Queen Jen's Gems

 Change can be good. Change can also be scary. Change doesn't always have to be big. Change does involve action and being open-minded. As most of you all know, I love to read 😊!! Up until recently, realistic fiction and mysteries have been my favorite, go-to genres. I decided to mix it up more recently in the genres I read and started reading some historical fiction. I like history and find it interesting, but I never could get in the genre. I had read one or two here and there, but then I would fall back on my go-to genres. However, this summer, all of that changed 😊! I joined a Facebook group online for book lovers and many of the people in the group kept posting historical fiction books. These books looked very interesting and eye-opening, so I decided to read a few and I loved them. Now, if you ask me what my favorite genre is, my answer is...historical fiction 💙!! I'm glad I decided to be open-minded and mix it up! Over the last five years, I have also mixed up somethin...

 When was the last time you looked in the mirror and told yourself you were proud of you? I hope it was very recently 😊!! When we look back over our life, year, month, and even day, we can see that we have a lot to be grateful for. I don't know about you, but sometimes I can be hard on myself and get caught up in what hasn't happened yet. That's when I have to remind myself of all the things and people in my life I do have. I still want to keep growing, of course, but there's also a lot of things that God has already helped me accomplish. I'm so grateful for that 💜!! This year marks 20 years that I have been working at my current school division. To God be the glory because he has helped me and strengthened me all the way!! For 11 of those years, I was a teacher assistant and the other 4, I was a support teacher with a specialized reading program. I learned a lot in those years about myself, the classroom, people, education and life in general. For the past four y...

 When was the last time you physically stretched? Maybe, it was earlier, yesterday, or longer than that. Stretching daily is good for our bodies 😊. It releases tension and stress, allows us to be more flexible, and keeps our muscles from getting stiff among other benefits. Stretching involves action and movement. When we stretch out our hand, we can either take something or push something away. Not everything belongs to us. We have to be careful what we hold on to. Unforgiveness, complaining, negativity, and people pleasing should not be held on to. Compromising who you are and lowering your standards should not be held on to. These things need to be pushed away. Yes, they can be tempting to hold on to, but we have to ask God daily to help us not hold on to these. Let's hold on to the good and what's healthy 💚. I'm reminded of a story in the Bible found in Matthew 12:9-14 where a man stretched out his hand. A man had a withered hand in the church that Jesus is at. Jesus t...

 You know the fine print words we tend to skip over and not read? The question asked to you about how your day went? The times when someone remembers a little known fact you shared about yourself or a situation? It all matters. It may seem small at the time, but it's really big. In fact, it's all the small things that add up to the big things 😊! When we think about details, it's an individual feature, fact or item. It is a specific piece of information. In my recent devotional time, I was reading Exodus 31 in the Bible. The chapter talks about how God had appointed skilled workers to design the items and clothing placed in the sanctuary. In addition to reading chapter 31, I also read Exodus 25:31-36 and Exodus 27:9-10, which shared how detailed the lampstand and curtains needed to be. It is very descriptive and detailed. Very detailed!! They were instructions spoken by God to Moses. You should definitely go back and read those Scriptures when you get a chance. It had me th...