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...

 In our day to day routine, we go from one activity to another. We may go from one place to another. We may go from one place to another. As we move throughout our day, sometimes we go quickly, while other times, we may go slowly. Regardless of the pace we go, we are desiring to have a certain outcome or reaching a certain destination. Sometimes, we do find ourselves running rather than walking to where we are going. When you run, you're going at a fast pace. What have you been running to lately? What is grabbing your attention? What is taking up your energy? The Bible in Proverbs 6:19 tells us what God doesn't want us running to. The verse says, "A heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil." We should definitely not be running to evil. We should not be running to wrong choices, habits, and conversations. Those are not worth our time or energy. They will leave us feeling drained. However, running isn't always a bad thing 😊. I remember one time wh...

 Our words have meaning. Our words have impact. Our words can make a difference. Words can hurt, but they can also help. Words can tear down, but they can also build up. Words can leave us confused, but they can also bring clarity. Our words should not be taken lightly. As someone who has been a recipient of hurt words and one who has said hurt words to others, I know more than ever the importance of words. Today, I want to to talk about our words 🙏. But, more specifically, I want to talk about the last words we exchange or leave with others. It's the last greeting, text message, words in email, or conversation that I want to focus on specifically today. You see, two of my favorite people are no longer here with me anymore. Those two favorite people are my Mom and Dad 💜💙. It will be almost 4 years that my Mom has been gone on January 18th. My Dad has been gone almost 23 years on April 14th. From this day, I can remember last words I exchanged with each of them in their last mome...

 Well, here we are! We have made it to another year! Praise be to God 💚!! I'm so grateful for every lesson and blessing that 2023 had for me. I'm definitely not the same woman I am now that I was in January. I have gotten better and grown so much! There are certain mindsets and perspectives that have shifted in a good way for me. I still have areas to improve, but I'm thankful for the progress 💚. Today, I want you to reflect back with me over the year. I want to share with you my glows (goals I accomplished and things that went really well) and grows (things I can keep improving and being consistent with). To be honest, some of them could fall into both categories as things that went really well, but I want to do more consistently in the new year. As I share my glows and grows, I hope you are encouraged and inspired 🙏. I hope you know that you are not alone in the challenges you face. Glows 1. New adventures - From art shows to paint night to hiking to birthday celebrati...

In our day to day routine, the amount of times we move may vary. Since every day can be different, this may look different on different days. Some days, there may be times that we do a lot of sitting. Other days, we may be so on the go that we wish we had time to sit! You know those days you feel like the Energizer Bunny and you keep going and going? However, have you thought about moving intentionally? Have you thought about moving with purpose at some point in your day? Just like other actions in our life (talk, eat, sleep), we should also move with purpose 😊. This means intentionally setting aside 10, 15, 20 minutes or 1 hour of our time to exercise. Since there are many different exercises, this will look different for everyone and that's okay! There are so many ways to exercise! One of my favorite ways to exercise is walking 😊. I love fitness walking videos, walking outdoors in nature or walking on a track 💜. Walking is just one form of exercise. There's also jogging, s...