away, all Glory to God, and my heart once again is reminded to be thankful. To trust Jesus in this entire process of raising support. To lean on the only One who is capable to sustain us, provide for us and give us the grace to {continue} to trust Him more. If I didn't have Karis, Isaac and Olivia around, I might possibly miss out on some pretty good lessons the Lord is teaching me. We read them devotional stories from a great children's book, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing and just recently I read them the story about the mustard seed (as mentioned in the Bible in Luke 17). The words in the devotional pierced my heart.....

We are sitting here on the couch, discussing the events of the past 24 hours and finding ourselves grateful and in awe. We do not believe in chance or coincidence, but we believe God's hand was completely in orchestrating all parts of selling our home. TIMELINE of EVENTS: Thursday-sign paperwork to list house. Friday-Realtor listing home. Saturday (late night)-house was officially listed. Tuesday evening-message about showing the house on Wednesday (Found out that they would have shown it Tuesday instead but couldn't get a hold of us, only to find out they were dialing the wrong number!) Wednesday evening-potential buyers view the house. Wednesday later evening-call from our Realtor saying that the family will be sending an offer letter. Thursday (at 6:15am)- open email to find the offer letter. Thursday morning-conversations between Realtor and those making offer to finalize on an acceptable offer.  Thursday afternoon-set closing date for September 3, appraisal ...

During our orientation with Converge Worldwide, we were able to record a short video about our journey to Poland. Check it out  HERE ...enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a missions conference at a church in the North East. I was invited to come as a representative of the organization that I work for and to meet with people who were interested in serving cross-culturally. I was excited to attend the event as I find great joy in seeing God raise up his people to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. As I arrived at the church on the first evening of the event I was handed a schedule that highlighted the weekend’s events.  On the docket for the weekend were times of prayer and fellowship, a short film, and guest speakers who would address the topic of sharing your faith in a Middle Eastern context. There was one item in particular that stood out as I combed through the schedule, a time in which the men would visit with a prominent religious leader of from another religious background. I was excited for this opportunity and had no idea what to expect. The following day, when it came time fo...

Olivia turned three months old a couple weeks back. As I sat and nursed her the other night I thought about how she is a quarter of a year old already.  Wow...we have survived a quarter of a year with three kiddos.  OK, it's been a joyful (and hard) three months! For our family, Steve and I have agreed that the transition to three children was a lot more challenging then the transition to two children.  And here is what I would say to anyone reading this who may have not heard me say it already in person...every family's experience IS different!  I had people tell me going to three was easier, but most said it was harder.  However, I chose to believe the few that said it was easier and was quite shocked after Olivia was born and found myself in such a struggle as to figure out how to manage this beautiful (yet full) household of little blessings! Our littlest girly, Via (as Isaac so affectionately calls her!), is learning new things... She sucks fiercely on ...