Today, on my mother Marjorie Reed’s birthday, I am reminded of how deeply God favored me by allowing her to be my mother. Not just because she gave birth to me. Not just because she raised me. But because she believed in me. She saw something in me early. She nurtured what was there. She paid attention to the things that made me come alive.

When God favors us with mothers and mother figures, He gives us something powerful. He gives us nurture. He gives us covering. He gives us wisdom. He gives us correction. He gives us warmth. He gives us somebody who can see what we need before we know how to ask for it. And even when the relationship is imperfect, complicated or absent, the need for mothering still speaks to something God placed deep within the human heart.

Closure feels like it should be part of healing. It feels like you should get the final conversation, the truthful explanation, the apology, or at least enough understanding to move forward without feeling like pieces are missing. But life does not always give us clean endings. Sometimes the chapter closes before we are ready. Sometimes people leave without explaining. Sometimes answers never come.

A door closes that you were sure would open. A relationship changes without warning. An opportunity you were counting on suddenly disappears. What once felt clear now feels uncertain, and the momentum you were building seems to stall out. In that moment, it’s easy to feel confused. It’s easy to question what went wrong, or even worse, to assume that you made a mistake somewhere along the way. But what if nothing went wrong? What if what you’re experiencing isn’t failure…b

What makes that moment so powerful is not just the revelation itself, but what it does to your perspective. The way you see that person changes. The way you understand that situation changes. Even the way you see yourself can begin to shift. What once felt normal now feels questionable. What once felt secure now feels uncertain. And that internal shift creates a kind of tension that can be difficult to sit with.

If you’re not careful, you’ll start questioning yourself. You’ll wonder if something is wrong with you, if you’re being distant, if you’re overthinking. But what if none of that is true? What if what you’re experiencing isn’t confusion—but growth?

Not every situation that feels like it deserves a reaction actually requires one. Not every emotion needs to be expressed the moment it’s felt. Proverbs 29:11 reminds us that “a fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise person holds it back.” That doesn’t mean you don’t feel it. It means you don’t let every feeling have control over your actions.

This 27th day of Women’s History Month, I found myself thinking about that kind of impact. Not just the women we celebrate publicly—the pioneers, the trailblazers, the ones whose names are etched into history—but the women whose influence is personal. The ones whose presence didn’t just pass through your life… It stayed. It shaped. It settled into who you became.

This Favor Fridays with Tony™, and on the 20th day of Women’s History Month, we spotlight a woman who refused to wait for permission from a world that told her “no.” A woman who didn’t just chase her dreams… She flew above every barrier placed in her way. Her name was Bessie Coleman and her story is a masterclass in what it looks like when favor meets fearless faith.

Spaces where imagination is celebrated. Spaces where creativity flourishes. Spaces where people who might feel “different” in everyday life suddenly realize they are surrounded by thousands of people just like them. Comic conventions—better known as comic cons—are one of those spaces. And on this Friday the 13th, it feels especially fitting to talk about the favor of safe spaces for creativity, fandom, and joy.

On this sixth day of Women’s History Month, we honor the remarkable legacy of Nannie Helen Burroughs, an educator, leader, and visionary who built one of the most transformative educational institutions for Black women in American history. At a time when Black women were systematically denied access to opportunity, Burroughs refused to accept the idea that doors had to remain closed. Instead, she built new ones.

This 27th day of Black History Month, we honor the extraordinary courage of Ida B. Wells, a journalist, educator, and anti-lynching crusader who confronted one of the darkest realities in American history — racial terror disguised as justice. She did not confront it with weapons. She confronted it with words. And in doing so, she revealed something powerful: Truth, when anchored in conviction, becomes spiritual warfare.

On this day during Black History Month, we honor the life of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951—and whose biological contribution has saved millions of lives around the world.

This Favor Fridays with Tony™ — on the 13th day of Black History Month — we honor the favor that turns survival into proclamation, and endurance into testimony. Today, we spotlight Frederick Douglass, a man who understood that sometimes favor doesn’t just free you — it commissions you.

Alignment is what happens when your prayers, your choices, your pace, and your obedience begin to agree with what God has been showing you all along. It’s the relief you feel when you stop fighting what God is correcting. It’s the peace that settles in when you finally let go of what never fit.

The adrenaline of the new year is gone. The grit of endurance has already been tested. You’ve stayed. You’ve remained. You didn’t quit when it got uncomfortable. Now comes the harder question: Where is this actually leading me? That question is not a sign of doubt. It’s often a sign of favor.

Quiet obedience is not flashy. It does not perform well in a world addicted to visibility. But it is one of the most trusted postures in Scripture, because it reveals something deeper than talent or enthusiasm—it reveals faithfulness.

Proverbs reminds us plainly, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Guarding requires boundaries, and boundaries require discernment. That discernment—knowing what to refuse as much as what to receive—is not resistance to God’s will. It is often evidence of it.

We celebrate the sudden win, the overnight success, the dramatic elevation. But Scripture—and life—tell a different story. God is far less concerned with how fast you move than with how long you can remain faithful while moving. That’s where endurance comes in.

The confetti has settled. The declarations have quieted. The pressure to reinvent yourself overnight has softened. And that’s a good thing—because real transformation doesn’t happen in the shouting. It happens in the steps. This second day of 2026 is where faith moves from intention to motion. Not leaps. Not dramatic pivots. Just the decision to keep walking with God when the excitement fades and the work begins. That’s where favor shows up.