The Shepherd of the One

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory:
I was thinking about the story in Luke 15:3-7 of the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one that was lost. The thought came to me that we are each the one for Jesus. He loves each one of us and cares for us individually. He would leave the 99 to go after each one of us when we are lost. He is the personal Savior for every one of us.

The Shepherd of the One

As a shepherd tends to his sheep,
Their safety in his heart runs deep.
If one of them lost its way,
He would go after it all day.

He would rejoice once his lost sheep was found,
And the joy that he felt would spread all around.
Jesus is our Master Shepherd,
And His depth of love cannot be measured.

As one of His sheep, if I went astray,
He’d lift up His voice to the Father to pray.
He would search for me all day long,
Because with Him, I always belong.

He would rejoice when He found me,
And the love in His eyes I would clearly see.
He is my Personal Redeemer and Savior,
And because of Him, I shouldn’t feel like a failure.

He suffered for me as if I was the only one,
And fulfilled His mission as the Chosen Son.
He weeps with me when I feel pain in my heart,
And from me, He never wants to depart.

The Takeaway: Jesus, as our Shepherd, loves each one of us very much. If we lose our way, He would search for us and rejoice when we are found. He suffered for each one of us individually. He will be beside us every day. We just need to reach out to Him, and He will help us through our hardest days.

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of this post here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tLxHx7GBbsE

A Small, Faithful Choice

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings-September 6th, 2026

“Joy is not always something that finds us. Sometimes it is a small, faithful choice we make again today.”

I believe that this is true. Some days it is easier to feel joy in my soul than other days. On my harder health days, I really have to choose joy instead of letting discouraging and negative thoughts invade and take over my mind. When I feel darkness and discouragement start to slowly creep into my thoughts, I have to choose not to let those thoughts stay for very long. I always feel better in my soul when I have joy and I am grateful for my blessings. Yes, it’s harder on some days to have those joyful and grateful feelings. But it’s always worth it to turn my thoughts and emotions from negative ones to positive ones.

I realize that it is harder for some people to let those negative and discouraging thoughts go than it is for other people. I have had times in my life when I was depressed and I didn’t know if I could get out of the darkness in my soul very easily. So, I do sympathize with those who struggle with bad anxiety and depression.

I go back to what my therapist told me a while back. She said that it is okay to go through all of the emotions we feel, even the discouraging and negative ones. But we should think of those feelings as water washing over us like when we are in the shower. We can sit with them for a little while. But then we should let them wash down the drain so they won’t clog the drain or weigh down our thoughts and feelings.

It helps me to talk about my feelings with someone who understands how I feel, especially on my harder health days. So, reach out to those who understand how you feel. We are here on this earth to help one another through our difficult times. We need each other. We can learn from the faith of others who have gone through hard experiences.

What helps you choose joy on the days when joy doesn’t come easily? How do you remind yourself of your blessings when you’re going through a difficult time?

He First Loved Me

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings-September 5th, 2026

Yesterday I posted about my love for the book of Psalms. Then I got the idea from the most recent Don’t Miss This podcast to write down that “I love the Lord” and then reasons why I love the Lord. I chose to write down reasons why I love my Heavenly Father first. Now I want to focus on reasons why I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love my Savior because He came down to this earth and was an amazing example. He was human and He had to learn to walk, to talk, to eat with His hands and other normal development things. But He was also a literal Son of our Heavenly Father. So in my personal opinion, I think that His spiritual development was more than that of a normal human being. Even when He was 12 years old, the Bible tells us that He was among the teachers in the temple.

He went about doing good everywhere He went. I think He saw the positive aspects of people He met. I think that His Father endowed Him with a love for everyone, no matter their circumstances or where they came from. He taught the people the Gospel that His Father wanted Him to teach. He healed many people of their physical and emotional pain. He saw everyone deeply and felt their pain, their suffering, and wanted to help them heal.

But the main reason I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, is because He first loved me. He loved me enough to suffer for my sins, pains, and weaknesses in the Garden of Gethsemane. He felt it all and I’m sure the pain was excruciating. But He did this so that I don’t have to suffer alone. Then He was bruised, beaten, and carried His cross to Calvary. He was nailed to the cross. He rose again on the third day so that I can be resurrected. He is my hope every day, but especially on the harder days with my health. I will praise His name forever. He is my Savior, my Redeemer, and my closest friend. He has been there for me when I didn’t feel like anyone understood what I was going through. He has helped my heart heal many times through the trials I have faced.

What is one reason you love Jesus Christ? How has Jesus Christ shown His love for you during a difficult time in your life?

Blessings in the Waiting

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Backstory

I listened to the Like a Rock podcast this week, and the host mentioned Hebrews 10:35-36. What leapt out to me about these verses was, “Ye have need of patience. After ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” I researched the meaning behind these words. Patience sometimes is more than simply tolerating the wait; it is continuing to follow God, even when the waiting is hard. Sometimes we need to trust in our Heavenly Father before we see blessings. Living with chronic illness symptoms every day, I understand waiting. But I need to trust that someday, healing will come to my body, and I need to believe that my Heavenly Father will be there for me while I wait to be healed.

Blessings in the Waiting

If you have ever felt alone,
That you are completely on your own.
If you believe that no one truly understands how you feel,
Just know that your struggles are real.

If you ever feel that your trials weigh you down
Because of the weight, you feel like you might drown.
If you plead with your Father to be there,
And to take away every worry and care.

But all you feel is silence from above,
Just know that He sends you His love.
He is working behind the scenes in your life,
Even though all you feel is never-ending strife.

If you feel like you are constantly waiting for blessings to arrive,
And you are doing all you can just to survive.
Your Father hears your heart’s desire,
And He is walking with you through the fire.

When you are drowning in the midst of the sea,
And all you can do is send out a silent plea.
Never doubt that your Father in Heaven
Is there for you every moment without question.

The Takeaway: Sometimes we might feel like we are carrying the weight of our burdens alone. We plead with our Heavenly Father and all we hear is silence. What we don’t see is that He is working in the background of our lives, even when we feel like we are constantly waiting for blessings to come. We just need to trust that He is there for us in the waiting.

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of this poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dXH0Yywq5AM

A Heart Full of Praise

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings- September 4th, 2026

I have loved the book of Psalms in the Old Testament for a long time. But recently it has really stood out to me. I especially love Psalm 116. In the first verse it says, I love the Lord,” then it tells us why the person loves Him. On the Don’t Miss This podcast this week, one of the hosts asked us to write down, “I love the Lord” and then write down why you love him. She said that “praise works wonders for the soul.” I really like that idea.

I think of Lord here as referring to my Heavenly Father. So, here are some of the reasons why I love my Heavenly Father. When I pray to Him with a sincere heart, I can feel His love for me and I can feel that He is there. That truth alone is incredible to me. I am not perfect and I make so many mistakes, but no matter what I do, He loves me with a love I can’t even begin to imagine. Also, that He wants to listen to me and hear about my problems is amazing.

He created this earth with the beauties of the mountains, the blue sky, the puffy white clouds, the animals, and human beings for me to enjoy. I am amazed when I look at the beauties of nature all around me.

But the main reason why I love Him so much is because He sacrificed His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, so that I can repent, become better and live with Him again someday. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been to watch Jesus suffer. But my Father knew that I would need a Savior, so He did it.

I could list more reasons, but for now, that’s all.

When you think about all that God has done for you, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Have you ever taken time to write down the reasons you love God?