Sunday was my Mother’s heavenly birthday, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth. It still hits me all at once because both of my parents are with the Lord. And we are celebrating Freedom.
My Mother’s Birthday I honor my Mother and how she instilled knowledge and inspired me to be the person I am today. She was a woman of faith, and I thank her for sharing the love of my Lord and Savior with me. I remember her saying to me that I need to read my Bible. Now, whenever I turn a page in my Bible or listen to scripture on Youversion, I think of her. She protected me. I used not to understand why, but later realized it was the best thing for me. Was I overprotected? Yes, you thought I was in a bubble being the only child, but I understand why she did it. There were few role models out there, and she wanted the best for me. She didn’t care if another kid did something a certain way because if it was how she wanted it, I didn’t take any part in it. She picked my friends for me, which I didn’t have many. She decided who I would be around because she didn’t want me being around anyone she didn’t think had my best interest at heart. My Mother didn’t like taking photos, so this one below is of the very few. I don’t have a picture of my Mother and me together.
Father’s Day I honor my Dad on Father’s Day. He also inspired me to be the person I am today; I know my parents loved me dearly. They did their best to give me a good upbringing, always telling me to put God first. My Dad would give me candy occasionally when I was little (my Mother was like a coach and did not want me to have sweets) and make me a hot cup of tea every night before bed. He was always there for me. He has a special place in my heart. He’s my Daddy. When he went to be with the Lord, it made me realize even more how good it is to have an earthly Daddy who has your best interest at heart, but also how precious it is to have God as my spiritual Daddy. I can reach out to my God whenever I need Him. I felt alone and lost when my earthly Dad went to be with the Lord, but I remember that I am never alone because God and Jesus Christ are always with me.
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Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom
I wanted to share the message below from Pastor John Jester of Eagle Mountain International Church. He describes what true Fatherhood is and what Juneteenth means for every American, regardless of skin color.
I want to pray a special Father’s Day blessing over all fathers reading this post. I encourage you to seek God’s wisdom as your raise your children.
I also pray that everyone will look at Juneteenth and understand the significance of this day; and look at ways in which we can, as a nation, do an even better job of striving for racial harmony in our country.
For some, this is a happy time to celebrate Mother’s Day with their family in different ways, and it can be a joyous time. For others, it can be a sad time if their mother has passed away, a child has passed away, or a couple has been longing to have children and cannot conceive. There can be various reasons why this Mother’s Day may not be happy. I wanted to provide a few ways to get through the day. My mother went to heaven more than twenty years ago, and these suggestions continue to help me over the years.
Pray – Every day, I pray for strength and wisdom and ask God for His guidance. My mother believed in God and that Jesus Christ died for our sins, so I know she is in heaven. However, I miss her and realize that is okay. I need God’s strength because the grief and sorrow can feel like too much to bear. I know that having a daily prayer life is a must for me.
Grieve – Allow yourself time to grieve. It is not healthy to keep the feelings bottled up on the inside. If you need counseling, I would recommend that you get it. However, you need to make sure that you find the right person who can positively speak into your life. My former church taught if you cry and sorrow over a lost loved one, you are in unbelief. I disagree with that statement because everyone handles the situation in their own way.
Time – Everyone is different and so will be the amount of time that is needed to grieve or deal with the sorrow of losing your mother. Don’t let anyone tell you that it has been ‘long enough’ and you should just get over it.
Write – Write down what you love about your mother and what you are grateful for. Did she have specific words of wisdom that you can take with you through life today? If you collect those thoughts in a journal, they will be in one place when you need comforting during a difficult time.
Don’t Compare – Do not compare your life with others, you have to run your race. It is easy to look at other families and think how great it is for them or how wonderful everything is. Just remember that you are only looking at the surface and the image that they want you to see. No family is perfect, and every family has their own story to tell. They may just not want you to see it or they are too afraid to let anyone know the truth, or they may have been living the lie for so long that they no longer know what their own truth is. Comparison is a race that you can’t win because you see only a small piece of someone’s life and you are comparing it with your whole life.
Reflect – Meditate and reflect on your mother and remember with gratitude how she raised you. It may not have been the ideal situation, but it is because of her that you are here today. God gave you life and through her, you were brought into this world to accomplish His will and purpose.
Help someone – I have often been told that when you are down find someone that you can help or talk to and offer words of encouragement.
With these suggestions may this mothers day bring you peace in your heart and remember you are not alone.
Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
If there is one thing that you need to have as a priority for your budget every month, it’s your health insurance. Some people will often find health insurance complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s always good to get insured and be protected, and that way, you don’t have to worry about not having any health insurance talk.
If you find yourself injured or have an accident, and you speak to a personal injury attorney, they will ask you whether you have health insurance to cover your medical bills. Well, you can rely on an accident payout to pay for you to continue living and be supported while you recover. Your health insurance will pay your initial medical bills. When you understand how health insurance works, you will see the benefit of having it in the first place. Health insurance promises to pay for your hospitalization expenses when the time comes, and to be able to get this, you have to pay your bill to your insurer regularly. Below we have five reasons why it’s crucial to have the right health insurance policy for you:
– Medical costs are not cheap. Like everything else right now, medical costs are rising. Without health insurance, you’re going to find it expensive if you need to get to the hospital for any treatment. The pandemic came into the picture two years ago, which means that medical costs have gone up because of that too. Your only help with rising medical expenses is your health insurance provider. Choosing the right one is so important.
– It covers long-term conditions. Medical advancements will keep you living for longer, but you need to treat the requirements you have right now before those advances become a real thing. However, the cost of caring for diseases is very high, which means you need to have the proper insurance to cover you for these diseases. You cannot predict the future illness, so you need to make sure that you have health insurance to ensure your financial security should you be ill one day.
– Your health care fund may not be enough. If you have a health care fund but don’t have health insurance, how do you plan to pay for a health emergency? Funds can be helpful, but it’s not a replacement for your current health insurance. Treatment and surgery cost today as well as your fortune. Health care funds will not deal with all the medical expenses you have to pay.
– Later, maybe too late. If you want to wait to get health insurance, you might find yourself sick before that time comes. When it happens, you will be too late for health insurance because no insurance company will cover you. Get your health insurance when you are well, and it is your insurance policy when you’re sick.
– There are tax benefits. When you make payments towards health insurance premiums, you may end up with deductions for the health insurance premium that you pay for your whole family. You are always looking for any benefits you could get from the tax system if you get insurance!
Cold breezes are in the air. If you haven’t already done it, now is the time to bring out the fall and winter clothes and accessories. Boots and sweaters are must-haves. However, the right cardigan can add versatility to your wardrobe. It can be paired with jeans or dress pants. It can be worn to work or worship. It can be casual for an afternoon movie or dressed up for a date night. I recently found a jacquard cardigan from Isaac Mizrahi while searching on QVC. The silhouette looked so fresh and new, and the ombre effect was so figure-flattering. I purchased the cardigan in red. I could try on the cardigan in my own home and see if I like it or not. Well, when I tried it on, I felt so pretty in it. I paired it with a pair of INC jeans that I bought from Macy’s a few years back in the photo above.
– Features: center-front ribbed solid placket, long sleeves with solid ribbed cuffs, rounded corner patch pockets, side slits
– Fit: semi-fitted; follows the lines of the body with added wearing ease
– Length: missy length 31-1/2″ to 33-5/8″; plus length 34″ to 37-1/2″
– Content: 60% cotton/20% rayon/20% nylon
– Care: machine wash, dry flat
Isaac Mizrahi sneakers
I paired my outfit with a pair of Isaac Mizrahi metallic sneakers. It was the perfect finishing piece to the outfit. The shoes add a little bit of sparkle to your outfit and your day. You can be comfortable and casual and still be put together to embrace chicness.
The cardigan looked so great and fit so well that I went back and ordered a second one in green. You will see the green one featured in this video review seen here.
We all want the best for our children, and this means that we work hard giving them the things in life we think they need, but when we do this, we can run the risk of doing too much for them. The best way to raise healthy and happy children is to incorporate healthy habits that they can maintain throughout their life. If you can help your child develop healthy habits early on in life, they will feel the benefits forevermore. Here are a few things to get you started.
Encourage Your Children to Read Food Labels Something that we all forget to do, but that meal that may appear healthy on the surface could hide an abundance of sugar. Many pediatric dental care providers will help you to look after your child’s teeth and reduce sugar intake by avoiding sweet foods and juices, but it’s important to recognize where sugar could be hiding. It’s not always just in the sweet stuff!
Focus on the Positives If we use an abundance of negative language and tell children what they cannot do, we have to remember to rephrase and re-frame by telling them what they can do instead. Keeping everything positive will have a big impact on our children’s mindset. When they have a more positive attitude to solving a problem, rather than thinking they cannot do it, learning to solve a problem through trial and error, and giving them the right tools to solve problems will make them feel they can accomplish anything. Positivity is so important, and one little thing you can do with the end of every single day is to encourage practicing gratitude, as this helps them to focus on the good things, even if they think they had a bad day.
Choose Real Rewards We have to find ways to celebrate good behavior beyond sweet foods and video games. While screen time can be beneficial, it is important to focus on the motivation factors based on their age. Finding a system that works will make a massive difference.
Focus on Family Time Families don’t always spend time together anymore, but if you can focus on making one part of the day family time, it reinforces that idea of togetherness. The best example is dinnertime. You could help your children get involved with making the meals, everybody doing the dishes together, and that quality family time around the table is very beneficial for the family.
Be Realistic You have to be aware that they are going to be pushbacks. You may feel that you’ve got to invest yourself wholeheartedly in giving your children healthy habits, but this can mean you are overdoing it. It’s important to remember that you need to focus on your health too, as this sets the right example for your children. But if your children aren’t on board with new healthy habits yet, remember to take it small and steady. Gradual changes will make the biggest difference in your children’s health over time, so don’t beat yourself over the head if they don’t get it right away.
I must admit! I should be more confident, but I still don’t feel totally comfortable taking pictures of myself. NO, everyone who has a blog wants to take thousands of pictures of themselves. I either feel that I’m not my fighting weight, too over thirty, or not attractive enough. I think that is one of the reasons why I created this blog was to face my inner complex fears. I have been putting my foot in the water for almost twelve years. I am here showing up, so I guess that counts for something. This was such an exhausting work week that this stress release showed up and doing what my passion is.
This week in the midwest, the temperature and the humidity top out over 105 degrees. I am actually listening to Hot Summer from Prince’s latest that was released today.
Today’s Style list
Chambray Shirt with striped cuffs
Faux-Wrap Dress, self-tie belt: Isaac Mizrahi
Sandals: Earth Origins Suede Upper – Pippa
Necklace: Gift
Watch: iWatch
The dress is so cool and flowy. I have to love myself to be able to give love. If my inner self is not confident, then what I wear means nothing.
I couldn’t find the exact dress on QVC.com, but this dress is similar.
The Faux-Wrap Dress
The Faux-Wrap Dress The Faux-Wrap Dress by Isaac Mizrahi is an added safety of nothing flying up with that burst of wind. The actual fabric is sewn to the other side of the dress, giving an illusion of a wrap skirt with added security. I usually don’t add the self-belt, but it was so hot that I didn’t want to be wearing a leather belt. I think that it looks chic without one. I added the chambray shirt jacket because the dress does not have sleeves. Since I would be working in the office, I needed extra coverage with the air conditioning.
This week has been very stressful, so I need my fashion to be chic, cool, and easy.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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