Oct 12, 2025: accepting to learn to love thy neighbor and celebrating a heavenly birthday.

Happy Sunday, happiness crusaders! 💖

Thank God it’s Sunday. I can appreciate a day that includes worship, the word of Jesus, and quality time with my kid. We got some spooky Halloween socks for $1/pair!!

Yesterday, October 11, was my late father’s 5th heavenly birthday. He would’ve been 79. He was incredibly proud of the work I’ve done in the past with What Makes Me Happy. I’ve managed to save his voicemail from when I was front page of KSU’s school newspaper. I’ve kept alot of his voicemails from over the years. It’s keeps me going some days. A girl simply doesn’t just get over the passing of her father. I miss him very much. Happy heavenly birthday Dad! 🕊️

Today’s sermon @ Frais was focused on loving thy neighbor. Emphasis on “the neighbors you tend to ignore and tune out”. This, again, has had me reflecting on my efforts with my family. There are certain things my family members and I have discussed and I’m choosing to keep that in private. I am deciding it’s a lost cause at this point. In theory, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make ‘em drink. You can want immeasurably more for someone, doesn’t mean they’ll accept that for themselves. It’s all had me thinking about my future plans and what God has in store for my little family and I. I can only imagine it’s immeasurably more than anything I could even begin to grasp mentally. I trust God’s plans. I pray He paves the way for stabily and security for me and my own.

I’ve always been curious bout the rest of the world and what we could be potentially missing out on. Here goes nothing. 🤞🏻

Here’s three things today that make me happy:

Chubby kitties who enjoy belly scratches, glow in the dark items, colorful Christmas lights.

Celebrate what makes you happy always,

Jenna/Starshine ✨

Oct 5, 2025: comfortably uncomfortable

Thank God for another Sunday. The theme for today’s sermon was “comfortably uncomfortable”. This has had me reflect what’s happened in the last few months (and everything that’s happened over the years) and it genuinely has been the biggest metaphorical slap across the face (though, I’m sure there’s a small group of people who wish I did get slapped across the face). There’s a bunch that I’d rather clarify in a podcast episode and not here. There’s some things that have happened that I’ve honestly been nervous talking about. What would my friends think? What would my enemies say? Will I be able to forgive for everything that’s been said and done? Will I be forgiven for things I’ve said and done? Well, rest assured… I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The main point of moving back to Georgia has been my attempt on rekindling with the rest of my family and hope things can be better. They haven’t been. My mother can’t seem to take any accountability for her actions. My sibling can’t seem to form any opinion or achieve a single critical thought that’s not their mother’s. I’ve about reached my wits end with it all. How do I forgive someone that doesn’t see an issue with their choices and the affects it has? Why am I to be assumed to be THE ONLY ONE to do it? Is this expected from me for everyone? Why do I get to carry that weight? It’s not mine.

Do I have my remorses for things I’ve said to and about my mother? Absolutely.

Do I wish my sibling fought more for the sibling bond we share? Absolutely.

These are things that are too foreign, too far gone. They don’t care about if I’m alive. They don’t care to make an effort to have a relationship with my child… and we live an hour and a half away.

My advice to them if they read this: if you don’t want me talking about it, maybe don’t do the bad things I might mention. Make the effort to have us in your life before it’s too late. I’ve already uprooted my life for this. I won’t make a single effort more. Most importantly… I will not take more accountability for my actions than I already have.

So while I do my drives back and forth to Gwinnett, I understand that I may not be wanted back (at least in familial ways), understand that I’m comfortable with feeling uncomfortable about that. I won’t apologize for my existence. Who I am, what I’ve been through… is an incredible thing. If you know, you know.

And I will never stop talking about it.

Until next time, I’ll leave here with today’s Bible verse:

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we may comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

2 Corinthians 3-4

Celebrate what makes you happy always,

Jenna/Starshine ✨

Sept 28, 2025: a decade of survivorship 💜

It’s Sunday. God’s day. It’s not just any Sunday though. Today marks ten years of my own survivorship. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma and it completely changed my life. There’s so much I’ve learned from that experience and have shared some of those things countless times over the last decade. One thing I was never prepared to do and am now taking the time to do… is the grieving process.

Grief for losing the sense of normalcy I had then.

Grief for the hopes and dreams I placed on hold.

Grief for the relationships that supported me then now wishing the cancer would come back to me.

My funniest comment was from someone I’ve never met who told me to “fix my perm.” 🤣 A few things about this: when I was growing up, I used to HATE my curly hair. I thought straightening my hair would make me seem more mature. I was in such a rush to grow up. It was soon right after my first round of chemotherapy that my hair started falling out in clumps. I ultimately decided to shave my head and rock the “Tommy Pickles” hairstyle. Since then, I’ve grown it out. I’ve colored many different colors (pink, purple, blue to name a few). I’ve had an undercut. I’ve had to grow out that undercut. I’ve maintained my side shave since 2019. It will always serve as my reminder for everything I’ve gone through. It signifies the struggles of a cancer diagnosis and the insecurities faced by MILLIONS that lose their hair due to treatment. I’ve adopted my current hair are routine from a waitress at a Red Robin in Jacksonville, FL and have embracing my curls ever since. This isn’t a perm. It’s not even my natural hair. It’s my chemo hair. They’re my curls from chemo that I’ve grown, altered, colored, cut, buzzed, etc. It’s MINE. And I’ve finally fallen in love with that about myself.

To the people who wonder if I’m still here, yes I am. To the people who wish for it to make its return, you have some unsettled business that you’ve yet to find your peace on. In Jesus’ name, I pray for you each.

So while my past has been haunting, and some parts of who I am today are a little embarrassing, and what happens tomorrow or even next week terrifies me, I know Jesus has my back. He is my Lord and Savior. He was then. He is now. He will be forever.

Ephesians 3:19-21

Until next time, I’ll leave here with three things that make me happy:

Impromptu weddings, listening to my child laugh, stepping on that crunch leaf in the fall.

Celebrate what makes you happy always,

Jenna/Starshine ✨