intentional living

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?

Love’s Strong Cord

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Backstory: Over the last few weeks, my Mom and I have been memorizing the lyrics of the hymn, Standing on the Promises. There were a couple of parts that really stuck out to me. In the third verse, it tells us that we are “bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord.” This made me think that because of what Jesus suffered for us, He created a cord of love that binds us to Him, one that is so strong that it can withstand anything and never break. The fourth verse says, “Resting in my Savior as my all in all.” This means to me that we can rest in Jesus when we are weary and discouraged because we don’t have to carry our burdens alone.

Love’s Strong Cord

Jesus suffered so we don’t have to suffer alone,
Even though we may feel like it, we are never on our own.
His love binds us to Him with a strong cord,
One that nothing can break because He is our Lord.

On days when the clouds and darkness inside
Grow heavy in our soul, Jesus will be by our side.
Even when the light inside us feels dim,
He is the light we need and we can always count on Him.

Even when others let us down,
Jesus is there so we don’t need to frown.
His love will see us through any storm,
And when we feel cold inside, He will help us feel warm.

When our burdens feel too heavy to bear,
We can trust that Jesus will always be there.
Even when we can’t take one more step forward,
He will help us carry our burdens onward.

So, if you feel like your back might break
From the weight, Jesus will be there for your sake.
You can always count on Him to help you,
And His love will see you through.

The Takeaway: Our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered for us so that we don’t have to bear our burdens alone. He binds us to Him with a strong cord of love, which cannot be broken by anything. We can trust Him completely to be there for us whenever we need Him. When the weight of our burdens seems too heavy to bear, we can count on Jesus to help us carry what we cannot carry on our own.

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of the poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3io0lvYjac0

Watch the YouTube Short of me singing part of the hymn here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7fbuFXAt9XM

What does it mean to you to be “bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord”? How have you felt Christ’s love holding you close to Him during a difficult or discouraging time?

Lessons from the Trees

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-September 27th, 2026

“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let things go.”

I have always loved the fall season. I love the cooler temperatures. I love seeing the leaves on the trees changing colors. I think it is amazing that when the temperatures start to cool, the leaves naturally know it is time to start changing color. Then as the fall season continues and winter comes closer, the leaves start to fall to the ground. The trees are showing us that it is all part of the plan to let their leaves go.

I really love this analogy because in our ever-changing and chaotic lives, we all need to let some things go in order to function as we need to. Sometimes if we let go of things that have been negatively affecting us, it can be freeing and relieving to let those things go.

As I have been trying to work on myself as a person over the last few years, I have realized that it can be a great thing to let go of some of the qualities in myself that aren’t helping me, like stubbornness and pride. It can also be a very difficult process to change my natural instincts or behaviors. But I pray multiple times a day that my Heavenly Father will help me in this process and that, through the grace of His Son, I can become better.

Change is just a normal process in this life. If we look at the beauty of nature, it is constantly changing and maturing. We need to do the same. Our Heavenly Father wants us to change and become more like Him. Sometimes that means letting go of things we hold dear. He will be by our side through it all. We are never alone in this life.

What is something you have had to let go of in your life in order to grow? What do the changing seasons of nature teach you about change and growth in your own life?

Choosing Happiness

/ 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 22nd, 2026

I listened to an episode of the Like a Rock podcast recently. The host, Connor Checketts was talking to the guest, Grace Freeman. Connor said that Grace always seems happy even when things are hard. Grace said that some people have told her before that when they saw her happy all the time, they figured her life must be easy. She said that she has hard trials in her life, like everyone else. But she said that we can choose to be happy.

I have always believed this. But it’s easier said than done. I had a friend tell me many years ago that I always seemed to have a content look on my face. We don’t really know what is going on in other people’s lives. We all have our trials; no one is immune to hardships in this life. So we may think that happy people don’t have trials. But I’m sure they do; they choose to be happy in the midst of their trials. I like this saying, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

I try to stay positive about my life but it’s definitely difficult on my harder health days. I just hold on to hope that tomorrow will be better than today. That brings me hope for today as well.

Have you ever been surprised to learn that someone who seemed happy was going through a difficult trial? What helps you choose happiness or hold on to hope when life is difficult?

Following Jesus As My Guide

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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

Melodies & Musings

As I read through this poem I wrote a while back comparing following the North Star versus following Jesus to navigate our lives, I wondered, “How does following Jesus help me in my life? How can I serve Him better and be an instrument in His hands?”

Knowing that Jesus is always beside me whenever I need Him is a big comfort to me, especially on the harder days with my health. It would make my life easier if I could truly see Him there beside me, but then I guess I wouldn’t need to have faith. I try to be more like Jesus as I navigate my daily life. But I fail so often and I make so many mistakes. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the process of overcoming my weaknesses and shortcomings. But what really fills my heart and soul with hope and peace is that because of Jesus’ atonement, I always have another chance to try again. I can always pick myself back up every time I fall. Jesus will be there to help pick me up when I fall.

I try to notice the needs of those around me. But sometimes I get so caught up in my own problems that I fail to notice the needs of others. I pray multiple times a day that I can notice the needs of those around me and be an instrument in my Heavenly Father’s hands to help His children.

Here’s the link to my poem, Finding True North: https://faithcenteredinspiration.com/2026/01/14/jesus-as-our-north-star/

Watch the YouTube Short of me reading part of the poem here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YsVKp4YW6PA