Cherish the Memories: Happy Thanksgiving

Greetings,

It is unbelievable that Thanksgiving is here! It seemed like we were just waltzing into the New Year with lofty expectations. Yet, I’m thankful for so many things. Some of them were hard to be thankful about, like the transition of my beloved sister, Brenda Showers. It was bittersweet—she may not be with us physically and we miss her dearly, but she no longer is suffering and for that I am thankful. Many are experiencing the loss of loved ones as they celebrate the first Thanksgiving without them. It can be especially sorrowful as you walk through the first year. Others just missed their loved ones who made their transitions in previous years. Nevertheless, it causes you to reflect on how much you miss them, love them, and cherish their memory. I am thankful to God for placing inside each of us the resiliency to come back from such a major and permanent loss. That is the beauty of God. He completely understands the finiteness of who we are, yet he built inside of us the ability to bounce back from life’s harshest blows. God gave us the precious gift of memories. This personifies even more as the days, months, and years propels you forward. During this season, there are family members who have disassociated themselves. Continue to pray and be thankful for them. Celebrate them and believe that your prayers are not only heard by God but answered for the restoration and reconciliation of those relationships. Regardless of the intensity of whatever you may be going through, there is always something to give thanks to God about. If you can’t think of anything, just hold your hand up to your mouth and blow. Then thank God for placing His life-generating breath inside of you. Take a moment to thank God for each other. God knew we did not need to be alone. There is someone that needs you this Thanksgiving season. If you have never lost anyone, reach out to someone who has. Spend time with them. Don’t become impatient when they talk about their loved one too much. They just need a compassionate listening ear. You’re there to help them through a difficult process. Reach out to those less fortunate and be a bright spot in their day. What an awesome gift—the gift of your presence. Whatever holiday traditions you had, believe me your loved ones want you to continue with them. They enjoyed them while they were here with you, and they want you to continue to enjoy them. Not to mention, for you to pass on to subsequent generations the importance of family and upholding family traditions. In your celebrations and convivium with family, focus on being in the present as you celebrate these moments of love, joy, and laughter. Because these moments evolve into precious memories of love, joy, and laughter in the future. That’s my commitment. Not to focus on what is a perceived loss, but I am blessed with family, both then and now. In our hearts, each one is always with us. Won’t you join me in celebrating Thanksgiving for every blessing of family God gave us—both then and now!

Have a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager Business Encouragement Coach

Celebrating Family! Celebrating Thanksgiving!

Greetings,

As I approached this Thanksgiving, I was somewhat melancholy. I found myself missing so many family members and friends who were no longer here. Yes, I longed for Thanksgivings of yesteryear. I realize this was and continues to be my most favorite time of the year, the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Although I lived hundreds of miles away from my family, I always managed to travel back to share in the holiday festivities. Rather than allow myself to be pulled into a place of melancholy, I decided to celebrate their lives by enjoying the holiday season.

Many are experiencing the loss of loved ones as they celebrate the first Thanksgiving without them. Others just missed their loved ones, even if they made their transitions in previous years. Nevertheless, it causes you to reflect on how much you miss them, love them and cherish their memory.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving and the rest of the Christmas season, garner joy in knowing how much their lives touched yours and brought meaning to you and how much you touched theirs. Don’t be afraid to remember all the great times shared. I am not minimizing the intensity of the loss, I know it quite well having lost mother, father, five sisters (one rhis year), a niece, two nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins, two pastors, and friends. I am no stranger to it.

I realize celebrating their life, contributions and legacies is more beneficial for my well-being. Remembering them is all of part of moving forward. They are as much a part of me as they were before they exited this life. Love and memories live in the heart and can never be destroyed. If you want to cry and shed some tears, that’s all right. Go ahead and do it. But also, laugh about the good times as well. Cherish and delight in the memories. Don’t allow the melancholy of the loss to consume you and push out the great memories you shared. Make a concerted effort to celebrate their life with joyful appreciation of how it brought meaning to yours.

If you have never lost anyone, reach out to someone who has. Spend time with them in celebrating their loved one. Don’t become impatient when they talk about them too much. They just need a compassionate listening ear. You’re there to help them through a difficult process. What an awesome gift to give—the gift of you.

Whatever holiday traditions you had, believe me your loved ones want you to continue with them. They enjoyed them while they were here with you and they want you to continue to enjoy them. Not to mention, for you to pass on to subsequent generations the importance of family and upholding family traditions.

That’s my commitment. Not to focus on what is a perceived loss, but that I am and have been so blessed with family, both then and now. In our hearts, each one is always with me. Won’t you join me in celebrating Thanksgiving for every blessing of family God gave each of us!

Enjoy Your Family!

Have a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager
Business Encouragement Coach

Safely Enjoy Your Christmas!

This year has been extreme! As we continue to be shuttered away from celebrating with family and friends in person, we learn to improvise in our celebrations. Last evening, I had a great time celebrating with my family via Zoom in our traditional Christmas Eve Gift Exchange.

Last year we were shuttered away from family and friends because of the pandemic. I recall not missing a beat when it came to coming together with my family. We celebrated our beloved holidays, not being together, yet we were together. Thank God for technology that affords us the ability to still connect with family.

After almost two years of uncertainty, we find ourselves still battling an invisible foe. It seems as though when we think that it is just about winding down, it rears its ugly head again. Most of us thought that we would be enjoying our families without trepidation of a killer virus that has taken so many. Yet, we continue to be in that place. Unlike last year, we are not shuttered away. Unfortunately, the numbers of those being afflicted by the virus, and even succumbing to it is on the increase.

As we celebrate this holiday season, let us remember why we do it. It is because a loving God gifted us with His only son, Jesus Christ. In an unselfish display of love, God gave His only begotten son that we would have eternal life and experience an abundant life here on earth. I believe beyond belief, that abundant life included us uniting together in the face of adversity. We are facing one of the worse adversities of my lifetime. A pandemic that appears to be relentless.

We have to be just as relentless and vigilant in our efforts to ensure a different outcome for Christmas 2022. It begins with each of us exhibiting that same unselfish love God demonstrated. It begins when we love each other enough to do what is right for ourselves and others. I continue to wear my love mask, even though I have been vaccinated and received the booster. These are love gestures in my commitment to living the two greatest commandments—to love God and to love my neighbor as I love myself.

You see, I want everyone to experience an awesome Christmas with their loved ones. It is my desire that there will not be an empty place at the table when families sit down because their loved one was snatched away by COVID. It is my hope and desire that our children will be able to attend school mask-free, without fear of catching a virus that they can potentially take home. I look forward to the day when we can gather together without fear of events becoming super spreaders.

Every time, I put my mask on, I envision the day when I won’t have to wear it. Until then, my love gift is to put it on so others and myself can live. During this holiday season, let’s continue to demonstrate love by doing what is necessary to annihilate this disease.

Have an awesome Merry Christmas as you safely enjoy your family and friends!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager
Business Encouragement Coach

Embracing a New Year!

Happy New Year!

Even as we enter 2021 there is still a lot of uncertainty, but there is so much optimism that at the cessation of 2021 we will have moved closer to the normalcy we once knew and will have experienced awesome success in each of our endeavors. Normalcy in 2020 has been redefined. As much as we may long to resume our lives before COVID, we will never fully embrace that normalcy again.

There is a normalcy that each of us experience every day in some capacity. Even though sometimes we feel that it is not there. The love of God is always a part of our existence. Even amid the adversities and chaos of life, His love for us is forever present. No doubt God and His love will also be there with us throughout 2021. Regardless of what the vicissitudes of life my bring, God and His unconditional love is the greatest constant of our lives. The same constant of His love for us, each of us must be committed to that consistency of love for each other.

We awakened this morning in a new year. Some of the same issues are confronting us. Together, in love, we can conquer them. As we move further from the holidays, incorporating love, compassion, and grace into our lives becomes even more paramount. I am committed to love God, others, and myself in bringing about some semblance of normalcy as we knew it. I do hope you join me in that commitment as we face another year united together with love as our cornerstone to increase our faith and hope for a prosperous and successful year.

Have a Happy Blessed New Year!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager
Chief Encouragement Officer

Celebrating Family Love @ Christmas!

Celebrating Family on Christmas Day!

This year has been extreme! As we continue to be shuttered away from celebrating with family and friends in person, we learn to improvise in our celebrations. Last evening, I had a great time celebrating with my family via Zoom in our traditional Christmas Eve Gift Exchange.

We sang. We laughed. We played games. We reminisced of Christmas past. We exchanged gifts in our usual fashion of storytelling. Most importantly, we loved on each other. Although we could not physically be with each other our traditions continued, and it did not lessen our celebration as our love for each other is stronger than ever.

During this time, be creative in how you reach out to your family. Love is demonstrated in so many ways. More than ever, this year, we have had to creatively love family and friends at a distance. I have come to realize that enduring this separation for a little while, pales in comparison to doing what I need to do to ensure we will come together face-to-face once again to celebrate so many more Christmases.

Is it difficult? Yes, and no. Perspective is everything.

Jesus came to dwell in the earth for a little while. God knew he would not be here forever, but God wanted each of us to experience the special love He has for humankind. So, He sent his only Son to come to earth so we would not have to be restricted to the limitations of this world, but to live an abundant liberated life and to live with Him for all of eternity. Such an awesome act of love for a life-long and eternal reward.

We find ourselves in that same situation. Such an awesome act of love as we separate for a little while to experience each other for a lifetime. Thank God for creativity! He provided us with creative resources through technology to still connect with family and friends. We may not be able to touch them physically, but our hearts continue to be intertwined in love regardless of the distance.

As you celebrate this Christmas creatively with family and friends, enjoy distance, yet closeness, of a family’s love. Remember, it is only for a little while and then we will all be physically together once again.

Have an awesome Merry Christmas!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager
Business Encouragement Coach

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Embracing Love!

Love is such a powerful word. Every day, even more this year, it has become even more of a driving force for me. These past several months have been some of our most trying as we are in the midst of a pandemic that has taken so many lives and affected so many others. We have grown weary of political rhetoric that divides more than unite us together in the face of battling an invisible foe. Everything that we have had to contend with has brought us to a place of thanksgiving. This year Thanksgiving is different, yet I feel it is stretching us to love even more.

I’m sure you recall the biblical story about the Good Samaritan. On his way to Jericho, a Jewish man was attacked and left on a deserted road half dead. Before long, a priest came by, saw the man and crossed over to the other side without offering any assistance. Not too long afterwards, a Levite came and got close enough to look at the man and kept going. Again, not offering any assistance. Many of us see firsthand our brothers’ and sisters’ plight, but just like the Jewish man and the priest we have elected to overlook it and do nothing.

Then along came a Samaritan—someone who, including the battered man, was despised because of his ethnicity. The Samaritan immediately attended to the man’s wounds and took him to a nearby inn where he nursed him through the night. Prior to leaving the next day, the Good Samaritan paid the man’s expenses in advance and promised to pay any additional expenses on his return. This act of humanity illustrates a commitment to love others as we love ourselves.

The Good Samaritan exemplifies a worthwhile character to emulate. He confronted a challenge and did not walk away from it. We face a similar challenge in battling this invisible foe. Refusal to do our part by simply wearing a mask demonstrates us walking away. The price is too high to walk away. We have already paid a high price in the thousands of lives lost, the strain on our health system, and the negative economic impact it has had.

My concern, as I hope is all our concern, is to do our part in combating this invisible foe. We cannot walk away and do nothing. We have a responsibility. “We need to remember: We’re at war with a virus — not with each other,” said President-Elect Joe Biden.

I am reminded of Jesus when he didn’t think it was beneath him to gird himself with a towel of servanthood and wash the feet of his disciples. I can only imagine how dirty those feet were from walking in the unpaved streets shared by humans and animals. Yet, Jesus humbled himself enough to wash those dirty nasty feet.

The towel of servanthood for us this Thanksgiving is a little smaller. It is a mask. Just like the towel Jesus used represented love for others, the mask that we wear today also represent love for others. I am amazed at how such a small piece of cloth has caused so much division when we desperately need to be united in this battle.

Every time I am reminded of the hundreds of thousands of lives lost and even more that are suffering, it causes me to love a little more and just wear a mask. I am grateful to be able to do my part in combating this noisome pestilence. You see, how can I say I love my neighbor as I love myself and I am not willing to demonstrate that love by not only helping to save others’ lives, but my own as well.

Love is patient, love is kind, and love is not selfish. We must love fervently. Love must be the guiding force for us this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season. President-Elect Joe Biden sums it up this way, “This Thanksgiving — and in anticipation of all the Thanksgivings to come — let us dream again. Let us commit ourselves to thinking not only of ourselves but of others.”

Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving!

Jacqui Showers

The Bold Encourager
Business Encouragement Coach

Mr Fox, Mr. Fox! What Time Is It? | Showers’ Blessing PicSpire | Jacqui Showers

Recently, I saw these two young girls playing a childhood game that brought back memories for me. I thought to myself how I didn’t know kids still played Mr. Fox. I was flooded with memories of how one person would stand about 3-5 yards away from everyone else with their back turned away from them. In unison we would bellow out, “Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, What Time Is It?”

The person playing Mr. Fox would holler back a time, “3 o’clock.” Once Mr. Fox gave us the time you would take that number of steps forward. This would go on until at some point Mr. Fox would holler, “It’s Midnight.”

All the players would run scurrying away because if Mr. Fox got you, you were out of the game. However, if a person made it to Mr. Fox before he turned around, that person won.

Many of us live our lives that same way. We wait idly for the right time to move. Oftentimes we are waiting on someone to tell us when to move. We proceed through life with no set agenda, but allow the vicissitudes of life to lead and guide us. Before we know it, most of our time on this earth is almost over.

Yet we still don’t feel as though we have come even close to achieving all God created us to be. We pray and ask God to order our steps and teach us to number our days that we can apply our hearts to wisdom; yet we find ourselves moving towards the dusk of our lives not quite knowing what we are to do and who were created to be.

Like those who got close to Mr. Fox, once he turned around and bellowed out, “It’s midnight,” they were devoured. That is what happens. The enemy is devouring you from reaching your destiny and fulfilling your purpose. When he turns around you run away, or you get caught up in his web of deception whispering what you can and cannot do. Unfortunately you believe it.

Those who did manage to reach Mr. Fox had to be strategic. They made sure that Mr. Fox did not hear their footsteps. They took giant steps forward to get closer to him before the game was over. When they got near Mr. Fox, they were able to assume his position. You have to be strategic as you meander through life. There are traps of deception set along the way with the primary objective to keep you from achieving your purpose.

You can do something to prevent that from happening. You can beat Mr. Fox (the enemy) at his own game. You must walk circumspectly with a determination that no matter what, you plan to win. You have to be relentless and strategic. You have to be determined to reach Mr. Fox before he turns on you, but you have to be strategic in thinking one step ahead of him to anticipate his turn.

One thing for sure, Mr. Fox is only going to be turned away from you for a little while. You have to anticipate the moment when he decides to turn around with the intent of capturing and devouring you. At that moment, if you have not reached him first, you have to high tail it out of his way.

The enemy plays games with us as well. He makes us feel as though we don’t have much time left, but believe me you have a lot of time to do what you were created to do. Maximizing every day as if it were your last determines how you will finish.

You may not have had a lot of control over how you started, but you do have control over how you finish. “It’s Midnight!” Will you finish as a winner, someone who runs away or someone who is captured in the enemy’s snare?

Are you waiting to move? How will you finish? Are you making the right moves to finish as a winner?

#showersblessing #ohbreakout #themeplace #trophies #prayersforsuccess

Trophies Along the Pathway of Life | Showers’ Blessing PicSpire | Jacqui Showers

In a conversation with a close friend of mine about her son, she stated that all her son’s life all he wanted was to play football. Over time he accumulated many trophies for his outstanding performance. She shared that he didn’t care about the trophies as much as she did, because when she looks at the trophies what she sees is a methodical approach to achieving his goal. Every trophy represented him becoming more discipline and determined as he got closer to fulfilling his ultimate goal to be a professional football player.

We may not have trophies we set on top of a mantle. What we do have are the trials and triumphs in life that has gotten us to the place where we are right now. Every step in the journey is a trophy we should envision as an outstanding performance on the path to fulfilling our dreams.

My friend’s son has learned as much from games lost as from games won. So, do we. It is the failures of life that fortifies and, if allowed, forges you forward. If you give up because you may have failed at the first attempt, you will never experience true victory.

Keep in mind, the space between each trophy on your victory mantle are the games lost, not the games that caused you to lose. There is a difference in the games lost; they help to build you up for the next play. However, the games that caused you to give up (those that caused you to lose out) are the ones that prevent you from moving forward in anticipation of the next play. It is all right to have lost a game, the problem comes when that lost consumes you. In the consumption of the lost, you lose yourself and you lose sight of your goal. When you lose sight of your goal, you will find yourself meandering down a path clueless about your destiny and your purpose.

Stay on the path in your methodical approach to achieve your goal. Appreciate the defining moments that propels you to your destiny and purpose. Remember just because you may have lost one game, doesn’t mean you have to give up on the season.

Are you ashamed of your life’s trophies? Have you hidden them away? Will you bring them out and begin to celebrate the victory each one has brought you? Do you celebrate your loses just as much as you do your victories?

#showersblessing #ohbreakout #themeplace #trophies #prayersforsuccess

Intimacy of Communion: Remember Him | Showers’ Blessing PicSpire | Jacqui Showers

When I was young girl I remember thinking that the table with the inscribed words, “This Do In Remembrance Of Me,” was associated with death. What I remember most is that every time someone died their body would be at the front of the church on that table. Or, so I thought it was. The wording was appropriate for the occasion seeing how someone had died and we were at a funeral remembering them.

To the mind of a young child it made perfect sense. People were wailing and crying, remembrances of their lives were being spoken and everyone was bidding their final farewells. This had to be the table where dead people were placed for their families to remember them. You have to remember that I grew up in a church where many things were not clearly explained. It was assumed that everyone knew what that table represented.

Interestingly enough, I knew about the true meaning of the table, but I didn’t associate the true meaning with the table because my perceived application of the table was more prominent than its actual purpose. I was operating on misinformation of my own pre-conceived thoughts. As we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday in observance of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, it brought me back to that memory of the inscription on the table.

Not until years later, if I wasn’t grown I was almost grown, that I made the connection about what the inscription on the table truly meant. In this maturation process, I also realized that they didn’t place the deceased bodies on that table at all. You see, my mind connected the wording and the height of the table with the riser where the coffin was set on. Oh the beauty of getting wisdom and understanding!

Now that inscription on the table has become the center of my life. “This Do In Remembrance Of Me” speaks volumes as to our walk with Christ. You see, Communion was and has always been sacred to me. We were taught that you need to have your heart right and your life in order to receive Communion. I knew that if I ever took it unworthily I would meet with some unexpected calamity. True, that is a bit extreme, but it reinforced the sacredness of the experience that resulted in increased reverence.

I refer to it as an experience because that is what it is all about. It is all about experiencing Christ in His fullness. It is all about embracing a lifestyle that catapults you into a realm of commitment that completely transforms your life. It brings into focus a relationship that is unparalleled and unprecedented by any other.

Fourteen years ago, I began receiving daily Communion; twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. No, I don’t have a Communion Table erected in my house, but I do have one erected in my heart. You see, it is at the Communion Table where you begin to embrace Christ and it is also there where you make the decision to follow him closely; not a far off nor will you completely turn your back on Him. Everyone who takes Communion heart may not be prepared to receive it.

It is the ultimate remembrance that symbolizes His life, crucifixion, resurrection and triumphant return. It connects to us a force where that no limitations in this world can prevent us from becoming all God envisioned. I am consumed with the limitless love that was demonstrated on the Cross, so I could be completely free in a world full of oppression.

The beauty of it all is that it wasn’t just for me, but everyone. This Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday remember Him and in remembering Him you will come to know who God created you to be. This is the intimacy of communion.

#showersblessing #ohbreakout #themeplace #beyou #prayersforsuccess

PRAYER FOR SUCCESS April 28

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Father, Bless me to be an extravagant giver. Not to be seen, but to be a cheerful giver as I live out the greatest two commandments to love You and others, as I love myself. Bless me to give with the same compassion and love You extravagantly give to me every day. Amen. #showersblessing #prayersforsuccess

 

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