Queen Jen's Gems

To hold on to something. To keep it close. To not let go. When we embrace someone or something, we hold them close to us. What or who we embrace is usually very important to us. They have significance and mean a lot. We can hold on to a lot of things, but are we holding on to the right things? Is what we're embracing helping us or hurting us? Encouraging us or discouraging us? Every day, we have to ask ourselves if what we're holding on to is really worth it. At the end of the day, some things are really just not worth holding on to. It's not worth holding on to jealousy, complaining, bitterness, grudges, worry, the past, wrong patterns of thinking. These need to be released daily. The longer we hold on to them, the longer we are hurting ourselves. When these are released and let go, they need to be replaced with something positive and good. Releasing the wrong makes room to embrace what's right. In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3 talks about there being a time and season...

"Thank you. "You're welcome." "Please." "May I?" "Excuse me. "All phrases that seem not to be heard as much in society as they should. I've seen this with all ages! The phrases mentioned above only take a couple of seconds to say, yet so many people choose not to. It is a choice. At a very early age, children should be taught to use their manners. As they get older, it should grow up with them in the hopes that they will continue to use their manners. Using good manners shows respect. When someone gives you something or helps you with something, you should say thank you. When someone tells you thank you, you should say you're welcome. When you have a request and would like something, you should start with "May I?" and add please on the end. When you need to get by someone or need to interrupt a conversation, you should say, "Excuse me." Now I need to pause right here to say something very important: we have to...

When was the last time you waved or said hi to your neighbor? Today? Yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year? You may be thinking that you haven't seen your neighbors in a long time or don't even know your neighbors well enough to say hi. You may even be thinking that you don't have anybody that lives real close to even consider them being a neighbor. Today, I want to challenge you to see beyond the neighbors that live next door and see people who cross your path as your neighbor. In the Bible, Jesus was asked by a man who is his neighbor. So, Jesus answered his question by telling a story. This story is called a parable. Parables were stories that Jesus told to groups of people to teach a spiritual lesson. I love how Jesus told parables! This particular parable that Jesus told is found in Luke 10:30-37. In the story, a man is traveling down the road when all of a sudden he is robbed, beat up and has his clothes taken from him by a group of thieves. They left him half d...