Take 15 minutes to build to a heavy 1-rep Power Clean;
and then,
In teams of two, with only one team member working at any time, perform as many sets as possible in 15 minutes of:
Row 300 Meters
Power Clean x 4 reps @ 80% of today’s 1-rep Power Clean

New Baby Cherrick is here!

We are pleased to announce that Joy gave birth to Elliot Thomas Cherrick this morning at 1:39am!  He weighs 7.7 lbs and is 20.5 inches long.  Everything checked out great, and we are hoping to have baby and mom discharged from the hospital tonight.

I want to try to convey just how incredible Joy was throughout this delivery.  She had been timing contractions since 5pm Tuesday, we left to go to the hospital at 10:30pm and arrived at 11pm for admitting and triage.  Joy’s midwife arrived and broke Joy’s water for her at 1am, and 39 minutes later, Elliot was born.  Joy only had to actively push 4 times!  He had been sitting low and everything was done real fast.

As many of you know, we really struggled with what to name our son, but after the birth and in the days leading up to it, we just kind of settled on Elliot, and the reason for it is the back story of the name and it’s personal significance to us.

Elizabeth Elliot is an author, most notably of Passion and Purity, The Journals of Jim Elliot, and Through Gates of Splendor.  Passion and Purity was a book that Joy and I both read and referenced quite a bit while we were dating.  Later, reading Jim’s journals I was so inspired by his faith and thirst for Jesus Christ.  It can be discouraging and inspiring all at the same time if that makes sense.

Jim Elliot grew up in Oregon, went to school at Wheaton College in Illinois, and became a missionary to Ecuadorian Indians who killed him and his four companions.  Jim quite literally died for his faith and to reach lost people for Christ.

Further, a quote of Jim’s was one I wrote on my whiteboard in my office when I first moved to Phoenix and thought about quite frequently as I made the decisions in my early twenties that would shape the course of my life:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Joy is also really big on the meaning of names, and Elliot means “The Lord is my God” which fits beautifully with our hopes and prayers for all of our children.

Thanks so much for all of your well wishes and congratulations, it means so much to be surrounded and supported by such a wonderful community of people.

Class times will run as normal, we are hoping to get everyone home tonight, and I’ll see everyone Thursday at our normal class times!