Room A203: My Mom, A Road Trip, and a Heart to Serve

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • My earliest memory was my first road trip to South Carolina to visit our extended family, which I LOVED!
  • A highlight of our outings was to head to the Piggly-Wiggly to pick up provisions for our family.
  • Unbeknownst to me at the time, through these trips my parents (Mom in particular), taught lessons on entitlement, humility, and being a blessing to others.

Scripture (KJV) references

Romans 12:10

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

Philippians 2:3

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”.

Matthew 23:11-12

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

A picture of my late Mom and I in London
Mom and I in London

BCUFam, in this present world, we see pride and a spirit of expectation and entitlement—–completely opposite of what the Lord instructs his children to do. Jesus was about serving and being a blessing to others, and my Mom walked that out in front of us for early and often.

As I reflect on the life of my late mother, I recognize that the lessons she taught—–both spoken and unspoken and they how continue to resonate with me today. Lord will, I plan to share some of those lessons with you all as I chronicle her phenomenal life and impactful legacy. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Eternal God, and amazing Savior as we come before You today, we thank You for reminding us to walk in a spirit of humility as we interact with others. Please help us to be cognizant, Lord of how we can be a blessing to others as we continue to reflect You in our lives. We thank and praise You, and we honor You for the opportunity to be a blessing to others, and to serve You in a way, where someone will ask, “what must I do to be saved?” We thank You, and we praise You for this and for all things, Lord, in Jesus name, we bless You. Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, X,and Instagram.

Also, if you so inclined, join us for our Thursday Night Bible Study––-we are LIVE on Facebook, at 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform BCU is available on. Some of those platforms are Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and many more of your favorite podcast platforms!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

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From sadness to celebration

Hey 👋🏾 there BCU Family!

For this post, you have the option of listening to our podcast, reading the notes or both. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

  • The holiday season is a time of family, friends, food and fun.
  • For many of us while we enjoy all of the above, we especially miss our the loved ones who have passed away around this time of year.
  • Bouts of sadness are normal. It is human to miss the physical presence of a person.
  • My very dear friend and sister in Christ, Jewel Taylor, shared her feelings about losing her beloved mom—and then decided to do something tangible to honor her, moving her sadness to a celebration.

Today my mom would have been 58. I miss her more than I ever have over these 23 years. When you grow up without a parent, you spend a lot of time in your imagination. I imagined what it would be like graduating with her there or getting married…

But for the past few years, especially since I had [my daughter] Rae, I imagine how she would have reacted to each of her grandchildren. That has been the hardest.

Baby Jewel and her beautiful Mom, Veda Lynn Steward.


I haven’t mourned her in a long time. But today, I’ve decided to allow myself to do so. However, in the spirit of WWVD Day (What Would Veda Do? – thanks for the idea Tarah), and despite being a bit achy, I will pick one of her favorite things to do.

We loved movies. We’d watch them all day if we could. And popcorn. And potato chips lol. I imagine that we would have all piled in the bed with my kids (after shopping for them, of course) and watched movies together. So that’s what we’ll do tonight. Pile in the bed with popcorn and potato chips (I’m really going to need a dustbuster) and watch movies until we pass out. I predict that:

part0 4
Richie, Ryan and Rae

-[My oldest son], Richie III will wiggle & talk through the entire movie.
– [My middle child and only daughter], Raelyn will fall asleep first.
-[My baby], Ryan will be chunky and cute.

And I’ll imagine that my mom would have been smiling from ear to ear, while wrestling my hand to get into the popcorn bowl.

Rest in Power Mommy.
Jewel

In loving memory of Veda Lynn Steward 11/23/1960 – 08/13/1995

BCU Family, in thinking about this post, Psalm 30:11-12 comes to mind. “Thou [God] has turned for me my mourning into dancing, Thou has put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness”. To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. See how talking to the Lord can bless your heart in a matter of moments? He is SO wonderful!

What are your thoughts on Jewel’s idea to honor her mom? What do you do to honor those who have passed away? Please head down to the comments section to share your thoughts so we can continue our conversation!

In the meantime, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter,  and Instagram! You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher Radio , Google Play, and Apple podcasts!

Thank you SO much for stopping by. God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

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