Queen Jen's Gems

 When entering a store, business, house, or new state, we may be greeted with a "Welcome" sign. At a ceremony or service you attend, someone may give a welcome to those in attendance. The welcome lets you know that you are received in a glad and friendly way 😊. Some of you may have a welcome mat or sign at your place of residence. However, at my house growing up, I rarely remember seeing a welcome sign, rug, or flag at our house. At our house, we like the outdoor flags and my brother and I still put them outside our house. I remember being at the store one day with my Mom and we were looking at flags and rugs. I also remember pointing out a welcome one and said how nice it looked. Then, Momma said something that totally threw me off guard! She said she didn't want to buy one that said welcome. In my mind, I'm thinking don't we want people to feel welcome when they visit us. So, curiosity rose up in me and I decided to ask why not. She gave me her reasoning and it...

 In our daily lives, we see a lot at our jobs, schools/colleges, in our communities, on the news, Internet and social media. We see the good and bad, the positive and negative, and problems and solutions. In my previous blog post, I talked about going back for a new school year as a teacher and not mixing the old with the new. I encouraged us to keep what works and change what doesn't. If you haven't read my last blog post, I encourage you to take a minute and go back to read, "Don't Mix the Old With the New." In preparing for a new school year ahead, I want to look at it with fresh eyes 👀. I have to see the possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead 💚💙. A week from now, I will have new 6th grade students sitting in my classroom. I don't know what they went through in the previous years, but I do know I can help them see that this year can be a fresh start. I let them know it's a fresh start for me, too. I want my students to see that we are in this...

 We have made it to August! Praise God! August is the 8th month of the year. The number 8 symbolizes new beginnings 😊. As August rolls in, I know it signals something else for me: a new school year is about to start. My teacher brain realizes that work is starting soon and the students will be back in my classroom before I know it. In fact, the students start school at the end of this month. Not too long ago, we used to start school after Labor Day. Things have moved up! When it comes, I know I have to be prepared. I always do a reflection ( a recap if you will) of the year before. I look at what went well and what didn't go well. I think about the resources, materials, and activities I used. I look at previous lesson plans. I look at my self-care routines and boundaries in terms of what worked, what do I need to do more of, what do I need to do less of. It's in that reflection that I can pray, make wise decisions moving forward in the new school year, and adjust along the way...

 When you think about evidence, you may think about proof needed to make a point or get someone to believe a certain way. In looking at the meaning of evidence, it is facts and information for believing that something is true or present. Now, I don't know everything about being in the legal field, but I do know that there are many times when one has to dig deeper in investigating and finding the information. Sometimes, the evidence may be obvious. However, sometimes it may not be so much at first and taking a closer look is a wise idea. In thinking about the meaning of evidence I shared with you earlier, I now want to pose a question to you: "What has God done for you lately?" Now, this question will get a variety of answers that range from general (He woke us up, gave us a job, family, the use of our limbs, etc.) to more specific ( a personal situation of how He has moved in your life recently). Regardless of your initial response to the question, we all should be able t...

 When we look around at our world today, we see a lot going on. At every turn, there seems to be drama, injustice, and a constant flow of information coming at us (some good, some not so good). Having peace around us may seem out of reach. However, we can have peace in us. We can have peace in our hearts 💖. Notice I said the word "in." We can't always control what goes on around us, but we can control what goes in us. Having peace should be a daily goal. It's a daily goal for me 😊!! When we look at the meaning of peace, we see it means rest, quiet, and stillness in our heart. Jesus spoke about peace in John 14:27 and John 16:33 in the Bible. In John 14:27, Jesus is telling his disciples that he will give them his peace and they don't have to be fearful. In John 16:33, Jesus is telling his disciples they would have suffering in the world, but they could have peace in Him because he has overcome the world. We definitely see suffering in our world, but in spite of ...

 Perhaps, somewhere along life's journey, you have felt like you were too old to accomplish something or start over. Maybe, someone told you that or the voice in your own head told you that. Either way, I've learned that this is not true at all 👏! In fact, some of my best days were in my 30's and now in my 40's 💖😊. We're not too old to learn something new. We're not too old to accomplish a goal. We're not too old to have new experiences and adventures. We're not too old to walk in our purpose. We're not too old to start over. We're not too old to be used by God. Today, I want us to take a closer look at the Bible in the book of Exodus where we see God using two brothers, regardless of their age. In the book of Exodus, we find God's people, the Israelites, in slavery in Egypt. God sees their suffering and wants to rescue them. God decides to use two brothers by the name of Moses and Aaron to be part of the mission to rescue them. Now, I hav...

 Have you ever felt so close to reaching a goal, but at the same time, it felt so far away? If you have felt that way, you are definitely not alone! I have felt this way on numerous occasions. Recently, I felt this way when I went to my local YMCA class. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I joined the Y and attend classes there. On this particular Monday, it was the total body conditioning class. Now, I hadn't been for a while. However, I was determined to attend class that night. When I wasn't at the Y, I was walking laps and doing indoor workouts, so I was getting my exercise in 😊. The exercise hadn't been in a group setting for a while though. When I showed up that particular Monday night to the Y, I was the only student there! In fact, the regular instructor who normally leads the class wasn't able to be there, so there was a fill in instructor. The other ladies who normally attend the class weren't there that night either. So, when the fill in instructor ...