spiritual foundation

A Connection Beyond This Life

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Melodies & Musings

My therapist and I were talking about our ancestors. I have always felt a strong connection to my third-great-grandmother, Amanda Barnes Smith. Her story is incredible because she went through so many hard trials, and as far as I know, she stayed strong through it all. I told my therapist about the strong connection I feel with Amanda. She told me that our ancestors are angels looking after us and helping us through our hard times. She said they can give us strength and guidance when we are struggling. Then I realized that is why I feel such a strong connection to Amanda. I think it’s because she is looking after me from above. As I thought this, I started to cry and I could feel her presence near me, telling me that she was looking down on me and helping me get through my hardest days. That was an incredible experience for me. It’s funny that I had felt so close to Amanda for many years but I didn’t realize before that moment why I felt so drawn to her and her story.

I have felt my maternal grandfather, who has passed away, helping me through difficult times as well. I was really close to him when I was growing up until he passed away in 2003. So it makes sense that he is looking down on me and helping me through my trials. After the experience I had today, I want to pay more attention to the impressions I receive that my ancestors and loved ones are helping me.

Read the older poem I wrote about Amanda Barnes Smith’s story here: https://faithcenteredinspiration.com/2026/01/21/refined-by-fire/

Watch the YouTube Short here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/muyoUvoJOPk

How have you felt the influence, love, or guidance of loved ones who have passed on during difficult times?

Praising, Trusting and Following God

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-October 3rd, 2026

“Faith is when you praise God in the storm, you trust Him in the valley, and you follow Him in the dark.” – Corrie ten Boom

I want to break apart each part of this quote. First, “faith is when you praise God in the storm.” Some days it is hard to praise God when the storms of my life are raging around me. Sometimes it’s hard to keep my head above the water. The clouds start to gather around me and I begin to feel discouraged about my trials. Then I feel like I might give in to the gathering darkness. But then I get through that hard day. The sun comes out the next morning and there is hope again. I feel like it’s a lot easier to praise God after the worst of the storm has passed than it is when the storm is raging around me. But as long as I keep going and reaching out to my Heavenly Father in prayer, I will survive.

Second, faith is when “you trust Him in the valley.” That sounds easier than praising Him in the storm. The valleys are the easier days when my health isn’t as bad as it is on the hardest days and I can get more done. It doesn’t mean that those days aren’t hard as well, but maybe it’s just easier on those days to trust in my Heavenly Father. We are never free from trials in this life. We all have something hard we are going through. Trusting our Heavenly Father every day, not just on the easier days, makes life more bearable and enjoyable.

Finally, faith is when “you follow Him in the dark.” When we feel the darkness start to creep into our souls, we need someone to follow so we can see the light again. Who better to follow than our loving Heavenly Father? He can see the whole path ahead when we can only see a small portion of it. But it’s hard when we are discouraged and hurting to reach out to Him for help. But I feel like that’s the only way to survive, especially on the dark days and nights of life.

What helps you keep your faith when you’re going through a particularly difficult season of life? Have you ever experienced a time when looking back helped you see God’s presence in the middle of a storm?

The Perspective We Choose

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-October 2nd, 2026

“The perspective we see the world from shapes how we face the challenges in our lives.” – Marla Gale

I recently listened to an episode of the All In podcast with Marla Gale as the guest. She talked about the experience of being in a terrible car crash and her 13-year-old son died as a result. She talked about how hard that experience was as a mother. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for her because I don’t have any living children. I had a miscarriage many years ago.

She talked about how the brain injury that she suffered because of the crash blessed her life. She couldn’t remember the crash, and she still doesn’t to this day, 5 months later. She said that when someone told her that her son had died in the crash, it seemed like she already knew about it and she felt peace.

She talked about feeling immediate compassion and forgiveness for the driver who caused the accident. I also can’t imagine how that must have felt. But I admire her so much for feeling that way towards the other driver. She is such an example to all of us.

Then she talked about how she saw her trials in life from an eternal perspective. Yes, she did still have to grieve for the loss of her son. But she instantly knew that he was in a better place and that her Heavenly Father was taking care of him.

I learned so much from listening to this episode. I love hearing stories like this. I think we can learn a lot from the hard experiences of others. That’s why I share my difficult experiences in this space.

Have you ever heard someone share a difficult experience that changed the way you looked at your own trials? How has having an eternal perspective helped you through a difficult experience?

His Hand Beneath Mine

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His Hand Beneath Mine

Backstory

When I read this quote for the first time, it stopped me in my tracks. “Anxiety grows when you believe you must carry everything alone. Peace begins when you place what you cannot control into God’s hands.” I thought about a child trying to walk for the first time. He looks up at his father, who is there to catch him. He stumbles and falls many times, but he still tries to walk by himself. The child grows up and becomes an adult who still tries to do things alone. Eventually, the adult realizes that he can’t do everything on his own, so he falls to the ground and cries to his Father in Heaven for help. Then he realizes that his Father was there all along, helping him carry his burdens.

His Hand Beneath Mine

A baby is born and continues to learn and grow,
He tries to walk on his own but the progress is slow.
He tries again and again but he keeps falling,
But he just keeps trying and his determination is darling.

His father is there to catch him any time he may fall,
And he will be there to answer the boy’s call.
The child grows into an adult who keeps making progress,
But he still tries to do everything himself in the process.

He stumbles and falls many times as he tries to carry his burdens alone
Because he thinks that his worries and cares are to everyone unknown.
He gets to a point when he can’t get up off the floor,
So he cries out to his Heavenly Father as his heart is sore.

He asks His Father why he hasn’t felt his embrace
As he has fallen many times on his face.
He hears a whisper telling him that he was never on his own,
Even if he felt like he was carrying his burdens all alone.

He looks back on his life as he realizes he was wrong
And he sees that his Father has been there for him all along.
When his burdens felt too heavy for him to bear,
His Father had eased the weight as he had been there.

The Takeaway

We may think that we are carrying the weight of our burdens alone. But we are never alone. We need to trust that our Heavenly Father is there beside us to help us carry our heavy load. We can find true peace when we surrender to Him and let go of things we can’t control.

Watch the YouTube short here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aVxrCFefhvI

Have you ever tried to carry a burden on your own, only to realize you needed to turn to God for help? Have you ever looked back on a difficult time and realized that God was helping you even when you didn’t recognize it at the time?

Crying Out to God

/ 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 9th, 2026

When I was listening to the audiobook, Courting Mr. Emerson by Melody Carlson, a conversation between two characters jumped out at me. Willow said to Mr. Emerson that just because bad things happen in the world or to you, that doesn’t mean God doesn’t exist. He wants us to come to Him and cling to Him so we can get through the hard times. She said that during a particularly hard time in her life, she learned to cling to God and that time strengthened her belief and faith in Him and that He was there for her.

One particularly hard time in my life was after my miscarriage in 2009. For a while afterward, I was mad at my Heavenly Father for taking away from me something I wanted so badly-to be a mother. So I didn’t pray for a while. My amazing husband suggested that I just cry out my feelings, whether they were negative or positive, to my Heavenly Father. So I knelt down and did that with my husband’s arms wrapped around me. I couldn’t speak at first because I felt my Heavenly Father’s love for me so strongly. I spoke my emotions out loud. Most of those feelings were anger and disappointment. But afterward, I felt much better. After that moment, I knew that my Heavenly Father wanted me to communicate with Him, even if I was upset with Him. I also felt that He loved me very much.

After that experience, when I am going through hard times, I pray to Him and trust in His plan for my life instead of being mad at Him for my circumstances and not communicating with Him. Especially lately, living with fibromyalgia and an autoimmune disease, I have learned that the only way I can get through my hard days is pleading with my Heavenly Father to help me get through the day.

Have you ever gone through a difficult time that ultimately strengthened your faith in God? Have you ever felt like you could cry out to God with your honest feelings, even when those feelings were difficult or painful?