Tag: confidence

Your Confidence

Jennifred Jones

Across the street from where I work, a young single dad is building a beautiful stone wall for a family living in the big brick house.

Last month he came in all excited to be selected for the job, and just happened to share with me… since I was standing at the counter. Over the last few weeks he began to dig the footing, order the stone and get started, but he seemed to take a lot of breaks and had a hard time really moving into the project….like he wasn’t sure of himself. He’d told me he’d worked for another landscape company doing the exact projects, he had his schooling and degrees, but this was his first time working solo. (and he wasn’t sure about himself. He seemed to have a lot of self doubt about his abilities)

Yet people would frequently stop by and compliment him on his work.

Today, things were really taking shape, he was laying the steps in the wall leading to the walk and porch, and the lady of the house came to tell him how nice it looked.

He came over to my side of the street to get a look at things from the distance and said it brought tears to his eyes that he actually had done that good work. He had always wanted to go on his own, but couldn’t while working for the other employer, and his mother discouraged him from going on his own. Yet in the meantime, several neighbors had come by asking him to come look at their place and help with stonework they needed done.

He already had the skill, the experience, the motivation, but lacked confidence to put it forth and begin.

I felt I needed to root him on, help propel him forward every chance I got.

It is a big ‘first project’ he tackled. It will entail a back patio too, but his ability and capability are showing and his confidence is growing.

I hope he gets lots of other good paying jobs. He is particular, does it right and has a young son to provide for.

Who do you know that needs your vote of confidence cast their way?

Cast it! The rewards will be great!!!

Delete, Repeat

Jennifred Jones

Delete what’s not working for you.

Today I wore a shirt that doesn’t look good on me–truthfully I don’t like it, and when I bought it I knew the color didn’t do anything for me, but it was on sale…and I have since paid over and above for it. Twice I have started to give it away, but pulled it back– since it was ‘good’ and I got a bargain.

But I don’t feel my best, most comfortable, confident self when I wear it.

It’s going in the Goodwill bag tonight, I told myself! (along with a few other things in the closet—bought under the same guise!)

Why do I do this to myself? When am I going to learn???

Delete, repeat.

There are some things in our lives, physical, mental, or emotional that are a hindrance to being our best selves. Either they sap our energy, rob our confidence and courage, or just plain waste our space and time!

Enough is enough!!!

It begins today…going through my ‘stuff’ little by little deleting and repeating, until it feels right hanging on to what I have.

Do you need to delete something from your life too?

Don’t Give Up, Get Up!

Jennifred Jones

It’s so easy to give up. All you have to do is do nothing! What more could you do?

But the law of sowing and reaping says that if you sow watermelon seeds, you’ll get watermelons, if you plant apple trees, you’ll get apples, and if you plant nothing, you’ll get nothing.

There’s a certain something about working for what you get that has a way of rewarding you that nothing else can. No free handout, no check from the relatives feels quite as good as obtaining it by your own two hands! God said He would bless the works of our hands, so we do the work, and He will bless and prosper it, to cause increase so our needs will be met…whatever need it is that needs to be done or had at the moment, whether it’s getting the bed made, your garage swept, your closet cleaned, or your  resume updated.

Of course, the Bible says, “the poor you shall always have with you”,  yes, there are some who are unable to help themselves for one reason or another and we need to help them, and feel for them, and pray for them, but for the rest of us, we can be confident that whatever God has given us capabilities to do, He will bless them and provide for us through them, and even have left over to help meet the needs of others….remember the story of the little boy’s lunch of fish and bread that Jesus prayed over and divided to feed not just one small boy, but over 5000 men, plus women and children!  And then they had baskets and baskets of food left over. Jesus was not stingy! Jesus did this twice to prove He cares about people, their hunger, their needs, their lunch, as well as their spirit.

If we can get a handle on how much Jesus really does love us, not only in word, but in deed, it will revolutionize our thinking and we won’t be among the ‘giver-uppers’, we’ll belong to the ‘get-uppers’!

Because if God will help us and grant us success, we just won’t want to give up. Once we get moving and start seeing good fruit developing in our lives, and progress being made by our own two hands, we won’t want to remain seated any longer!

Let the excitement begin!!!