A Jumble of J Junk

This post is part of Patty Wysong's
   A to Z meme. This week's letter is "J."

You'd think this would be an easy letter for me. It starts my name. HELLO???

But I have so many things in my head, that I don't think I could do a post and do any of them justice. So I'll give you the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of each one. How's that?
Joanne: My first name. It means "God is gracious." I was named after my great grandfather on my mother's side - Joseph. (It's a common tradition for Jews - see below LOL - to name their children after relatives who have passed away) Joseph would have been my name if I'd been a boy. My Hebrew name is Yosepha.
Judaism: The religion I was raised in. My grandfather was a cantor. My father kept kosher for his childhood and much of his young adult life. I went to Hebrew school as a child and was Bat Mitzvahed at 13. I can read (kinda - or at least COULD read) Hebrew (posted about this a couple weeks ago). Because being Jewish is more about heritage than a belief system ("they" say if your mother is Jewish, you're automatically a Jew), I am, in fact, STILL Jewish, even though I accepted Christ almost 15 years ago (has it REALLY been that long??)
Joke: Here's a favorite one in our house (answer at the bottom of the post). A man rides into town on Friday, stays three days, and leaves Sunday morning. How is this possible?
Jo: My online nickname. I'm not 100% positive, but I think it started, for the most part, at FaithWriters (though my brothers called me Jo as a kid some - which got a bit tricky when I dated a boy named Joe for several years LOL). But it has TOTALLY spread to just about everywhere I am online. And I LOVE it. To me, it is absolutely, positively a term of endearment. (Unlike my middle school nickname - JoJo. One girl called me that because it was her dog's name. Lovely, eh? But enough of that :::roll::)

JJ: Another of my dearly-loved nicknames. But there is only one special young lady who uses - who is ALLOWED to use - this one! So don't even TRY it - unless you're her ;)
JoMama: One more of my fun nicknames- especially for some of my jewely sisters (see below!) when I start getting "all maternal" on them ;). Can't help it!!
Jello: Yum. Refreshing. Fun. Don't have it nearly enough. Maybe I'll make some later today...
Jewelers: Now, this one has a story to it...Several years ago, I made it a personal goal to be sure that every FaithWriters Writing Challenge entry had at least one comment on it. So, I singlehandedly attempted to look at every piece and comment. But it got to be WAY too much for me. I needed help. So, in February of 2008, I called on a few friends to help me (If I recall, the group started out as me, Patty Wysong, Yvonne Blake, LauraLee Shaw, and Laury Hubrich,).

At that time, our goal was to be sure every entry had an encouraging comment on it, and to pick a few faves. We called ourselves the jewelers, and our faves "the Jewel Chest." That group has changed quite a bit since then - people came, others went, others came AND went ;) - and the goals have changed too - but we are STILL dear, dear friends/writers/sisters in Christ. (Love you, Peejers, DeeQ, Vonnie, La, Hally, Beffy, VernaJ, Sawa, and Sunny!)

Closest we ever got to all of us together in person - 2009 FW conference

And it didn't stop there. About two and a half years ago, Patty Wysong (the lady who shares my brain and one of the original jewelers) started up a group devotional blog called Jewels of Encouragement - what I will always consider an offshoot of the Jewelers (and I know she does too!). We knew we weren't the only encouragers out there. Over a dozen women post encouraging devotionals on the site every month (and we're certainly looking for more contributors! - drop me a note if you're interested :D), and I know it is a blessing to many.

(and now, of course, I realize I could have done an entire post on jewelers. LOL Oh well!)

So, there's my J list. Hope you enjoyed it. (Oh - and the joke? The name of the horse is Friday.)

 
Scripture Stories: Timeless Truths
Read more "J" posts here, and/or add your own!