Shining Where God Has Placed Me

January 30, 2026February 17, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
There are a few accounts of one of the greatest sermons ever delivered by Jesus—the Sermon on the Mount. One of those accounts is found in Matthew chapter 5. The part I want to explore more deeply is when Jesus teaches that we are “the salt of the earth,” and warns that if salt loses its savor, it is no longer useful. He also declares, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” I find this comparison especially meaningful because salt and light are very different things, yet together they teach us powerful truths about discipleship.

Salt and Light

In Jesus’ time, salt was precious, not just a seasoning,
It was essential for life and faithful preserving.
Before refrigeration, salt kept food from decay,
And we, as God’s people, can resist evil in quiet ways.

Salt brings out what is already there,
Revealing goodness meant to be shared.
As followers of our Savior, others may not know why we’re different,
But they may taste something good through our Christlike intent.

Even just a little light can scatter the dark,
Its influence reaching far beyond a single spark.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden from sight,
For darkness retreats when it encounters light.

Jesus didn’t tell us to create light—He said we already are,
Like candles placed high, meant to shine near and far.
Though a flame may be small, its purpose is clear,
To give warmth and direction to hearts drawing near.

Salt and light are ordinary, simple, and small,
Yet without them, the world would lose so much after all.
So may we live as salt—faithful and true,
And shine as His light in all that we do.

The Takeaway: Being salt and light isn’t about standing out for attention—it’s about quietly preserving goodness and faithfully shining Christ’s love. As we live differently, others may not always understand why, but they will feel the influence. And through our small, everyday acts of discipleship, God’s light can reach farther than we ever realize.

When God Tends My Heart

January 29, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
I heard about this idea that God is the Master Gardener and we are his plants. It really got me thinking about how it would feel to have God as the Gardener in my life. Sometimes I forget that I am not alone. Some days when the symptoms of my chronic illness are so bad, I start to feel that I am alone going through that and other trials in my life. I just need to trust that with God as my Gardener, I need never feel alone and He will help guide my life in wonderful ways that will help me grow into beautiful flowers.

When God Tends My Heart

I heard lately that God is the Master Gardener and we are plants in his garden,
I really loved this metaphor and it’s something I want to explore as an option.
So let’s ruminate on this for a little while and see if this thought can be common,
I think if I was really a plant then I would want my loving Heavenly Father as my watchman.

I don’t know a lot about gardening,
So let’s say that our Heavenly Father plants us in His garden and after a while we could look promising.
After some sunlight and water we could be blossoming,
And just think of the beautiful flowers and vegetables that we could be modeling.

Sometimes life may seem like it’s going well,
We are blooming into beautiful flowers and they really do have a beautiful smell.
In those times we can feel like our hearts will in gratitude swell,
And we might feel like our lives will stay like that forever but it’s sometimes hard to tell.

We would feel like at those easy times that it’s easy to trust in the Master Gardener,
And because things are easier our beloved Gardener would be popular.
But then in a garden sometimes there are weeds that we need to monitor,
And plucking those out of the garden can sometimes be a bummer.

I think the weeds in this garden could be the weaknesses and trials we have in our lives that may hurt us,
And having to pluck them out might seem harsh instead of a plus.
Sometimes when we have these weeds plucked out it might hurt so much we might want to cuss,
It might hurt us to have things pulled out of the garden and we might make a fuss.

But I think that if we put our trust in the Master,
Then we could blossom and bloom from those hard times a little bit faster.
For He knows what He is doing as the grandmaster,
And if we choose to trust in Him especially in the hard times then maybe our lives won’t be such a huge disaster.

The Takeaway: God our Father could be compared to be our Master Gardener and we are plants in His Garden. Sometimes He might have to pluck up the weeds in our Garden and it might hurt us. But we just need to trust that He knows what He is doing and then we will grow into beautiful plants.

What God Grows from Bitter Places

January 29, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
So recently I got into baking with sourdough. I am fascinated by sourdough because it’s just flour and water that is fermented in a jar. Once it is fermented, the baker can bake with it and make delicious bread and also add it to other recipes. Sourdough is also very good for your body, especially the digestive system. So thinking about the magic that is sourdough made me think of how I could apply this principle to my own life. I think that the sourdough could be our trials, struggles and weaknesses in our lives. We have to go through those things to learn and grow. God our Father could be likened to a baker when they are baking sourdough recipes. Even though our trials might taste sour at first and they might not smell very good or be enjoyable to go through, with the help of the Master Baker, we can turn our trials into something beautiful and delicious.

What God Grows From Bitter Places

If we mix equal parts of flour and water together,
Then if we let it ferment then it becomes sour and we might think that it could smell better.
But the sour part of this process is what makes it better altogether,
For after it becomes sour, then you can use it to create beautiful recipes that will feel like a pleasure.

We are here in this life with a clear purpose to perform,
We have trials and struggles that can make our lives feel like a terrible storm.
Those times in our lives are meant to help us grow and develop who we want to be so we can grow into a more beautiful form,
But when we are going through those hard times we probably feel inside anything but warm.

But we were not meant to go through this life alone,
We were not thrown down here on this earth to feel unknown.
We have a loving Father up above who created us and to Him we are always known,
We can easily talk to Him in our minds through prayer and we don’t even need to pick up a phone.

Our trials can be like the sourdough mixture,
They might seem really sour and disgusting and not meant to make our lives richer.
God can be likened to a Master Baker who can help us see our lives as a beautiful picture,
If we could see our trials through His lens then they might not seem like a cold and bitter winter.

If we just put our trials into God’s hands He can show us a better way,
All we have to do is trust in His purpose and just say, “Come what may”.
Yes, our trials might seem sour and like all they do is hurt us and this is easy to say,
But if we trust in the Master Baker then He can convert those hard times into a beautiful display.

The Takeaway: Sometimes our trials can leave us feeling sour and upset. We need to trust that the Master Baker or our Heavenly Father has a plan for us that is better than our plan for our lives.

When God Sees What Others Don’t

January 29, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:

So a few years ago my health started going downhill. I started feeling a lot of fatigue when I did little things and my body started having pain that I hadn’t felt before. There have also been many other symptoms through the last few years. I have an autoimmune disease and no one can really tell me what is going on in my body. Having to live this way is a lonely road sometimes. I feel like no one really understands how I feel and that no one will ever understand. But I just need to remember that my loving Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ always understand and they will always be there for me when I feel like no one understands.

When God Sees What Others Don't

Sometimes I wonder, “does anyone really understand how I feel?”
Some days I just can’t imagine that anyone can understand and this struggle is real.
I have amazing friends and family in my life and that is a big deal,
But even though they are very caring and supportive, no one can really understand my ordeal.

I have days when I can barely imagine getting up and facing another day,
Some days I feel so much pain in my body and it’s more than I can say.
Then on those days when my body is weak and my emotions are at the surface I wish that I could live another way,
And it feels like all my emotional skies will be permanently gray.

Then I have better days emotionally and it feels like the sun will come out,
And then I feel like I will make it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I feel like my mental health has been in a figurative drought,
Then the sun comes out and emotionally I feel so good and that feeling I don’t want to be without.

When I feel like no one will ever understand me,
I just need to remember that even though I may feel alone then I just need to get on bended knee.
And then I feel better and I am better able to see,
That my Heavenly Father is always there to hear my every plea.

I should also remember that my loving Savior is always there,
To hear about everything I’m going through and He will always care.
And even when I feel that nothing in my life is fair,
He will always be there for me to help my heart repair.

The Takeaway: We all go through times when we feel like no one understands what we are going through and we might feel alone in our struggles. But we just need to remember that our Heavenly Father and our Savior always are there for us and they always understand how we feel. So we should never feel alone.

Trusting the God Who Comes Through

January 29, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
With my therapist I have been working on my faith and trust in God lately. I have noticed that if I trust in Him and have faith that I can do hard things with His Divine help. Some days with my chronic illness, it is hard to get out of bed but I do it because I have to. On those days especially I need Him more and I just pray that He will help me and give me the strength I need to make it through the day. My faith isn’t always strong throughout the day. My faith wavers sometimes too. But when I trust in Him to help me, He always comes through and helps me.

Trusting the God Who Comes Through

I have been thinking lately that I have been growing in my faith and trust in God,
Sometimes I feel like I can’t make it without Him and that He is always the leader of the squad.
I have learned that I can always count on Him and that is definitely not odd,
He will always be by my side and with me He will always trod.

I sure have days when I don’t know if I can make it on my own,
And I have days when all I feel like doing is to just moan.
On those days I need to put my trust in Him and I don’t even have to pick up a phone,
I know that with my Heavenly Father my tears and fears will always be known.

I have been through some things lately that I didn’t know if alone I could do,
Sometimes I feel like I just can’t stop feeling blue.
And just when I feel like no one has a clue,
He will be there for me because he is stuck to me like glue.

So on my hardest days I just need to trust that He will always be there for me,
I need to remember that with Him I will truly be able to see.
When I’m feeling down then I don’t need to worry because with me He will always be,
Because of this knowledge I can always feel free.

So how can I remember this on a hard day?
Well I just need to trust the Almighty and to Him I should pray.
And when all the skies in my life feel gray,
For during those times He will help me find a way.

The Takeaway: We all have hard days when we don’t know if we can keep going. But we need to trust that our Heavenly Father will always be by our side to help us through those hard days. We just need to pray to Him and invite Him into our lives and He will be there.

Growing Through God’s Classroom

January 29, 2026February 17, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-Jan.29th, 2026

I recently read a quote describing suffering as a “school of experience.” That phrase stayed with me.

So often, we see our trials only as pain to endure or burdens to escape. But what if they are also classrooms—places where God patiently teaches us? Places where faith is tested, trust is deepened, and hearts are refined.

Scripture often compares our trials to fire—not meant to destroy us, but to purify us. Just as gold is refined by heat, our souls are shaped through difficulty. Suffering can strip away what is temporary and draw us closer to what is eternal.

I believe we are on this earth to learn and to grow. Our trials are not evidence of God’s absence, but often invitations to trust Him more fully. In time, what feels like suffering may reveal itself as sacred instruction—forming us into people of deeper faith, humility, and love.

Here are a couple questions to ask yourself: How might your current trials be teaching you something about God or about yourself? What would it look like to trust God more deeply in the middle of your struggle—not just after it passes?

When Faith Starts Small

January 28, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
I have been trying to help my faith and trust in God grow. I have read many times about faith being like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is super small and if I exercise my faith like that seed then it could grow into a big tree. And if I have enough faith in God, I could move mountains and there wouldn’t be anything I couldn’t do with my Heavenly Father by my side. I do have faith most days but I couldn’t even imagine trying to move a mountain even with God by my side. Maybe I don’t need to move a mountain but some days when my health isn’t good and my body is physically so weak and exhausted, I feel like I am moving figurative mountains by just getting out of bed and doing my daily tasks around the house. I just have to keep going and with God by my side, I can do anything.

When Faith Starts Small

I have been thinking lately about the passage in the Bible about faith being like a mustard seed,
It says that if our faith is that small then we can move mountains and I think most days more faith I need.
I also read that a mustard seed is a really small seed but it can grow into a really big tree and thinking about it that way would help me succeed,
I have been thinking about this and how some days I feel like my faith needs more nourishment to proceed.

I do feel like most of the time I have faith and that is a good treat,
But I can’t even imagine having enough faith to move a mountain for that would be quite a feat.
I have also heard that with God nothing is impossible and that sounds really sweet,
So basically with God by my side there is no enemy I couldn’t defeat.

I feel like sometimes I have days when my trials seem considerable,
And carrying them seems really uncomfortable.
But knowing that I am not alone always seems preferable,
Because life on this earth sometimes can be quite unpredictable.

One of my favorite songs asks that when life seems like too much that Jesus takes the wheel,
I think that with Jesus at the wheel it sounds like a good deal.
Some days I feel like the only way I can make it through is to kneel,
But I always know that with divine help my heart will have time to heal.

The Takeaway: We are told that we should have faith like a mustard seed. With even that small amount of faith, with God by our side, we could move mountains. Our trials might seem like mountains we have to climb some days. We should trust that with God with us, we can do anything.

Still Becoming God’s Masterpiece

January 28, 2026February 20, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
One of my favorite hobbies lately has been coloring. It helps me relax and unwind. I don’t really know how things will turn out when I start a coloring page. And that can be likened to our lives. We are here in this life to have experiences and to learn and grow from those experiences. But most of the time we don’t know how things will turn out in the end. We just need to trust in our Heavenly Father and that He knows what He is doing and He will help us on our journey.

Still Becoming God's Masterpiece

I have really enjoyed coloring lately,
It helps my anxiety and depression daily.
I have been thinking that when I start a page, I hope it turns out greatly,
But I never know until I’m done how it is going to look mainly.

I start with a beautiful page in black and white,
There is a guide to tell me how to make it look bright.
I mostly follow the guide and it turns into quite a sight,
By the end I can see that it turned out right.

I think this lesson can be likened to us,
We are here in this world and we have trials and tribulations and we might make a fuss.
We will be tried and tested and that might not feel like a plus,
We can always count on others to help us discuss.

We have a loving Father up above who knows how things will turn out in the end,
He watches over us and will always be our best friend.
He lets us make decisions even though each one of us He always will defend,
He hopes that with each other our differences we can blend.

We don’t see how our lives are going to turn out because our minds are so finite,
We might not be able to see at midnight how things will look in the daylight.
But just remember that there is someone who always is there to help us see the sunlight,
He sees us as his masterpiece and can always give us His loving insight.

The Takeaway: We are here on this earth to learn and grow. We have trials so that we can learn to trust and have faith that our Heavenly Father will always be there to guide and help us in our journey.

Christ at the Heart of Christmas

January 28, 2026February 17, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
Like most people, I have always loved the Christmas season. I remember the excitement I felt as a child at that time of year. I am the youngest of my parents' 3 daughters. We would come down the stairs and into the living room, usually oldest to youngest on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought for us. But some years I remember that my parents let me go first and that was always super exciting for me. For most children, Christmas is mostly about the presents Santa brings them. But as I have grown older, I have found a better meaning in Christmas than just the presents. There have been a couple years like last year for instance when I haven’t been very excited about the Christmas season. But most years I am more than ready to decorate my home for Christmas.

Christ at the Heart of Christmas

Growing up in a great Christian family, I always loved Christmas, but mostly because of what Santa brought me every year,
I think that most children are more focused on the presents than on the reason why this time of year is so dear.
I think that’s only natural for children, but as an adult my mindset has changed to something more sincere,
And now I want to talk about what Christmas means to me as I have put my mind into gear.

Instead of focusing on gifts, I like to focus more on who the Christmas season is about,
Christmas is supposed to be about the birth of my Savior, but sometimes in this material world, this important birth we seem to leave out.
I love to put up my Christmas tree and decorations probably because of the memories this reminds me of beyond all doubt,
I also love the feeling of love and kindness that we all feel this time of year when it feels like sometimes with kindness the world has been in a drought.

Yes I am human and I also get excited when people give me presents at Christmastime,
I think that feeling is normal and is not a crime.
But if that’s all I focus on then I should probably listen to the beautiful sounds of a bell chime,
For the “most wonderful time of the year” should be more about the birth of my Savior than about what I can get for a dime.

I love reading Christmas stories around this time of year about people being more kind,
They help me feel my mind unwind.
Then I feel better about the future of mankind,
But the greatest Christmas story ever told helps my mind and body feel more aligned.

Because Jesus was born and lived on the earth, the world around us can feel more peaceful,
Even when the world is all crazy and all we feel around us is evil.
During Christmastime and all year round we can be happier people,
And because of Jesus we can feel more cheerful.

The Takeaway: We all like getting gifts, especially at Christmastime. But we should focus more on the wonderful gift of our Savior and how we can be more like Him. We should learn from His example and try to emulate Him.

Because of Him, There is Hope

January 28, 2026February 17, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Backstory:
I listened to a podcast episode the other day. The hosts were talking about the phrase, “Confident Expectation”. I looked it up in Google and it defines this as “in a religious context to describe the trust in God’s promises to fulfill good things in the future.” I really love that definition and I think it goes really well with the hope we all feel during the Christmas season and that we should feel all year round because of Jesus.

Because of Him, There is Hope

Because of the Babe born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago,
We can have hope that a miracle happened that night and we can feel that Christmas glow.
Because of that night we can believe that miracles can happen for us today and this we can know,
We can feel hope even when we feel like our trials are so huge that we can’t face another blow.

Because His mother Mary accepted the call to be the mother of the Son of God,
We can accept whatever God expects of us even when the request might seem odd.
I’m sure Mary felt overwhelmed and inadequate when the angel told her of her mission but she knew that she just needed to obey and nod,
This should give us hope and we should remember that even when we feel overwhelmed we always have someone up above rooting for our squad.

We can learn from Jesus’ teachings to always be kind and loving to those around us,
Because of Him we should never look at another person’s imperfections and make a fuss.
For Jesus was always loving to everyone He saw no matter what and this we should more thoroughly discuss,
Because of Him we always have someone to be there for us and this is a huge plus.

Because of Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane we can feel a confident expectation that He knows how we are feeling,
At any given moment even when we feel alone we can feel His touch instead of squealing.
We can believe that He suffered everything that we will ever suffer and this can be for us very healing,
When we feel down and in the dumps all we need to do is kneel in prayer and this should feel more appealing.

So when we think about Christmas and at other times of the year we should be confident that because of the precious baby there is always hope,
Even when we feel like the world is too evil and we are at the end of our rope.
Because of Jesus we can always feel like we have a friend and we can better cope,
Also because of Him we can feel clean from our sins like when we wash our skin with soap.

The Takeaway: When we feel like our problems are too much to bear we just need to remember that Jesus is always there for us no matter what. He will always be by our side to help us when we feel overwhelmed.