An Evening with Tim & Valerie Staples

 

Tim and Valerie Staples were invited by St. Peter’s moms group, at St. Michael’s Hall in El Cajon, CA, on June 19, 2009, to do a talk on Marriage, what the sacrament means, and their journey of faith.  Tim staples is a convert to the Catholic faith.  He has given hundreds of talks all over the country.  He is a writer, speaker and radio show host. Valerie is a full time mom, director of prepaid legal services.  She is a facilitator of ENDOW (education on the nature and dignity of woman) Catholic Scripture Study and is also the president of the Goretti girls, which is a group of Catholic teens in San Diego.

Tim and Valerie shared a touching story of how they met in the Adoration chapel during prayer. They faced a major challenge before their Marriage.  Tim suffered from seizures at first they began as mild, and later progressed as severe, where half of his body was almost paralyzed.  Knowing all of this Valerie continued her commitment in standing by Tim and agreeing to marry him.

They spoke extensively of their commitment to the sacrament of marriage and what it means.  When we make our vows there is the third person present-God!  God gives us the Grace to face any challenges in our marriages.  Just as Jesus kneeling at the garden of Gethsemane says yes to the cross, we too are saying yes to the crosses that we will face in marriage. There are joys and many sufferings in marriage.  The goal is to make saints out of each other and get each other to heaven.  Men are to die for their bride and women are to be like our blessed Mother ready to do God’s will.  We are to give 100% of our selves not 50% or 90%, but completely.  They spoke of the gift of NFP (natural family planning) and the blessings that has brought to their marriage.  We are to honor each other bodies even in our marriages. 

I loved their listening to their story.  They are a great example of faith as a couple.  They have a great zeal and love for their Catholic faith.  It was a great blessing to hear their story.  What an honor it was to have them come through our humble moms group.

Jeandark Putris