Unconditional Love

What Coco Taught Me About Love

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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

My sweet and adorable dog, Coco!

My Daily Musings-July 27th, 2026

I was pondering today on how I can be more Christlike. My thoughts instantly went to little children and dogs – they are very Christlike. But since I don’t have any children, I’ll tell you what I learn from my dog, Coco.

She is a very sweet and adorable dog. She thinks it is her duty to meet every person on this earth and be friends with them. When we are in the car with her, she whimpers when she sees a person walking by because she wants to meet them and brighten their day. I want to be more like Coco and be kind to everyone I see, even if I don’t know them.

A sweet lick or cuddle from Coco brightens my life every single day. I think our Heavenly Father created dogs to teach us how to love unconditionally like He loves us. Our Heavenly Father does love us each very much. No matter what we do, He will continue loving us.

Maybe another lesson we are supposed to learn from dogs is that we don’t have to speak the same language to show someone love. Dogs don’t speak to us through words, but they show such great love and kindness toward others.

What is something you have learned about Christlike love from an animal, a child, or someone in your life?

What is one small way you can show more kindness and unconditional love to those around you this week?

Unfiltered and Still Loved

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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

Me, ready for church and feeling loved by my Heavenly Father!

Backstory:
In a world filled with filters, polished images, and carefully curated lives, it’s easy to feel like we are constantly falling short. Everywhere we look, we’re shown what “perfect” is supposed to be—perfect appearance, perfect families, perfect happiness. Over time, that pressure can quietly shape how we see ourselves. This writing was born from reflecting on that contrast—the expectations of the world versus the truth of God’s love. Through life experience and spiritual growth, I’ve come to realize that my worth was never meant to be measured by perfection, but by the simple, unchanging fact that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father.

Unfiltered and Still Loved

The world sees us each for our outward appearance
And judges us all from a distance.
In the eyes of the world, we must project a perfect life
One free from any and all strife.

But that’s not the reality in this restless world,
Where the fiery darts of the adversary are constantly being hurled.
There is one who doesn’t want us to feel peace within, 
Or to know the light of the true self beneath the skin.

When we wash off our worldly image at the end of the day,
Do we like who we see? Do we want that person to stay?
When we are alone at home with no one else around,
Are we proud of who we are where our true selves are found?

We have a Loving Father in Heaven,
Who is there for us always, without question.
He loves the heart we carry on the inside, 
And there, His Spirit will always reside.

To our Father, we never have to prove our worth,
For it has been ours since before our mortal birth. 
He will love us no matter what we go through, 
A steady grace that carries us when we feel blue.

The Takeaway: We don’t have to earn God’s love by becoming flawless. He doesn’t wait for us to be polished or put together—He meets us right in the middle of our real, imperfect, sometimes messy lives. True peace comes when we stop striving to “perform” for the world and start seeing ourselves the way He already does: loved, known, and enough.