Queen Jen's Gems

 2020. A year that took us out of what we considered to be "normal." What we thought was going to be one or two weeks of working from home turned into a year (or more for many!) of working at home. What we thought was going to be a few weeks away from gathering inside the church building turned into over a year of connecting on Zoom, conference calls, social media, and drive in services. Schools have changed the way instruction takes place with either virtual, in person or both. For those of us who work in education, we had no idea that day in March  would be the last day we would see students in person for months to a year. Businesses changed hours and shut down temporarily and had to adjust the way they reached their clients and customers. Time spent with family and friends looked different (and still does!). The way we connect with people in general has changed. We have had to meet new people in different and creative ways by virtual or safely and social distancing in pers...

 But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 In reading the verse above, there are two words I want to examine more closely. Those words are soar and eagles. To soar means to fly and rise above. Eagles are powerful birds that can be spotted flying in the sky as well as sitting high on the tree branch. We'll talk a little later about different characteristics of eagles. Eagles do soar, but so can we as humans. When we soar, it means we go above and beyond to help others or complete a task at hand. We can soar above whatever challenging situation comes our way. Soaring requires us to be different and usually do something we've never done before. Soaring will require us to step out of the box. Doing something new and different can be scary, but the only way we can begin to soar is to step out and try. Think about the first time you rode your bike, spoke ...

 We've all done it. We're all supposed to do it. We should do it every single day. We should do it before and after exercise. You may be wondering what it is I'm talking about. I'm talking about stretching! Stretching is good to do when you've been sitting down for a long time. You can wake up those muscles so they don't get stiff. Stretching is also good before and after exercise because it warms up the muscles and prevents injury from happening. In today's Bible story found in Matthew 12:9-13, we see stretching had to take place. At the time, Jesus was at the church. While at the church, He saw a man with a shriveled hand (v.9-10). The word shriveled means to shrink. In other words, the man's hand was small in size. But I love how Jesus handled the situation! He didn't ask the man questions or judge him because of his abnormalities. Instead, He showed compassion to him and wanted him to be healed. Now at the time this was going on, there were churc...

 Does this phrase sound familiar? Perhaps it came from a boss, coach, Mom or Dad or someone else in authority. Perhaps you were dreading the talk and thinking the worst. Maybe you weren't thinking the worst and knew it was going to be good. You were looking forward to the talk! In any case, talking can be good. It's good for getting out feelings, concerns, questions, desires, needs. Talking can also be healthy. It's not good to keep everything bottled up inside. Talking it out isn't always comfortable, but it's necessary. Now we can't talk to everybody about everything. We have to know what to say, when to say it, and who to say it to. Proverbs 13:3 says, "The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin." Based on the talks, actions can be taken for growth, change, and improvement. When certain talks don't happen, it can lead to disastrous results. Assumptions happen when there's no talk. Relation...

 Noises. They're everywhere! We hear it in music, television news, videos, traffic, conversations, nature. All of these noises share a common factor: sound. Some sounds are louder and some are softer. No matter the volume, the sound grabs our attention. When hearing the sound, we turn in the direction of it. Different sounds play a different role. Some sounds alert us to danger while others are calming. They can have short-term or long-term effects. Depending on the environment, we can't always control the sounds we hear (like birds chirping outside), but we can choose how long we listen to it and our attitude towards it. Sometimes we can hear too much noise and it blocks out what's really important. Silence is okay - I'm learning  that more and more! In general in society, silence is rarely valued, especially in conversations. In college, I took a communication class and we talked about how many people don't like to pause in conversation and that it is seen as awkw...

 To like or not like? To comment or not comment? To follow or not follow? If you've ever been on social media for any amount of time (or know someone who is), then these questions may sound very familiar. If not, welcome to the world of social media! Over the years, there has definitely been an increase in social media use. Especially with everything going on with the pandemic in the last year, social media has been  the main way for people to meet, communicate, keep in touch, stay up to date with news and attend meetings and events online. On any given day, many posts and messages flood our timeline in a matter of minutes. As we're scrolling through the posts, we have a choice to make. We can stop and read it or keep scrolling past it. If we do stop to read it, we then have another choice. We can like it or comment or do neither of those. We may read it and move on. Is it okay not to respond to every post we see? Absolutely yes! It doesn't mean we didn't see it or read...

 Powerful. Relentless. Life-changing. Life-giving. It has the power to change everything. Hearing that "yes" or "okay" or "continue" could change the course of your direction. But so could hearing the words "no", "pause" or "stop." Those words can also change our lives for the better. I know they're often used in a negative context, but they could be setting us up for the yes. Have you ever thought about that? If you stopped and settled in that certain relationship or certain job, you would not have known that there was better around the corner. The right words at the right time and the right season will steer us in the right direction. The Bible speaks of the power of our words. Proverbs 18:20 says, "Words satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach; the right words on a person's lips bring satisfaction." Verse 21 of the same chapter says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who...