Chronic Illness

Grieving the Life We Once Knew

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory

In Isaiah 53:3, Isaiah is speaking of Jesus, and he tells us that “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” In Sunday school last Sunday, the teacher handed me a notecard with that scripture on it and the question, “How has the Savior carried your griefs and sorrows for you?” For someone like me, having to deal with chronic illness symptoms every day, this question really stood out to me. It made me think of my grief over how my life used to be and how different it is now because of my health issues.

Grieving the Life We Once Knew

I look back on my life and how it used to be,
And it is very different now with this new me.
There is a grief that comes with chronic illness,
Some days it is hard to be alone in the stillness.

I used to be able to work and do things at home,
Before I got sick and stepped into the unknown.
Sometimes I wish I could get my old life back,
Then maybe my future would be more on track.

But I just have to realize this is my life now,
Although I’m not sure why this happened or how.
Even though I wake up with more fatigue than I can say,
And sometimes it is difficult to get through each day.

But when darkness starts to creep in to my mind,
I cry out to my Savior, and His love I always find.
He knows exactly how I feel and of this I am sure,
Even though with my health there might not be a cure.

So yes, I know what grief feels like more than I can say,
When I wish my life was different than it is today.
I just need to remember that I am in my Savior’s care.
And to know that He will always be there.

The Takeaway

I think most of us, at some point, wish our lives had turned out differently. There is grief we have to deal with as adults. For those of us who deal with chronic illness symptoms every day, it is hard not to think of how different our lives were before we got sick. We just need to remember that we are never alone and that our Savior knows exactly how we are feeling at any moment. We can cry out to Him and He will be there for us whenever we need Him.

How has the Savior carried your griefs and sorrows for you?

Watch the YouTube Short here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QWNTlJtSLk0

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Steered by Prayer

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-October 7th, 2026

Corrie ten Boom once asked, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

Prayer has become very important to me over the last few years of living with chronic illness symptoms every day. On my more difficult health days, it’s a struggle to make it through the day without crying or breaking down. On those days, I really rely on prayer. I feel like the more I pray, the more I want to pray. When I pray with a sincere heart and a desire to communicate with my Heavenly Father, I feel His loving arms around me to bear me up.

Let’s look at each part of this quote. Is prayer your steering wheel? Do you use prayer to steer you toward where you want to go in your life? It would be scary if our cars didn’t have a steering wheel. We wouldn’t be able to steer the car to where we want it to go. Basically, is prayer as important to you as a steering wheel is for a car?

Or, is prayer your spare tire? Do you only pray when something goes wrong in your life or when your tire goes flat? I think the tire could represent our faith. Do we only pray to our Heavenly Father when our faith is flat? He wants us to reach out to Him whenever we need Him. He loves us and He wants us to communicate with Him. Prayer is the way we do that.

I want to reach out to my Heavenly Father even when I’m having a good day. Some days it is hard for me to be grateful for my blessings when my health isn’t good. But even on those days, I plead to my Heavenly Father to be there to help me make it through the day. He has always been there for me. He has never let me down, and He never will. He will be there for you as well, whenever you need Him.

How has prayer helped you through a difficult season of your life? What helps you remember to pray not only during difficult times but also during the good times?

Looking Beyond the Rock

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-September 26th, 2026

The idea for this post came from a Facebook group post from Gail Marie Hatke Huff. She shared in her post an object lesson she taught some girls recently. She gave each of them a rock and a sucker. She had them walk down the road and back again with the rock in their shoe and a sucker in their mouth. Apparently the girls grumbled a lot. They couldn’t walk normally because the rock was uncomfortable in their shoe. They were limping and staggering, just trying to get back to her.

The girls were brought back inside, and she asked them what it was like for them to walk around like that. The answers varied but most of them talked about how hard it was to walk around with the rock in their shoe. Nobody mentioned how sweet the sucker was in their mouth. She then related that experience to how we often fail to realize God’s blessings because we put too much focus on the struggles of life. I really love this object lesson and what we can learn from it.

I can really relate to this since I deal with chronic illness symptoms every day. I try to stay positive and not let those symptoms rule my life. But it’s hard when my body doesn’t let me do everything I want or need to do. I also try to focus on my blessings instead of my struggles. I think it is fine to talk about or focus on those things as long as we don’t let them discourage us.

I like to say a prayer of gratitude every night before I go to sleep. No matter how hard my day has been, it helps me to see the blessings my Heavenly Father has given me. Even if I am just grateful that I made it through another hard health day, at least that’s something.

What blessings might you be overlooking because you’re focusing too much on the “rocks” in your life? What is one blessing you are grateful for today, even if you’re going through a difficult time?

Hope in the Here and Now

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory

I recently had a conversation with my Mom that got me thinking. She often tells me that home ownership is expensive. There is one problem after another that needs to be paid for. She said that she is looking forward to the next life because she won’t have those kinds of problems there. I told her that I am looking forward to the next life because then I will have a resurrected body instead of the body I have now, which deals with chronic illness symptoms that disrupt my life every day. I think it’s great to look forward to good things after this life. But this made me wonder, “How can I still have hope and feel joy in this life?” I don’t want to miss out on the goodness of this life while I look forward to the next life.

Hope in the Here and Now

I wake up every day with too many symptoms to count,
And I feel like the weight on my soul is a big amount.
Some days it’s hard to get out of bed,
And I just want to pull the covers over my head.

In the stillness of my troubled mind,
I wish for hope which can be hard to find.
In my struggles, I often feel alone,
As if my worries and cares are unknown.

Then as I feel darkness start to creep into my soul,
I remember that there is only One who can make me whole.
Jesus is there for me as my closest friend,
And His perfect love for me will never end.

I am never alone because Jesus is always there,
Even when I think that my life is anything but fair.
There is always hope for today
Because of Jesus who showed the way.

There is hope for the future after this life,
When my body will be perfect and free from strife.
One day my mortal problems will seem small
When I see my Savior again as I answer His call.

The Takeaway

The burdens that we carry in this life may sometimes seem really heavy on our shoulders. But we don’t have to carry our load alone. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, will be with us every step of the way. One day, after this life, we will meet our Savior again, and then we can rest from our earthly labors. Because of Jesus, there is hope for today and for the future.

What helps you find hope and joy during the difficult seasons of your life?
How does your faith in Jesus Christ help you find hope for today, even when life is hard?

Watch the YouTube Short here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dKy7dSbJLQY

The Anchor of My Hope

/ 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 24th, 2026

“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.” – C.S. Lewis

Sometimes I wonder why I have to go through so many hard trials at once. The hardest one is dealing with chronic illness symptoms every day. I don’t know how I am going to feel every day, or sometimes every hour or every minute. Sometimes my body doesn’t allow me to do what I need or want to do. That makes it hard to plan my days and weeks. Sometimes I have to cancel plans because of my health. That can be frustrating.

I know that our Heavenly Father lets us experience these hard times so that we can learn lessons we could learn in no other way. But some days it is hard to keep a positive perspective on my trials. But I know that I am never alone. Even on discouraging days when the clouds seem to roll in and I don’t know if I will ever see the sun again, there is hope. That hope comes from knowing I don’t have to go through my trials alone.

Prayer has been the anchor of my hope the last few years of living with my chronic illness symptoms. When I pray, I can feel my Heavenly Father’s love and I can feel that He is there for me whenever I need Him. I think I have grown closer to my Heavenly Father over the last few years because of my trials. So that’s a good lesson I have learned that I probably could not have learned in any other way. As long as I keep turning to my Heavenly Father and not away from Him, I think I’m doing okay.

Have you ever learned an important lesson through a difficult trial that you don’t think you could have learned any other way? How has prayer helped you hold on to hope during a difficult time?