“A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.” Proverbs 31:10

Yesterday Jess celebrated her 30th Birthday!

I get out of the way and let Jess plan her whole birthday, because she does a far better job than I would.

So yesterday started out with an early morning surf lesson with our friend Erica.  And then coffee with friends.

Then she organized a kickball game that was staff versus students.  Which was a blast.  She got all of her students out of work duties so that they could play.  Staff won, which was what Jess wanted.  

Sushi for dinner.  And dominos mexican train, with friends after.

Her friend Ana had collected videos from people on the YWAM base saying encouraging things about her.  At 8pm we went to the SBS classroom and people gathered to watch the video of encouraging words and ate cheesecake.

Since Ana had talked to me about collecting videos I thought I’d do the same to our larger group of friends and family.  35 people sent in videos of encouragement to Jess and we watched the compiled 22 minute video before bed.  It was awesome to hear the common themes, that Jess loves people well and makes them feel valuable.  That’s truth.

Something we do when we lead retreats is a value based life plan.  And the first thing we do is have people write what they’d like people to say about them at a retirement party.  We laid in bed last night after watching the video, and realized that at only 30 years old, people are saying what we’d want them to say about us, and now we have another 50+ years to build upon that.  Jess kept saying we are surrounded by such good people, and it’s true.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to send in a video.  It was awesome to see people from all over the world, and our different seasons of life.

Happy birthday Jess, I’m truly blessed to have you as my wife.  You do an excellent job at loving people well.  

Want to wish Jess a belated birthday?  Or share something that you love about her?  Comment below!