I was at work Monday afternoon when my husband came into my office with a concerned look on his face. He showed me a live video from his phone of the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris engulfed in flames. The church’s spire had fallen and it looked like the entire structure on fire. I felt such sadness because the news reports were saying that it would be a total loss. But thank God, the flames were contained after twelve hours and keeping the fire from spreading to the main sanctuary. French President, Emmanuel Macron vows to rebuild the historic Gothic structure. Fundraising efforts are already underway and donations are coming in from all around the world. French billionaires and global companies are coming together to raise money to rebuild one of France’s most important structures. Over $700 million has been raised so far to rebuild.
Construction of The Cathedral of Notre Dame began in the twelfth century and took over two hundred years to complete. It has outlasted attacks during the French Revolution and being bombed during World War I and World War II. It is an architectural masterpiece and was a monumental feat to build. In an article from The USA Today, Emmanuel Gregoire, the deputy mayor of Paris, told BFMTV on Tuesday that he felt “enormous relief” at salvaging many priceless relics from the church, including what is believed to be the Crown of Thorns, which many believe was worn by Jesus Christ at the Crucification, and a small portion of the cross and one of the nails.
The Cathedral Notre Dame is not only a symbol of Christianity and the Catholic faith, but it is at the heart and soul of what makes up of France. It chronicles Christianity’s storied history. This is Holy Week and Christians all over the world will be worshipping in churches on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Easter is one of the most important holidays of the year because Jesus died on the cross and he is risen to give us eternal life. At first, it looked like the Cathedral Notre Dame was beyond being saved, but miracles happen and the fire was contained.
Prior to the fire breaking out, the church had begun an extensive remodeling project. Scaffolding had been placed around the spire to make much-needed repairs. The sculptures housed in the attic were removed only a few weeks ago. When the images of the fire were shown on social media, our fear was that the entire would be destroyed. But now seeing how much of the building is still intact, it truly is a miracle and a blessing from God. Showing, once again, how resilient the Cathedral is. Having been around for over eight hundred years, survived a revolution and two world wars, the Cathedral will rise again.
My hubby and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the people of France. Although, we have not been to France to visit the Cathedral; it is on our list of elegant places to visit. We stand with France in their efforts to rebuild this treasure of history.
Happy Sunday to you.
Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week, the week when Christians around the world recognize and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is time to spend with friends and family, reflecting on what these events mean for us individually. In our home, there are a number of classic movies that we enjoy watching. From the Ten Commandments to Ben-Hur, there are many choices that will stir and strengthen your faith. And this year, a new movie will be added to this list of faith-based movies to watch over during Holy Week.
The Pilgrim’s Progressfollows the life of Christian and his journey and his struggles after receiving the revelation of God’s grace and mercy. The movie is based on the 1678 novel written by John Bunyan and is considered to be the second most read book of all time, behind the Bible. With top-notch animation, this movie shows through metaphors and allegories what it means to be a Christian. Despite being written over three hundred years ago, the struggles talked about in the book are still being dealt with today and are still relevant to the 21st-century believer.
Christian (left) meets up with Evangelist (right) while on his journey
We highly recommend that every make time to go see this movie during this Holy Week. The impressive animation will you draw you in, but the storyline will move and change your life. Please know that the movie will only be shown in theaters twice. The times are * Thursday, April 18, 2019, at 7:00 pm * * Saturday, April 20, 2019, at 12:55 pm *
To find a theater that is showing the movie in your area, click HERE!
The Pilgrim’s Progress follows the journey of Christian.
In collaboration with LEV3L Digital, my wife and I had an opportunity to preview the movie and offer two giveaways to our followers. The second giveaway included an illustrated copy of the book and two tickets to the movie for three people.
The three winners are
* Buddy G
* mami2jcn
* Natalie
Congratulations!
We will be contacting you shortly to let you know more details about claiming your prizes.
You have always been a very spiritual person who likes to connect with their mind and body on a regular basis. Whether you’re taking ten minutes out of your day to meditate or you’re choosing fashion accessories that make you feel calm. If you are looking to reconnect, then there are a few healthy upgrades you can make to your life right now. You are always looking for ways to live a healthier lifestyle overall and the following ideas might just be your ticket to a calmer and more confident life.
Find Your Fashion Sense If you have never been confident in the way you dress, then now would be the perfect time to change that. Dressing elegantly is very important to you so you want to find unique pieces that make you feel truly sophisticated. If you’re looking for wardrobe inspiration check this out; you will find a ton of outfit ideas to suit your personality. Whether you’re looking for a long flowing maxi dress or some tailored trousers to use as a staple, you will soon find everything you need.
Meditate and Exercise You should never underestimate the power of meditation and exercise. Spending just ten minutes a day focusing on your breathing can relieve so many of your stresses and strains without you even realizing. Similarly, you should aim to get outside at least once everyday for just twenty minutes of exercise. Whether you’re taking a brisk walk in the park or heading to a dance class with friends, moving your body will always make you feel reconnected.
Enjoy Much Needed ‘Me Time’ It can be very easy to lose yourself amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, so time out is incredibly important. If you can master the art of ‘me time’, you will feel so much calmer every day. Whether you take ten minutes to read your favourite book, enjoy a hot bubble bath or drink a soothing cup of tea, these relaxing activities will make you feel much more connected to your mind and body.
Savour Every Special Moment in Life It can be very easy to bury your head into a mobile phone or computer in this world. Everybody in this day and age could do with being a little bit more present in day to day life. Instead of scrolling through social media on a train journey, sit back and take in the beautiful world around you. Savour every special moment in your life and you will soon feel more connected to your mind and body.
When you’re feeling lost or disconnected from yourself or God, it’s time to re-evaluate the important things in life. Take some much needed time out to write down all the things you are grateful for in your life and you will soon feel much more empowered. Do whatever you can to instil peace and serenity into your day to day life, whether you’re dressing elegantly or enjoying some much needed time to yourself. Find your own unique ways to reconnect with your mind and body and you will feel calmer than ever going forward.
As much as we don’t want it to, money does control a lot of things in our lives. It’s much easier to spend the money than it is to save it and when we’re adults, we spend our money carelessly because we don’t have any responsibilities. However, you do get to a point in your life where at some point, you’ll need to think about putting some money towards your future. If you’re a spendaholic, then here are some top tips on how to save your money.
Transfer Into An Account You Can’t Touch We all have payments that must be made, like taxes, rent or mortgage payments and these are expenses that leave our accounts automatically, and we really don’t have a choice in stopping them. So with this in mind, set an amount that you could take away without making life difficult. It doesn’t matter if it’s a few dollars, ten or more because it’ll all add up eventually. Now open an account wherein you cannot touch the money until a certain time frame has passed and credit that account with that set amount of money either daily, weekly or monthly. Having little access to it means you won’t be able to remove it without consequences and it’ll eventually just be another expense you have to cater in like your taxes. You can also use acompound interest calculator to determine the future balance of your savings.
Cut Back On The Luxuries
Giving ourselves a treat every once in a while is a great way of praising yourself and giving yourself credit for something you’ve done or achieved at that moment. However, materialistic things can become quite addictive, and it’s important to keep a reign on these luxuries so that you don’t end up spending beyond your means and therefore get used to a lifestyle that you simply cannot afford at this present time. Luxuries are anything that isn’t household bills, medical prescriptions, and groceries. So, count any extras like a hefty phone contract or gym membership as a luxury and find ways to cut back on some luxuries each month. Ask yourself if you need it, rather than want it and whether it’ll be used or bring you more joy in your life.
Set Yourself A Goal Or Two
We can benefit from goal setting because it provides that motivation needed to be successful. There’s a lot of gratification that can come from achieving a goal, so when it comes to your finances, setting goals can help avoid falling off the saving wagon. Don’t set unrealistic goals because this will de-motivate you and will reduce the chances of you saving any money at all. Make a daily, weekly or monthly goal and don’t forget to set some big goals for the year. These little goals that you hit will help go toward your bigger targets. Start small and then go bigger!
Ask yourself what you want to save money towards too. You might have just gotten engaged or have plans to buy your first property. Having a reason for your goals will only encourage you to commit to saving.
Build Up An Emergency Fund An emergency fundis great for those blips that occur in life. They are normally unexpected, and some can be a financial nightmare. That’s where your emergency fund comes in. An emergency fund should be used in the event of an emergency where you cannot supply the funds from your current savings or on a credit card. Having this fund is going to ease some of that worry and pressure when owning your first home or paying for a wedding. You’ll know that you have a bit of a safety net to fall back on should you need it.
Don’t Be Too Hard On Yourself Saving can be difficult, so it’s important not to be too hard on yourself. Reward yourself whenever you’ve reached a milestone and don’t feel guilty when you spend money on something you really needed and wanted. At the end of the day, you’ve worked hard to earn the money you’ve got so there shouldn’t be any guilt in treating yourself. Always assess your savings too as there will be times where you may be able to save more or have to reduce your saving amount.
As you start to save money, it may be tough, to begin with but it will usually get easier and it’ll eventually turn into a habit that you don’t even notice! So start saving your money today so that the future is a little less bumpy and your finances are healthier.
Sometimes, it’s as little as the beginning of a new year or a new season that make us want to take a bit better care of our health. Other times, however, we need a major wake up call in order to change our habits – but, as long as you’re able to focus on the road ahead, your chances of changing your ways are quite high.
Getting rid of bad habits and leading a much healthier life than you used to can be a challenge, though, and make people before you have fallen back into their old ways despite a former health scare. Here is a handful of ways to make sure that you’re able to stick to your goals and keep your eyes on the price. It just makes it a bit easier to stay positive and happy about the future.
First: Replacing your bad habits You won’t be able to quit a bad habit unless you have something to fill the void with; it’s that simple. While some people encourage you to have a glass of water every time you feel like having a cigarette, for example, a bigger lifestyle change is in order to make you turn away from your harmful habits.
Focus on exercise, for example, and join a jogging team in order to improve your health. It will feel almost impossible, to begin with, but sooner or later you’ll crave that dopamine that a good run gives and you certainly don’t want to ruin your lungs by having a cigarette either.
You can have a look at Inspire in case you’re a cancer survivor to find just a bit more inspiration and encouragement.
Next: Start a healthy routine Sure, a good run now and then might make you feel like you’re heading somewhere – but, unless you manage to stick with it, you’ll quickly fall back into your old ways. A great way to ensure that you’re keeping track of your effort and get a sense of reward from your hard work is to keep a health diary.
Start by tracking what you eat, for example, as well as the hours you put into exercising and make a habit out of writing down your mood as well. How does it make you feel, where do you think you’ll be able to be in a few weeks from now, and how can you encourage yourself in the future?
Remember to reward yourself This brings us to our final point; rewarding yourself after a good exercise, a proper portion of self-control or a day free of sugar is going to help you a lot along the way. Don’t be afraid to use food as an encouragement, by the way, unless you’re trying to lose weight, of course.
If this is the case, you might want to take yourself out on a shopping trip, tap yourself a nice and long bath, and just turn off the outside world for a bit. Every bit of reward and encouragement is going to tune your brain into preferring your new and healthy habits so keep up the good work.
When God speaks to you, you may not always understand it or know what it means. But if you are obedient and follow His voice, He will not lead you astray. Just know that He is watching over you and is protecting you.
I wanted to share with you a series of events that happened to me over the last week. I didn’t understand it at first, but in the end; I knew that God was speaking to me and directing my path.
Jay in the Jeep Wrangler
On Saturday, February 9th, I am at the Dobbs Clocktower in North Saint Louis County. The Jeep Wrangler was in for a state inspection and an emissions test. As I finished up and made my payment, I remembered that I needed to make another appointment for our Jeep Grand Cherokee, for the same thing. I knew that I wanted the appointment to be on Thursday, February 14th. I was going to be off of work on that day and it is a good time for me to complete errands and the like. I typically make the appointments for 9am or 10am, so I can go straight there after I drop off my wife at work. The associate offered me the 10am appointment time. But immediately I said, “No, do you have anything later?” Not sure why I said that, but it is what had come out of my mouth. He then offered 12pm or 2pm, so I took the 12pm slot. I left the store and came home.
Now, fast forward to Thursday, February 14th. I dropped my wife off at work at 8:30am and began my day of errands. I went off to Target and Trader Joe’s in the Brentwood Promenade in Central Saint Louis County. I needed to pick up a few groceries because these stores were not far from where I dropped off my wife. As I was finishing up, I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was only 9:30am. I still needed to get to fill up the Jeep with gas, go by Aldi for a few more groceries, and then to Walgreens to get a Valentine’s card. I thought that I would go to the Aldi in the Clocktower (next to my Dobbs) by 10am, get the gas and go by Walgreens; and still have enough time to get to Dobbs for the appointment. As I finished making the plans in my mind, I heard this voice on the inside of me say, “Go to the Aldi in Maplewood, it’s closer.” Yes, it was closer to my current location, but further from my Dobbs. I thought about it for a second but nevertheless I decided to go to the Maplewood Aldi. I filled up the Jeep with gas on my way there. After leaving Aldi, I decided to go home, unload the groceries before heading back out to Dobbs. I would wait on Walgreens until after I finished at Dobbs. I arrived home by 11am and I was back on the road to Dobbs by 11:40am and arrived at Dobbs at 11:55am.
When I got to Dobbs, I spoke with Ken. He is the Assistant Manager and has been seeing a lot of me lately, with inspections, new tires and oil changes. As he got me checked in, he says to me, “It’s a good thing you were not here a few hours ago.” Confused, I asked, “What do you mean?” He then says to me that there was a shooting in the adjacent parking lot a little bit ago. One person had been shot and another person’s vehicle has been shot up. Not really sure where or what he was talking about exactly, I said, “WOW!”, signed my paperwork and took my seat in the waiting room.
As I sat down, I grabbed my phone and quickly searched the local news to find anything about what Ken had just told me. I was drawn to a headline that said there was a shooting in North Saint Louis County. I clicked the link to find out the details. The article had stated that just before 10am, in the parking lot of Ross’ Dress for Less and Aldi in the Clocktower Shopping Center, a man had been shot and about thirty rounds of bullets had been fired. I quickly went to another website and saw the same details.
I just sat back in my chair with my hands over my mouth, in awe. I was supposed to be in that parking lot at about the time that the shooting had occurred. I had wanted my appointment to be at 10am so I could already have it done and I could go about my day. But when I made the appointment for 12pm, it wass till okay. I thought I could still be in the area, doing my other errands.
But That Still Small Voice told me, twice, not to be there at that time. As I sat there and thought about it, I realized that God, through the Holy Spirit, was speaking to me. He didn’t want me to be there at that time. He was watching over me and protecting me. He knew that I wanted to be there at the time, but He knew better. He was speaking to me, I just had to be obedient to Him and listen.
We don’t always know when God is speaking to us. Sometimes we think it has to be this loud audible voice that everyone hears. Not always. Sometimes, He will speak to us through the words that come out our own mouth. Sometimes, it is a gut-check to our heart that leads you to do something that you are not planning to do. Either way, we just have to be able to hear to that voice, obey it and to listen to it. We don’t always know what God is telling us, nor why? But in time, He will reveal it to us.
Learn More About JT Bubbling with Elegance and Grace is a place for life long learners. The Bubbling With Elegance And Grace team was created 14 years ago. A passion for fashion sparked a lifestyle blog for our Elegant Community to enjoy. We are thankful and in gratitude to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for those who have been with us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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