Queen Jen's Gems

 Flowers are a beautiful part of God's creation! What fascinates me even more about flowers are the different varieties of flowers and how they are all unique in their own way 💖. Certain flowers bloom in certain seasons. Flowers also need to be watered and properly taken care of. When plants or trees bloom, they produce flowers. When flowers bloom, they open up. When we think about God's creation, flowers and plants weren't the only thing that was created to bloom. God created us to bloom, too!! Yes, me and you!! We are unique and one of a kind, just like flowers 😊. God wants his people to bloom. When we look at individuals blooming, it's when people are healthy, energetic, and attractive. It's having a freshness of energy and perspectives of life in general. Are we perfect? No! Can we keep making progress? Absolutely yes!! As you know, we are in the month of June, the sixth month of the year. We are at the halfway point of 2025! Self-reflection is always good to ...

 Many people have a goal of wanting to be in good physical shape. Most of us want to be able to walk, work, play, or dance for a certain amount of time without getting out of breath easily. Being physically fit is great as we should definitely take care of the bodies God has given us (I Corinthians 6:19-20). It is good to exercise as often and consistent as we can. Now, exercise is just one part of taking care of ourselves. There's also eating right foods, drinking enough water, and getting enough rest and sleep. I'm constantly working on these 😊. In addition to being physically fit, I want to share the acronym F.I.T. with you to be mindful of other ways we can take care of ourselves. Let's look at the F first. The F stands for Focused. When we focus on something or someone, we look at or concentrate on it. What we're focused on has our attention. Proverbs 4:25 says, "Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead." What has your attention today? No...

 If you have been following my blog journey for any amount of time, you know that I'm all about growth 💖!! I have shared how I continue to grow in different areas of my life. I also love to see others grow, too! Growth can be physical, but it's also about growing in our faith, perspectives, relationships, who we are as a person, and in different life experiences. Growth may not be evident and obvious right away, but it's happening 😊. A synonym  for growth is expansion, which means to get bigger. We should want to expand our knowledge, interests, and travel experiences. We should increase our wisdom about what to do and not to do in our lives. When we increase our wisdom, we can increase our peace. I'm real big on having peace! The more I have grown on my life journey, the more I value peace 💖. When we're growing, we can thrive, not just survive (hence the name of today's blog post 😉!). To survive simply means to continue to live or exist. Now, I get it! I ca...

 There's a quote by David Viscott that says, "To love and be loved is to feel the sun on both sides." I love this quote! The sun gives us warmth and brightness when it shines outside. It's the same with love, today's gift of focus 💛. When we look at the definition of love, we see it's a deep affection and commitment to someone or something. Love involves showing care and respect and a willingness to support and nurture them. Love should be more than words. I know we are quick to say we love someone or something. The real question is do we really. I've learned over my life journey to use my words wisely and that my actions are seen and are loud. I have learned not to take "I love you" for granted. When I have conversations with my family and friends, many of us end our conversation with "I love you." You see, the gift of love is wonderful to give 😊. The words are good, but we also need to have actions. It's praying, showing up, cal...

 Over the last few weeks, I have been sharing about different gifts that we can give and receive. So far, I've shared about the gift of presence, time, encouragement, and our lives. I'm so very grateful for all of them! Today, I want to discuss another gift and that is the gift of help. We have all needed help before, and we have all been able to give help. We have all seen the Help Wanted signs outside of stores. Help is needed in different areas. Help may be different depending on the circumstances, but all help matters. The word help means to assist someone and involves action. When we're able to give or receive help, we should be appreciative. All ages can help 😊. I am so grateful for the help I have received over the years. I'm especially grateful for the the help in the hard and challenging seasons in my life. It's good to have support and know others are there for you 💗. I've learned it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to ask questions. My help...

 Yes, You! You are a gift💝!! There is no one else like you, and there will be anyone else like you. You are precious. You are valuable. You are worthy of good things. Your life matters 😊. We should not take our lives for granted. We should be thankful each day, each moment, each hour, each second we have. Life can bring many unexpected situations and experiences. Life can change in an instant! That's why it's important to cherish the gift of life itself and hold our head up high 💖. Don't let anyone take advantage of you and mistreat you. It's important that we surround ourselves with people that uplift and encourage us. We should be able to be ourselves in our circle. If you can't, check that circle! It's important that we walk into every room as ourselves. Someone needs you to be you. God needs you to be you. Being you is what matters 😊. Let your personality shine through. Let your gifts be shared. We don't have to try to impress anyone. At the end of t...

 For the last few weeks, I have shared about two gifts that we can give and receive. Those gifts are presence and time. Both of these are very valuable! If you haven't read those blog posts yet, be sure to go back and check out "The Gift of Presence" and "The Gift of Time." Today, I want to share about another gift that we can give and receive. Today's gift of focus is encouragement 😊! All ages can give and receive this gift! When we look at the meaning of encouragement, it means the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope. It also is a persuasion to do or continue something. In our world like never before, encouragement is needed. We need to support and give hope to others often 💗. We never know what someone is currently going through. We never know what someone will face in the future. However, in that present moment, we can give an encouraging word. Encouragement doesn't have to be a long phrase. It could be a " I see you, " ...