Queen Jen's Gems

 When was the last time you expressed thanks to someone? Perhaps, it was a friend, co-worker, family member, or the cashier at the store. Perhaps, you took time to tell them thank you for something they had done or simply for being who they are. You could have noticed their compassion, care, concern, or consistency 💙. Now, I have another question for you. When was the last time you gave thanks to God? Today? Yesterday? Last week? I hope it was very recent 🙏. Yes, we just celebrated Thanksgiving, but every day, we have something to thank God for. All year round, we can cherish and be thankful for the people in our life. Growing up, I did a lot of complaining. As an adult, I have complained too, but I had to unlearn that. I'm learning to appreciate God and who He has placed in my life. I'm learning to appreciate all that I have 🙏. I have learned that someone else has its worse than I do. I'm learning that praise has to be my response in the midst of my toughest battles and...

 In this holiday season that's approaching, there will be many opportunities to take a seat at different tables. At those tables, I can imagine sounds that fill the air, such as laughter, conversation, eating, and playing games 💜. As we take a seat more often in this season, I want us to think about three things when it comes to the "table of life": what table we sit at, what we're bringing to the table, and what we can take away. Life allows us to interact with lots of people and sit at different tables. When we sit at different tables, we need to listen closely to what is being said and what is not being said. We should watch closely the motives, attitudes, actions, and body language. We need to be observant in friendships, work and romantic relationships, churches, and communities 🙏. These, in a sense, are tables we can gather at. Tables that don't allow us to be ourselves and are constantly negative should be avoided. Tables that make us feel worse when we l...