Nothing better illustrates the nature of life than the seasons of nature: seasons for growth, seasons for harvest, seasons for work, and seasons for rest. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 In May we announced a season of rest (at least from The Valley) for us as Emily got […]
Last week I shared the first half(ish) of a sermon our pastor preached a couple of months ago, titled “Humbly Ministering for His Glory.” The text is II Corinthians 4:7-18 and offers so much encouragement to those of us in chronic illness. Here are the main points so far: God identifies you as precious vessels. […]
A couple of months ago, the pastor of my church preached a sermon from II Corinthians 4:7-18 that really encouraged me in my chronic illness struggles. With his permission, I’m sharing his outline and both our notes in hopes the message will encourage you too. The message was titled “Humbly Ministering for His Glory.” I. […]
About a year ago I wrote a series of posts called Lessons From Job, sharing things God taught me from my devotional reading of the book of Job. I’m following the same Bible reading schedule this year and recently came through Job again. This time God spoke some new truths to my soul that encouraged […]
Thank you, Janeen, for sharing your story with us! Tell us about yourself! Hi, there! I’m just an ordinary woman who serves an extraordinary God! I’m almost 64 yrs old, married to Ray for almost 40 years. Together we’ve raised 9 children and 1 in heaven, and enjoy our 5, soon-to- be 6 grandchildren. I […]
Click here to read last week’s post. Recap: 1. You are not the main character, God is. 2. God has a plan, it’s for good, and it will be accomplished in your life. 3. God wants to use your suffering Another theme that shows up often on this blog is God’s redemption of our pain […]
Have you ever listened to a sermon that fit in all the right places where you needed that exact encouragement, perspective, or conviction (or all three), as if God custom built the message to your current situation? That’s how I felt when I listened to a Youtube sermon on the life of Joseph, preached by […]
I had a party the other night. You should have been there. Really, it was spectacular–deflated balloons, tattered streamers, clumpy confetti, flat soda. It was probably the most extravagant pity party in the history of pity parties. I didn’t mention it was a pity party? Well, now you know. I was celebrating a late night […]
Happy One Year Anniversary! This week we celebrate one year of The Valley’s website and blog, and we invite you to join us! Here’s how we’re celebrating: Free Devotional We’re so excited to send our new, free ebook, “10 Truths for Christian Women in Chronic Illness,” to anyone who subscribes to the blog! These thoughts […]
When was the last time you read Judges 7? If it’s been a while, or if you’ve never heard this well-known story, here’s the quick version. Context In the book of Judges, the Israelites have settled into the Promised Land, Canaan, while also settling into a cycle of typical human behavior: disobedience to God, captivity […]
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