Queen Jen's Gems

We all have twenty four hours in our day. In that day, we eat, sleep, work, go to school and run errands. Each day may look different, but the day usually involves two components: doing some task and interacting with others.  The task needed could be around the house, at school or work, going to an appointment or taking care of other business. The interaction with others may be face-to-face, online, on the phone, or through email or text. Even though we have 24 hours in a day, it doesn't mean we need to schedule something every minute of the day. We need to go to sleep and rest at some point in our day. When we are up and not sleeping, we don't need to be available to everything and everyone around us. Being available to everyone and everything is exhausting and mentally and physically tiring . When something or someone is available, it means it is at hand and accessible. When something is accessible, it is easily approached or entered. We can all relate to not being avai...

 Imagine you are in the middle of watching a movie or you're listening to a song or podcast and you're really into it. Then, all of a sudden, your phone rings, someone calls your name, you hear sounds or you have to get up for something. Maybe you were watching the video on YouTube and it stops because the Internet service has been interrupted. When that happens, there has been a pause. A pause happens when an action is interrupted briefly. We all have experienced a pause before whether it was in our control or not. Notice that a pause is not a permanent action. It will continue later. Whether that's one minute later or an hour later, it will begin again. Now, I will say that a pause can be frustrating or disappointing (especially if you were at a really good part of what you're watching!). It doesn't mean you won't ever get to see it, but now you have to wait. Videos aren't the only thing that have been put on pause before. Goals can be put on pause. There ...

 To watch someone or something means to keep a close eye and observe something carefully. It also means to stay awake on purpose and stay informed about something. To pray means to talk to God. Both words are action words and require us to do something on our part. Both require us to be intentional about looking to someone or something. When these words go hand in hand, they're a powerful team 👏!! In the Bible in Matthew 26:41, we see Jesus using both of these words in the same sentence. In a previous verse, Jesus was talking to 3 of his followers: Peter, James and John and had given them specific instructions (v.36-38). Jesus is about to go pray because he is sorrowful and has a heaviness of heart about events that are about to take place. He tells Peter, James and John to stay where there are and stay awake (v.38). In other words, they were to be observant and watchful. So Jesus leaves them to go pray. When he comes back, he finds that they all have fell asleep (v.40)! Then, Jes...