her name

RUBY
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Prov 31:10
As precious as our little Ruby is, by God’s grace, we hope that one day she will be worth even more than gems of great price b/c she will have an inner character that is priceless in God’s sight (I Peter 3:4).

JEAN
Jean is one of those names that is on both sides of our family. Matt’s grandma, who went home to be with the Lord in March of 2007, was named Eugenia, but people called her Gene. You can read Matt’s tribute to her here.

Matt’s mom’s middle name is Jean. Before I married Matt, I went to the church where his dad pastors. I remember one time Matt’s dad praising his wife saying that as II Cor 6:3 describes, she lives her life and conducts her ministry “giving no offense in anything so that the ministry will not be blamed.” That is the testimony I’ve observed in her through the past almost 10 years I’ve known her.

And my grandma’s middle name was Jean. I have mentioned my grandma a few times on this blog, but wanted to elaborate a little on why she was so special to me. My mom was a single parent who worked hard to take care of me and did a good job at it. My grandparents were a big help to her in letting me stay with them while she worked. I loved going to their house. My grandma was saved later in life and it was her greatest regret that she did not know the Lord sooner and have opportunity to raise her children in a christian home. She saw the opportunity she had with me and wanted to make the most of living the gospel before me. As a little girl I would wake up early and go out to the family room looking for my grandma. I would almost always find her kneeling in front of grandpa’s lazy-boy chair earnestly in prayer, often with a tear stained face. Her days always started this way. She took full advantage of the time she had with me and poured every ounce of spiritual knowledge she could into my young life. When I was 5 and began questioning her about what it meant to be one of God’s children, she is the one that led me to the Lord. She taught me many scripture verses, Bible stories, and how to flesh-out the christian life in practical ways. I remember she would pray as she put her make-up on in the mornings that she would do so in a way that wouldn’t unnecessarily draw attention outward but would accent her inner character. She prized modesty and was always careful about the way she dressed. But most importantly, my grandma loved God and wanted other people to know what an amazing God He was! She would take me with her and we would go visiting people in their neighborhood that she had built relationships with for the gospel’s sake. God used her to effect my life in profound ways for the 9 years she discipled me. On December 13, 1985, we had a horrible winter storm. The roads were icy and I knew grandma would have a rough time getting home from the christian school where she taught. I called my grandpa to see if she had made it home OK, and that’s when we got the news that she and my little cousin had been killed in a car accident on their way home. At a younger age than any of us expected, she was with the Lord she loved.

When we thought of the precious gift from God that Ruby is to us, we wanted her to have a name that was special too. So our Ruby Jean has a name rich in the spiritual heritage on both sides of our family.