Can you believe it’s the end of 2021 already? I can’t. It seems like we started January yesterday, and here we are coming to another January in just a few days. It’s the time of year when we look back in reflection over the past twelve months and look ahead in anticipation to the next […]
If there’s one thing we understand in the valley of chronic illness, it’s limitations. To be human is to be limited, of course, but to have a chronic illness is to recognize those limitations a little more keenly: all the things we can’t do, all the ways our bodies break down on us, all the […]
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, my pastor preached a powerful sermon on thankfulness. This sermon changed how I look at several aspects of thankfulness and challenged me to be a more thankful daughter of God. With my pastor’s permission, I’m sharing his main points and both our notes with you in the hopes that what God […]
Last week I shared some themes that encouraged me from The Horse and His Boy, book two in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. This week I’d like to discuss some thoughts on prayer based on my reading of the next book in the series, Prince Caspian. Note: as I said before, these books are […]
I know we said we were taking a break this month (and we are), but God gave me this blessing unexpectedly, and I wanted to share it with you in time for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving! The Girl Who Was Going to Spain I stood between two headstones, hands in my coat pockets, shivering in […]
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. […]
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 […]
The Valley