Mom – BCU

Room A203: Grief, God & Emotional Rest

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:

Over the last few months on BCU Thursdays, I have been teaching on the different types of rest we need.
Emotional rest is having a safe place to share your true feelings without fear or worry of judgement.
Today, the Lord is using you all to be a source of emotional rest.

BlenCouragesU · BCU Podcast | Emotional Rest | (Ep 442)

Scripture (KJV) references

I Thessalonians 4:13

¹³But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Psalm 30:5

⁵For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Hebrews 4:15

¹⁵For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Psalm 121:1-2

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

²My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

Psalm 126:5

⁵They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Romans 8:28

²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

BCUFam, if you’re experiencing grief, sadness, or emotional exhaustion, it does NOT make you “less saved”. You can grieve and still have hope. You can shed tears and still trust God. And through it all, Jesus will give you the grace and strength to keep moving forward. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, Lord, we bless Your name, we praise and thank You. Lord, as the Scriptures remind us in Psalm 46:1, You are a present help in the time of trouble. And we thank You for being our refuge and our strength.

Lord, we ask that You would remember those who are going through a season of sadness, grief, trials, situations, dry seasons, and difficult places. These things can bring us to a place, Lord, where we need emotional rest. We can’t find that help in the world, but, Lord, we can find it in You! Thank You, Jesus! We also thank You for the people that You have placed in our lives that we can speak with as well.

Thank You for lifting someone’s heart and mind today. Please continue to strengthen and keep us, and we will continue to give Your name the praise, the glory, and the honor. In Jesus’ name, we pray and we thank 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

12 Aug 2026

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Room A203: When The Assignment is Completed.

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

I got married a few years ago and in doing so, gained additional new family members.
One of my favorites people? My Mother-in-Love, Margaret, (who insisted I call her Mama).
The Lord set up our relationship so that He would have His way in her life.

BlenCouragesU · BCU Podcast | When The Assignment is Completed | (Ep 440)

Scripture (KJV) references

John 13:35

³⁵By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Acts 2:1-4

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

BCUFam, sometimes, people are doing what they know is right concerning the Lord, and our assignment is to let them know what the next steps are, just like Peter went to Cornelius in Acts 10, and I believe that was my assignment for my momma-in-love. I was blessed to see the Lord move on and speak through her, and a change in demeanor that only the Lord could orchestrate.

Sadly, my super-beloved mama-in-love departed from this life last month. I still have some of her voice mails, text messages and took course the memories of our times together over the last few years. As much as I would have loved more time with her, the Lord let me know this assignment has been completed. And even with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, I give God praise for her life and memory. Amen? Amen.

Father, in the name of Jesus, as we come before You today, we bless and praise Your Name! Thank You, Lord, for helping us to be mindful of our assignments, and with Your help, carrying them out without distractions, and with distinction.

Also, Lord, please continue to remember those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. Put Your arms around us Lord, and send comfort, and healing to hearts today everywhere as we continue to serve You and to bless Your Holy Name.

In Jesus’ name, we thank you. Let every heart say, Amen.

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

Love,

BCU

21 Jul 202621 Jul 2026

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Room A203: My Mom, An Ice-Cream Cone & A Life Lesson

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

My parents were the quintessential back-in-the-day married couple with kids.
Dad worked and “brought home the bacon”, and Mom ensured the “bacon” clothed, fed and sheltered all of five of us.
Part of Mom’s household management style included special treats from time to time, which we loved.
One of those treats brought joy, tears and a reflective lesson.

BlenCouragesU · BCU Podcast | My Mom, An Ice-Cream Cone & A Life Lesson | Ep 438

Scripture (KJV) references

Hebrews 12:11

¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Proverbs 6:20-22

²⁰My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

²¹Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

²²When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

BCUFam, I had forgotten about that story until a dear family member checked on me. God has a way of bringing things back to our remembrance in the natural so we can recall and apply it for our spiritual benefit and to His glory.

As I continue to 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 more 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 be obedient to You the first time, as we desire to be hearers AND doers of Your Word. Please forgive us, Lord for the times we made ignorant and/or disobedience choices. We know that sometimes we have to walk out the consequences of our actions, so we ask for Your continued mercy until our chastisement is over, and with Your grace, we will do better going forward! We thank You, and we praise You for this and for all things, Lord, in Jesus name, we bless You. Amen!

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

Love,

BCU

9 Jun 202611 Jun 2026

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

Hey there BCU Fam!

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.

BlenCouragesU · BCU Podcast | Room A203: My Mom, A Road Trip, and a Heart to Serve

Scripture (KJV) references

Romans 12:10

¹⁰Be 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

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

¹²And 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!

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

Love,

BCU

28 Apr 202628 Apr 2026

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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:

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