Queen Jen's Gems

 Do you like telling stories? Do you like listening to stories? I love listening to stories 😊. You know what my favorite stories are? Stories of people overcoming! Stories of people who face the odds and take risks! Stories of people who refuse to compromise their authenticity! These are the stories that excite me and draw me in 💖. You know what my favorite part of the story is? The plot twist 😊. When something happens that I didn't see coming, it draws me in even the more! Sometimes, the plot twist is good, but other times, it may not be so good. I especially love when the plot twist is good, but I know every story doesn't have a good turn. In ways, our life is like a narrative. Our life is like a story. In this life, we meet lots of people (characters), travel to different places (settings), see events and actions unfold (plot), and experience challenges in some form (conflicts). In all that, there's an important message that can be learned (theme). I just took you thr...

 Have you ever felt like you were working towards a goal or vision you had, but it seemed like no or very little progress was being made? Perhaps, you were making progress, but it seemed like obstacles and people kept trying to get in the way. Maybe, it wasn't even the people or obstacles, but it was your own thoughts that you had doubting you could accomplish the goal. I can relate to all of the above! In the midst of all of the things mentioned, I am learning to push through the things that try to come up against me. I am learning to overcome them daily. It's not easy all the time, but I can keep going anyway 🙏. In fact, I was recently encouraged in my morning devotional time to persevere and keep going by a story in the Bible. Now, I had read the story several times before, yet that particular morning, the Scriptures hit different 💖! Can anybody relate?!! The story I'm referring to is found in the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. It's in that book that we fin...

 Have you ever gotten something stuck on your hand before? Maybe it was from a food you were eating. Perhaps it was glue on your hands as you were being crafty and creative. When your hands were sticky, I'm sure it was hard to grasp the things you needed. Once you realized you were in a sticky situation, you probably took steps to get it off. I can relate to this physical stickiness as I'm sure many of you can also! However, I can also relate to being stuck in other ways, such as mentally and emotionally. I can relate to being stuck in wrong mindsets, motives, relationships, past mistakes, and attitudes. I can relate to looking at certain situations and feeling like they will not get better. I can relate to being stuck in hopelessness and comparison. In all of the things mentioned above, it is hard to grasp on to the new and better 🙏. We can't hold on to right and wrong at the same time. Something has to be let go out of our grasp. I pray today that we choose to grasp onto...