Today is Memorial Day. It is a day to honor and remember the soldiers who died for our country, The United States of America. Freedom isn’t free! Praise God for our military. We should and must pray for them and their families everyday.
We Will Never Forget!
Decorated Vietnam War veteran, Dave Roever, spoke at my church this holiday weekend. His testimony is awesome and will inspire you. He was burned beyond recognition and by the healing power of Jesus, he is alive and is devoted to helping other wounded veterans. Roever will make you laugh and he will make you cry.
Please listen to his testimony on Trinity Broadcasting Network.
When I hear him speak about helping war veterans get the help they need to get back into daily life and gain that connection with their families, it is amazing. It makes me want to help in anyway I can. If you would like to help please go to the Roever Foundation.
“The Roever Foundation’s goal is clear; to assist those especially in underprivileged countries and the youth in our public schools and assistance to our military providing them with inspirational speaking tours and training for wounded warriors through the wounded warrior alliance. Roever Foundation is preparing these young speakers who have lost limbs, suffered TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), with a future in public speaking.”
On this Memorial Day, please take a moment to reflect your freedom and the remember men and women who sacrificed their life so that you can enjoy it.
Today is Mother’s Day. Even though I did not at first feel I should I need to share some words. My mother has been with the Lord for almost twenty-three years, it is a hard holiday. My mother was strict and did not let me do much. My parents picked my friends and they did not just let me hang around anybody. Many times I would wonder why she was so hard on me. I am the only child and was in my teens at the time I naturally felt this way. But now that I look back at it and I see why. She wanted me to be somebody, to put God first, to have integrity and character.
My mother always told me that she was not my friend, but my mother.
As a teenager I would wonder what did that mean? Girls are having friends over; but I could not have my friends over. Why can’t I go to the party?
With some years hopefully for some comes wisdom. My mother wanted me to know that she was not hear to make me feel good even, when you may not be right. My mother told it like it is and didn’t pull any punches with me. I didn’t have a lot of role models when I was young. My best role models are my parents, my grandmother, and my aunt. My mother wanted me to get an education and I did. She wanted me to stick with the books and not get hooked up with the wrong crowd and praise the Lord I didn’t. My mother was not perfect; but she was and is in my heart, a Proverbs 31 woman. She always looked out for the best interest for me and she believed in me.
I was not planned.
What do you mean, you say?
I was not a planned pregnancy. My mother didn’t want to have children. My grandmother told my mother go on ahead and have that baby and she did., By God’s grace and mercy, my mother delivered me, a healthy 8lbs. 6 oz. baby girl.
My mother and father helped me and sacrifice for me to have a good life. My grandmother helped and was also there for me. They loved me and it hurts that they are not here on earth in the flesh. I know that they all believed in God and that Jesus Christ died for their sins, so I know they are in heaven. Virtuous, Virtuous, Virtuous I say as I literally run through the halls expressing my thankfulness to God for giving me such loving jewels in my life that are with my heart. I know they are Jesus followers, but it does still hurt.
Joyce Meyer has on her calendar the title for today, “The Only Way Out Is Through”.
I continually have to thank the Lord that I had such a rich inheritance of Godly parents and a Godly Grandmother. I know that they wouldn’t want me to feel any other way.
The Proverbs 31 Woman is my mother and my grandmother. My Aunt is still here on earth so I am putting her in here too because she is the description of character and integrity. Please read Proverbs 31 below, its a lot to take in but the words have so much wisdom in them.
Proverbs 31
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. 15 She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. 16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. 18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. 19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. 21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
*BibleGateway
God loves you and if you are not feeling so great today because it seems like everyone is having fun on this Mother’s Day. It is not about the day, it is about what you do each day that counts. We celebrate moms, dad moms, moms who adopt, step moms, pet moms, those who influence are lives, those who are mothering and mentoring. We comfort those who have lost a child, those who are having difficulty with adopting, those who are estranged from their children, those who are having interferences in having kids; peace and comfort to you.
Remember you are not alone and that God is for you.
Psalm 23:4,6
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. … Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
II Corinthians1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”
Taking care of our appearance and health is important and it helps us feel elegant, beautiful and confident. The way we look has a profound effect on the way we feel, so it has a lot of additional benefits besides the obvious ones. But this process goes both ways. When we are happy in our lives and with our inner selves, we can project elegance, grace and charm effortlessly and everybody sees that as attractive and pleasant.
Staying Beautiful Starts on the Inside
Taking care of our inner self is as important as it is to take care of our skin, hair and health and has a direct effect on how beautiful we are or are perceived to be by others. So here are a few tips to help you cultivate the inner beauty to make you as charming as possible.
Meditation
Meditation is a spiritual practice that has a lot of benefits including proven health ones. This is something everybody should do on daily basis and if you want a happy life, it’s a great idea to make meditation a part of your regular routine. A few of the way it enhances our health is by reducing stress and the effects of stress on both our body and psyche. Less stress means better health and this literally slows down aging and it has been shown to even improve our cardiovascular and immune health. On top of this, meditation makes practitioners happier, more relaxed and stable psychologically and leads to better concentration while performing something else.
So the benefits of meditation and really far-reaching and it’s a great idea to make it part of your daily life as it has proven effects on health, beauty and your general well-being.
Lifelong Learning
Another way to battle aging and making sure our inner beauty gets nurtured so it can enhance our external beauty is to be constantly learning. Many people feel that learning is for children, but learning new things is one of the most pleasant things a human of any age could be doing and it comes with a lot of additional benefits.
Reading great books adds a life time of learning.
Acquiring knew knowledge and skills helps us stay both happy and healthy. The process is quite fulfilling and it keeps our inquisitive brains occupied and satisfied. The feeling of learning and developing on the personal level is great, but on top of this, spending energy on learning allows our brain to tire out in a productive way which enhances sleep and combats insomnia. And a good night sleep is one of the most important ingredients for radiant beauty.
As finding new things to learn might sometimes be a challenge, it’s a great idea to enroll in a course or a class or even to get a private tutor to teach you about a subject you might find fascinating. You could even go as far as finding social studies tuition so you can keep challenging yourself mentally and expanding your knowledge about the world. It might sound a bit out of the box, but things like this really help us grow.
Helping Others
Another way to grow personally and to develop your inner beauty is to devote some time and effort to help others. You don’t need to seek this out purposefully, just be open to it and whenever it would be a problem, take the opportunities you have to make the lives of others better. Gestures don’t need to be big and it doesn’t really matter if you do it for family, friends, colleagues or strangers as long as you make it a consistent part of your life.
Scientific studies have shown that helping others or sharing things with others have a very positive effect on our own well-being and quality of life. Giving is a thing that actually boosts the level of happiness we experiences and makes us more content with our own lives. It alleviates stress and is a contributing factor to a healthy life. This means that it can help us start growing our beauty on the inside as well.
This article was written in collaboration with a Singaporean tution agency, SmileTutor
I am getting deep today, under your skin, to get to the heart of your emotions, to release the beautiful person you are inside.
I know that I am not the typical person someone would see in the fashion magazines. However, I felt I don’t measure up because I am not a size double-zero. I canceled many of my magazine subscriptions because it was too much clutter and most of them looked the same and had identical ads. Yes, it use to intimidate me to see someone who is thin and tall and when I look in the mirror, I am somewhat tall with hips. Shakira says, “Hips don’t lie!” And my hips are staring right back at me. It seemed like a joke for me to be doing a fashion blog because who would take me seriously when it came to fashion.
Well we have to be comfortable in our own skin. Comparison is a deadly weapon that will do nothing but bring you and others around you down.
Body Image was a battle for me. Even though I worked out hard and ate healthy, I never was stick thin. Well, you know what! I finally had to finally realize that it is not about being stick then its about being healthy.
Should I loose 10, no 20, no 30 pounds? What’s good enough? It’s never good enough!
Have any of you felt like that?
Stop it! I immediately we have to cast those imaginations down and thank the Lord for who He is in me (in us) and what he has done for us.
I can only speak for myself. If I truly dictated my life on what other people thought I should do, I would not be where I am today.
I came across the Comparison Trap app on my phone. It’s was a jewel that I found.
I listened to the videos by Andy Stanley and saw a devotional was available by Sandra Stanley was available on Amazon.com for $12.52 and on Christianbooks.com for $10.99. There is also DVD study for women for $15.00. I purchased the devotional and its wealth of information for each of the 28 days.
Comparison Trap
Take a look at the Land of ER teaching by Andy Stanley.
In another important case, Ms. Freeman challenged the Saint Louis Housing Authority in 1954 that allowed legal racial discrimination in the city’s public housing. That court case ended the legalized discrimination,and later Freeman worked as a staff attorney for the St. Louis Land Clearance and Housing Authorities. She began as an associate general counsel and later became the general counsel of the St. Louis Housing Authority. She served in these positions from 1956 to 1970.
President Lyndon Johnson nominated Ms. Freeman to be in a position on the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 1964. In the video below, Ms. Freeman recounts meeting Johnson and what it meant to be the first black woman on the Commission, a position she held until 1979. Frankie also served on the Community Services Administration during Jimmy Carter’s administration, and later on the Citizen’s Commission on Civil Rights.
Ms. Freeman’s life has been an inspiration to me and many people in various walks of life.
She graduated from law school at a time when it was difficult and almost impossible for black women to go to college.
She started her own law practice when no law firm would hire her.
She worked with several United States Presidential Commissions to end racial discrimination and improve the country.
Happy Birthday Ms. Freeman!
Thank you for all the work you have done to make this country better for all the people who live here. We wouldn’t have come this far without you.
Thanking my Lord and Savior for everlasting life. Thankful for being surrounded by my hubby and my family.
“I thank you from my heart, and I will never stop singing your praises, my Lord and my God.” Ps. 30:12 (CEV)
Thanksgiving Day is a time to reflect back on what I am thankful for. Thank God each and everyday for health, family, abundance of prosperity, and much more.
What about creating a list?
It’s so good to sit down and make a list. When you make of list of what you are thankful for, you can always go back to it for encouragement and even add more to it.
Thanksgiving is about the food, right?
No, it’s not just about the food. A lot is going on in America and the World right now, and we have so much on our prayer agendas to put before the Lord. I was searching for more information about the protest over the Dakota pipeline, and adding that on my prayer list. Praying for the Indian nation.
With today being Thanksgiving and thinking about the origins of the holiday, I remembered back to what I was taught in history class about the Pilgrims and the Indians. I didn’t know it was the Wampanoags nation, nor did I know much about these encounters. It is a shame that the history books then did not more provide the students with the full story. As a child I would read about that first thanksgiving and would watch cartoons during the holiday that depicted peace and unity.
However, I was not taught that the peace agreement between the Wampanoag nation and the Pilgrims did not last very long. On the Manataka American Indian Council website I read, “The Real Story of Thanksgiving,” the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag nation turned from peace to hatred. There was once peace but it didn’t even last 50 years. the The Pilgrims looked at the Wampanoag nation as teachers who taught them how to sustain the land they came to on the Mayflower, In contrast shortly after the peace agreement the relationship deteriorated in a downward spiral.
As a person of color researching her ancestry, I am disheartened because the story of Thanksgiving is not an entirely happy as some may have thought. Most of the time we only read one side of the story, but it is important that we take the time to read and study the whole story from all viewpoints.
I recently watched an American Experience (PBS) documentary about the Puritans. I don’t want to spoil it for you and give you all the highlights.However, I found it very interesting and thought-provoking. It made me want to learn more. The documentary is an hour and fifty four minutes so grab a cup of tea and let me know what you think afterwards.
Knowledge is power. Thanksgiving is not just another day.
A resource I plan to read:
“Invasion of American” by Francis Jennings on Amazon.com
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving and remember that if you are not with your loved ones or friends remember that Jesus loves you and you are special to Him and to us here at
BubblingwithEleganceandGrace.com
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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