March Issue

Classyandchic Gems Magazine

Y T I C I T N AUTHE

5TH ISSUE EDITOR: ANITA ANN FORD

FAIT H

Spring

MARCH 2021

PEACE HOPE LOVE

A note from our editor:

ANITA ANN FORD

Classyandchic Gems magazine offers an authentic look at life through believers who are perfectly imperfect and believe in the power of the Gospel. God’s gifts are all around us, but it’s up to us to recognize them.

Renew, Restore...

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Rebuild,

Content Creators for March

Mental Health Gems-Anita Ford Military Gems-Carolyn Ford

Faith Gems-Reverend La’Shawn Peterson Family Gems-Anita Ford beauty Gems-Joann Aguauo Beauty Gems-Samira Boubou Teen Gems-Anita Ford photographY Gems- Aerospace Engineer, Professional photographer-Alvin Ford,Jr . Historical Gems-Ms.Mary Burden

MENTAL HEALTH GEMS

BE FEARLESSLY AUTHENTIC Creator: Anita Ford

Be Fearlessly Authentic Why do I write?

Many years ago, God placed this passion in my heart that began with writing poetry. I don't write for fame or popularity. In fact, I've never been popular. My personality is often misunderstood as being stuck up and standoffish, but I am neither one of those. I'm actually an introvert with a huge heart for others. So, I write for all the introverts like myself who want to have a voice. I am not bothered by the voices of people who misunderstand me because my calling is mine not theirs. I am not distracted by those who want to dim my light so they can shine brighter. I am not ashamed to express my love for God. I want to give people hope and remind them of their God given purpose.

God could've used anyone, but he chose me. I want to live my life out in such a way that I've exhausted every single talent God has given me. I find it beautiful God chose someone like me who is painfully shy. God has made me bold to speak His word. God has a calling on each of your lives.

It doesn't matter whether you feel equipped or not, He will equip you according to His purpose on your life. Step out and be bold in your life. Be fearlessly authentic. Those who are meant to be in your life will stay and those who aren't will leave. But, always remember to be true to yourself.

Never allow people to cause you to be a watered down version of yourself because you are His precious prize! You are strong! You are capable! You are loved! .

ICLASSYANDCHIC GEMS

THE GIFT OF A HEALTHY YOU By: Anita Ford

Uncertain times build courageous warriors.

Meet people where they are in this life.

As a Mental Health Professional, I know firsthand that we are walking through difficult times, but my best advice for growing through challenging times is to be someone that is there for people without judging their journey. You will see that everyone has a different way they live their lives. Some people are taking precautions and others are living as if we are not in dangerous times. But. at the end of the day. we must do our best to educate and understand each other.

Social distancing and isolating can be difficult for those who are extroverts. Going from being able to visit with family and friends to spending time with a small amount of people changes your mental health. So, I encourage to you to take the time to do things that make you happy.

1) Explore the great outdoors. God has given us so much peace and tranquility and a lot of it is found outside in nature. .

2) Don't neglect your physical health. If you were someone who exercised regularly at a gym, try to gather equipment or programs that help you put together socially distanced workouts.

3) Surround yourself with supportive friends and family who don't judge your way of living right now. You dont need to worry about being shamed for taking care of your own health.

4) Do not neglect your own mental health. Know your limitations.

5) If you feel as if you are in a state of mind that you may endanger others or yourself, seek the help of a mental health professional.

Life looks so different when we allow people to be themselves.

Disclaimer: Advice given in this article reflects my own personal views as a therapist and does not substitute therapy or psychological interventions in which you are currently engaged in.

MENTAL HEALTH GEMS

Beauty How do you incorporate color into your beauty routine?

Connect with Joann via social media on Facebook and Instagram at @jcindyraguayo.

Creator:Joann Raguayo Joann is a dear friend and wonderful member of my blogger group, Classyandchic Gems. This month we had another opportunity to feature some of the fantastic makeup artistry from Joann.

We love the way Joann incorporates color into her every day beauty routine. She loves wearing red, pink and purple accents. If you glance at her Instagram feed, you’ll also see her most recent posts incorporating orange and green. The use of beautiful hues is often an expression of our personalities. There are so many beautiful qualities Joann possesses.She is a light hearted soul who loves her family, she enjoys pouring into others and she is one of the best friends you could ever have in this life.

Strong, beautiful, confident, life speaking and talented! We are so proud of Joann!

BEAUTY GEMS

Classyandchic Gems Magazine

Beauty Beauty in in Color Color

Written by: Samira Boubou-Sambeautykeup Creator, Beauty Blogger, Wife and Mom

..Samira is a fantastic addition to Classyandchic Gems. From France, we love her fierce style and kind demeanor!

We interviewed Samira this month and we asked her to describe her style.

Samira said: My style of clothing really varies depending on my mood. Happiness makes me want to wear clothes with more colors to share my happy mood.

I have to admit, my style changes regularly because I like different styles.

During the winter months, dark tones particularly appeal to me.I will lean more towards wearing gray, black or green rather than autumn colors. As for makeup, I like to wear red and dark brown matte lipsticks. For my eyes, I wear eye shadow shades with orange tones.

I love spring. My style tends to be more assertive when the weather changes. I enjoy using very bright colors or pastel colors. I use nude makeup during the day and for dinners or parties with friends, I wear colors such as red, fuchsia and dark pink lipsticks. Since the eyes are windows to the soul, I like to use iridescent colors to brighten up my look, occasionally creating a beautiful smokey eye look. There is so much beauty found in embracing your own unique self. I am so blessed to love who I am and own my uniqueness.

BEAUTY GEMS

ClassyandChic Gems Magazine

FAITH GEMS

Renewing Renewing Your Your Mind Mind Written by: Reverend La’Shawn Peterson Romans 12:2 As I sat with my coffee and meditated on this subject, many things came to mind. What does it mean to renew the mind? What does it take to renew one’s mind? So, I began to do some research and I found something that leaped off the screen of my computer and into my spirit.

What does it mean to renew your mind?

This word 'renewed' in Greek is ANANEOO which means to be renovated by an inward reformation. Wuestsays that the construction of the Greek makes it a transitional and continuative process. So we understand from this, that it is an ongoing process through which this transition from one state of mind to another, occurs.

When I looked up the word renovate I found that to renovate something is to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding), or to restore to life, vigor, or activity : revive the church was renovated by a new ecumenical spirit.

I also looked up what it means to go through a transitional process or continuative process and I came across these two excerpts: Transitioning is the process of changing the way you look and how people see and treat you so that you become the gender you feel on the inside. Transitioning can means lots of different things. It can involve medical treatment and hormones. It can involve changing your name and preferred pronouns.

A continual improvement process, also often called a continuous improvement process (abbreviated as CIP or CI), is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes.

These efforts can seek "incremental" improvement over time or "breakthrough" improvement all at once. Delivery (customer valued) processes are constantly evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility.

So now that we have some pieces to our puzzle here, let’s put this together.

The process of renewing the mind is not a one-time thing. It is a continual thing. As we see in the definitions above, there are a series of processes that come along with the renewal of the mind. We must first allow God to come into our lives (Revelations 3:20), and then allow the Holy Spirit to help us begin to renovation process where everything is inspected and that which is old is restored, given life and vigor, and made to be productive to our mental state of mind.

We also learn here that this is a process where we are transitioned from the old mindsets and habits to the new mindsets and things of God. We also learn that this is a continual process as well. This is not something that happens one time. It is a process that is continually needed as we walk out this life here on earth and experience things that cause battles and damages to the mind.

As I close, be encouraged to allow God to renovate your mind. He is a loving God and a caring God who only wants what’s best for you. Renovations are needed as things become worn and torn throughout our lives. Be encouraged to continue to submit yourself to the inspections of the Holy Spirit as He comes in to sit with you and help you be all that God has created you to be!

ClassyandChic Gems Magazine

COMPARISON WRITTEN BY: ANITA FORD While the journey to finding your purpose may seem difficult at times, it’s important to never allow the voices of the world to confuse you. The world wants everyone to be cookie cutter versions of each other. The world wants people to compete and compare.

The world wants people to assume an identity that doesn’t belong to them in order to be accepted. But, take comfort in knowing what’s for you, will always be for you and what’s for someone else will always be for them.

The world wants us to think that outer beauty, wealth, and fame are important to be successful in this world. The more we compare our lives to others, we will never feel comfortable in our skin. Intelligence, talents, inner beauty,outer beauty,and love were placed in us with a greater purpose in mind. We can spend all of our time wanting to be someone else, but we never know what that person had to go through to be where they are now. If we had to step in someone else's shoes and endure what they've faced throughout their lives, would we still want their life right now? I can guarantee we wouldn't. Please know, we are all beautiful vessels that God created to impact our world in many different ways. No gifts or talents are more important than the others-they all work together for a greater cause. You are His precious prize-You worth can't be determined by this world..Your worth is in Christ.

TEENAGE GEMS

You are valuable...

Just the way you are!

ICLASSYANDCHICGEMS

GROWTH

.

WRITTEN BY: ANITA FORD

By Anita Ford, Master’s Level Clinician Growth-It’s amazing to sit back and look at how far you’ve grown as a person. I’m an introvert. I love spending time with small groups of people.I’m outgoing when I’m around close friends, but for the most part I’m fairly quiet. I love the way God continues to stretch me.

I’m a counselor. I’m a writer and I’m a speaker & I’m also a ministry director. So, right there in the middle of my comfort zone, God continues to catapult me towards greatness for His Kingdom. I spent some time at my Alma Mater yesterday and I had so many wonderful memories of when I was there in undergraduate and graduate school. While in Undergraduate school, I majored in Psychology and minored in Criminal Justice. My professors recognized my talents and continued to encourage me to press towards greatness. A semester after undergraduate school, I started graduate school and I was blessed with life speaking, inspiring, empowering professors that wanted to see me do well as a Counselor.

You see, many people will see your talents, but always be thankful for the people who speak life into you. In a world filled with competition, it’s always important to be grateful for those who never gave up on you. At the same time, be someone who chooses to speak words of encouragement to other people.

Growth Gems

Classyandchic Gems Magazine

A Mama’s Heart Army wife, educator, .sister, best friend, Christ follower and mother, Carolyn enjoys encouraging and speaking life into mothers.

Someone once asked me, If I had it all to do over again would I choose to marry a man in the military? And, my answer was yes.

As a military wife and mother, I had many moments in my life where I was both the mother and the father. While my husband was gone, I was expected to take the reigns and step up and guide my children. There’s nothing more important than knowing that you are raising resilient children. My children adapted fairly quickly to change and I also had the opportunity to witness my 3 children grow in their faith as our Army journey continued.

Writer: Carolyn Ford

You are valuable because God planted gifts inside of you that no one else possesses.

Mama’s you’ll have many opportunities to stay defeated if you allow the devil to have a foothold in your life. But, behind every uncertain moment God is still there and He is in control. I challenge you to see your worth through God, your family and your loved ones. Even when it seems as if everything is stacked against you, there comes a point when you must acknowledge that God has entrusted you with a family for a reason. And, He knew that you were strong enough to stand be a helper to your husband. So, I encourage you to stand, Mama! When times get hard, acknowledge the times but don’t let the times define you.

Loved, Empowered, and Set Apart MILITARY FAMILY GEMS

Classyandchic Gems

Historical Gems

Author: Ms. Mary Burden

Chatting with a great friend, Ms. Mary Burden this month. She will be sharing her love of family, cooking and encouraging others in the next couple of Magazine issues.

Pictured:Aether and Anna Quinn, parents of Ms.Mary Burden.

As a young girl growing up in rural Mississippi, my parents were always up at the crack of dawn, getting the kids ready before they headed to work! My dad a sharecropper, and my mom who was a cook at the local hospital and later became the head Dietitian at that hospital, and this is where I began to pick up a lot of my cooking habits. We always raised our food and yes....we all worked the gardens in the proper seasons, and when it came time to gather the vegetables, we worked just as hard to can, freeze and whatever we needed to do. I was about 10 years old when my mom started me in the kitchen. I usually had to make sure I added water to the vegetables are whatever, my job was to make sure nothing burned. This is a brief ideal of why I love to cook. I have so many old fashioned recipes to share with you, I promise to include a few of my favorites in your next issue!

HISTORICAL GEMS

Classyandchic Gems

ITS AN AMAZING THOUGHT TO KNOW THAT GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES. SO, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE WALK THROUGH IN THIS LIFE WE HAVE TO BE COGNIZANT OF THE FACT THAT GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL. INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER ANITA FORD

Love

AUTHENTICITY, HOPE AND PEACE