The Perspective We Choose

October 2, 2026 / 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

September 14, 2026September 14, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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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?

Abide With Me Every Hour

August 26, 2026August 26, 2026 / Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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Melodies & Musings

For a long time, I have loved the hymn I Need Thee Every Hour. I especially love the words to the third verse.

I need thee ev’ry hour,
In joy or pain.
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain.

I need thee, oh, I need thee;
Ev’ry hour I need thee!
Oh, bless me now, my Savior;
I come to thee!

The reason this verse resonates with me so much is because I really do need my Savior every hour. I need Him when I feel joy. Most of the time, He is the source of my joy. Without Jesus, even happy moments are fleeting or without purpose. I really need Him when I feel pain. Because I have a chronic illness, pain is a part of my daily life with my body. But I think it’s also talking about pain in my heart or soul. Jesus can help me with that kind of pain more than anyone can. He has felt the pain and emotional trauma that I experience, so only He can help me heal. Without Jesus, suffering would feel purposeless and unbearable.

Then the next part of the verse includes my Word of the Year, Abide. I need my Savior to come quickly to my aid and abide with me. I don’t ever want Him to leave me. I researched the line, “Or life is vain”, and I learned that vain in this context means empty, futile, without substance, or lacking true purpose. I feel this deep in my soul. I can’t imagine my life without Jesus. Life would feel empty and without a purpose if I didn’t have Jesus to abide with me. If it weren’t for Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, life would be empty because there wouldn’t be hope for me to change, repent and become better.

When Annie S. Hawks wrote those words, the line “Or life is vain” can be understood as a declaration of total dependence. It expresses that without Christ’s presence (abiding with you through both the bright moments of joy and the heavy seasons of pain), all of earthly life’s achievements, efforts, and experiences ultimately lack permanent weight or eternal meaning.

Then the chorus expresses my feelings about my Savior so well. I need Him every hour. I feel like this is a prayer to Jesus telling Him how much I need Him, every hour of every day. Then it asks Jesus to bless me and stay with me when I reach out to Him.

When have you felt your Savior’s presence most strongly in your life? What does “I need Thee every hour” mean to you personally?

Here’s the short video of me singing this verse acapella:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lfDmm8t_mGM

Other Refuge Have I None

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026 / Christine Maynor / 1 Comment

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Melodies & Musings

Another one of my favorite hymns is Jesus, Lover of My Soul. I have always loved the music to this hymn, but the words are especially powerful. I love the words to the second verse:

Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on thee.

Leave, oh, leave me not alone;

Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on thee is stayed;

All my help from thee I bring.

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of thy wing.

What makes these words so powerful is that it sounds like a prayer to Jesus, telling Him first that we don’t have anyone else who is our refuge. Our souls would be helpless without Jesus and His Atonement. But we do have Jesus, so our souls are never helpless. Because of Him, we can repent and become better. That’s such a sweet and amazing testimony to all of us. For me, Jesus has been my refuge many times in my life, but especially these last few years living with chronic illness symptoms. I can always turn to Him and He will be there for me.

Then, we plead for Him to never leave us, and we put all of our trust in Him, that He will “abide” with us and never leave us alone. There’s my word of the year again, “Abide”. As soon as we reach out to Him, He will be there for us. He is ready to be there at a moment’s notice because He loves us so much.

I got really excited when I found that one of the scriptures that inspired this hymn was Psalm 62:6-7, which reads:

6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

The book of Psalms has been one of my favorite books of scripture for a long time, probably because it sounds like music and I love music! From these verses, Jesus is our rock, our salvation, our defence, and our refuge.

What does it mean to you to know that Jesus can be your refuge? When have you felt Jesus supporting and comforting you during a difficult time?

Watch the short video of me singing the second verse of this hymn here:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TVdJK2A-s4Q

Beauty in the Broken Places

August 16, 2026August 16, 2026 / Christine Maynor / 1 Comment

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Backstory:
I saw a quote that really resonated with me. It said, “Brokenness does not make you worthless. Like cracks repaired with gold, the places where you have healed can become part of the beauty of your story.” Then it showed a picture of a mug that had been broken but repaired. You could still see that it had been broken at one time. Our trials are really hard on us and can make us feel broken at times. We just need to reach out to our Savior, Jesus Christ during those times and He can repair what has been broken for us and help us heal.

Beauty in the Broken Places

We all go through hard times when we may feel alone
And like our worries and cares are unknown.
Our trials may feel so heavy on our shoulders
That we feel like we are carrying huge boulders.

Our hearts may at times feel broken beyond repair
And because of the trials we face, we might feel despair.
Our days may seem so long to carry our heavy load,
And we may feel like we are walking alone on an empty road.

In those moments of despair and loneliness,
When we can’t see the end of our trials in the stillness.
We just need to reach out to our Savior, Jesus Christ,
Because He knows how we feel since He paid the ultimate price.

Jesus has felt all of the emotions we feel,
And because of that gift, only He can help us heal.
If you ever wonder if you will ever feel whole,
Just know that Jesus can heal your broken soul.

If you ever feel like you can’t carry your load anymore,
And you feel so weak that you drop to the floor.
Just remember that Jesus will always be there for you,
And that He will carry your load and help see you through.

The Takeaway: We all go through hard trials in this life. We might feel like we are a broken mug that will never be whole and useful again. During those times, we just need to reach out to our Savior. He will heal what has been broken and He will help us feel whole again.