The Connection Corner

A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.

Thriving Through Life’s Trials

Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About Songs

Psalms 42:11 — “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

The night I discovered I had cancer, I sat down at the piano. That’s how songwriters bleed. We bleed songs. I started writing out my feelings, and a song called “O My Soul” began to emerge.

It captured my inner turmoil—a battle with myself—reminiscent of some of King David’s verses in the book of Psalms.

I felt like I was walking through fog. Everything was loud, disorienting, and out of control. But somewhere beneath all that fear and shock, something inside me held firm. And I don’t say that to sound spiritual or strong. I didn’t feel either of those things.

But what I did feel, buried beneath the panic, was something steady. Something rooted. It was Jesus. He was the same God I had spent years getting to know in the quiet.

Long before the diagnosis, I had sensed God calling me—and our band—to something deeper. Not just to sing about faith, but to live like it was anchored in something that couldn’t be shaken.

That became the heartbeat of our ministry: Thrive.

That’s also the origin of a special line in the song I wrote that night: “There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know.”

I can’t explain it, but those words reminded me that the storm didn’t get to define my story. Fear would have to bow to something greater.

I didn’t thrive that night because I was brave or strong or ready. I thrived because what I knew about God was already rooted deep in my bones.

And now, I want to ask you what I had to ask myself: What are you building your life on?

Friend, if life feels calm right now, this is the best time to get to know Him. Because the storms are coming for all of us. If you’re planted in Him, really planted, you won’t be moved.

Not because you’re strong.

But because He is.

— Mark Hall

Oh My Soul

Oh my soul, oh how you worry
Oh how you’re weary from fearing you lost control
This was the one thing you didn’t see coming
And no one would blame you though
If you cried in private
If you tried to hide it away
So no one knows
No one will see if you stop believing

Oh my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear
Has to face the God you know
One more day
He will make a way
Let Him show you how
You can lay this down

‘Cause you’re not alone

Here and now, you can be honest
I won’t try to promise
That someday it all works out
‘Cause this is the valley
And even now He is breathing on
Your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was
Ash and stone
This much I know

Oh my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear
Has to face the God you know
One more day
He will make a way
Let Him show you how
You can lay this down

I’m not strong enough
I can’t take anymore
(You can lay it down
You can lay it down)
And my shipwrecked faith
Will never get me to shore
(You can lay it down
You can lay it down)
Can He find me here?
Can He keep me from going under?

Oh my soul
You are not alone
There’s a place where fear
Has to face the God you know
One more day
He will make a way
Let Him show you how
You can lay this down

‘Cause you’re not alone

Oh my soul, you’re not alone

Written by: Mark Hall, Bernie Herms

June 24, 2025/by David Hall

God on Bus 27

Daily Devotional, Linda Meyers

Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation.”

Glenda has seen it all.

As a bus monitor, she’s witnessed the kinds of things nobody wants to see. Kids getting dropped off at houses she wouldn’t have sent a stray dog to. Some have stepped on in yesterday’s clothes, carrying no lunchbox and even less hope.

Sometimes she wonders—before they ever climbed onto this bus, had anyone told them they were loved? That they mattered? That they weren’t alone?

So she does what she can. She smiles big. She calls them “honey” and “sugar,” and plays 88.7 The Cross every single morning like it’s a love song on repeat.

Because she sees them. Every single one.

And to her, this has never been just a job.

Bus 27 is her mission field. Her chance to show those kids what steady looks like. She has memorized their names. She knows who likes the window seat, who hums when they were nervous, and who needs a little extra kindness before the sun fully rises.

This morning, “My Jesus” by Anne Wilson rolled through the speakers, and a boy two seats back gives her a grin.

“Miss Glenda, can you turn it up?”

Oh, she turned it up, all right.

When she glances back, even the grumpiest kid is bobbing his head along to the beat. One child’s shoulders drop like a weight is finally lifted. The shy girl—the one who never speaks—is mouthing every single word. And the rest? They are smiling. Like really smiling.

In that moment, that worn-down bus just feels like church.

And though Glenda has seen a lot over the years, She knows she will never forget this morning. Because that moment—that transformation—that’s what she wants for them. Not perfection. Just a glimpse of Jesus.

And if playing one song can make a child feel seen and known, she will keep doing it every day until the wheels fall off.

Because as far as Glenda is concerned, telling people about Jesus?

That’s the best thing she’ll ever do.

Will you sponsor one day of hope—just like Glenda lives it out every morning?

When you give to 88.7 The Cross, you’re putting songs of truth and love into the lives of kids like the ones on Bus 27. You’re reminding them they matter. That they’re seen. That Jesus is for them—even if no one else has ever said it.

Your gift makes moments like these possible. Choose a day that matters to you, or give what you can. Because every single morning, someone is listening… and what they hear could change everything.

GIVE HERE!

June 23, 2025/by Linda Meyers

The Power of a Rugged Cross

Daily Devotional, David Hall, Stories About Songs

Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The church was packed, but, on that stage, George Bennard stood alone.

They hadn’t come to hear the gospel. They’d come to laugh at it.

He left that revival early, the mocking still ringing in his ears. That night, holed up in a small Michigan room with nothing but his Bible and a broken spirit, George begged God for clarity. Not success. Not comfort. This hurt, and he just needed something true to stand on.

What came was a vision—not with his eyes, but with his soul. He saw Jesus on the cross.

Not shining. Bleeding.

“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame…”

And George wept. The world called it shame. But for him, it was love. Love that bled for mockers and missionaries alike.

“And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.”

He stopped asking God to change the crowd. He asked to be changed instead. He set down his need for recognition and picked up the weight of a message the world might always reject.

“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down…”

The lyrics came fast after that. He scribbled them on torn paper with trembling hands. Weeks later, the hymn began to spread like fire. But George never pointed to himself—only to the old rugged cross.

It’s easy to forget what the cross really means. We polish it, display it, wear it. But for George, it was the turning point. The reason he kept going when everything in him wanted to quit.

Maybe today you feel tired of doing the right thing. Maybe you’re discouraged, mocked, or just wondering if any of this still matters. Let George’s story remind you:

Jesus is worth it. His love is worth your time, your trust, and your whole life.

So, cling to the cross. Lay your trophies down. Hold fast to what matters most because the world may never understand…

But someday, you’ll exchange it for a crown.

Lyrics

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame,
And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

CHORUS
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see;
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

Lyrics and Music: George Bennard

June 22, 2025/by David Hall