Monthly Archives: May 2015
Silly Visitors
This was the last visit The Three J’s made to Minnesota…before they MOVED HERE!!!! It was a short visit, but we packed a lot of laughs in. It was warm enough to play games outside, and when Ryan came after classes, the boys had fun riding on his shoulders around the yard (they called these rides ‘neck rides’).
Jordan had some studying for his math test coming up, which Grandma had fun doing with him. While he was doing that, Judah piled toys on Kristina’s head and Sam played with Kristin’s hair.
Katie and The Three J’s drove back to Missouri on Monday to start packing…within a week they were on the road to live in Minnesota!
{Springbrook} Blue
Whenever I’m feeling blue I take myself to Springbrook for a long walk and talk with God. The week I took these was particularly frustrating. Although I had only an hour at Springbrook, it was soothing enough to help me face the upcoming week.
Egg Hunting
These days, what Easter is complete without an Easter Egg Hunt and loads of candy for the kids? Sam and Tyler had their hunts on Saturday…it was the perfect day! Sam helped make breakfast. Later while Ty slept, she went hunting.
When Tyler woke up he got his own egg hunt. 
PS – Happy Mother’s Day to all the awesome mom’s (that would be ALL moms)! 🙂
Women of Valor
A woman of valor who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Proverbs 31:10
A while back, Rachel Evans Held wrote a book titled A Year of Biblical Womanhood. I was following her blog when she was writing the book, and one thing that has stuck with me is when she learned from her new friend, Ahava, more about the woman in Proverbs 31:
“Every week at the Sabbath table, my husband sings the Proverbs 31 poem to me,” Ahava explained. “It’s special because I know that no matter what I do or don’t do, he praises me for blessing the family with my energy and creativity. All women can do that in their own way. I bet you do as well.”
In addition, she said, “eshet chayil”—woman of valor!—is invoked as a sort of spontaneous blessing in Jewish culture, Ahava said.  Think of it as the Hebrew equivalent of “you go girl,” or perhaps even better, “Carry on, Warrior.”
Rachel says in another post:
Friends cheer one another on with the blessing, celebrating everything from promotions, to pregnancies, to acts of mercy and justice, and honoring everything from battles with cancer, to brave acts of vulnerability, to difficult choices, with a hearty “eshet chayil!”—woman of valor.
Instead of an impossible standard to live and fail by, it is time to make Proverbs 31 a blessing, a celebration and of what we’ve already accomplished as women of valor.
Next week is Mother’s Day. In what way(s) is your mom “eshet chayil”? How can you celebrate her?
{quotes taken from writings by Rachel Evans Held, here and here.}