As Long As There’s Christmas, There’s Hope (Repost)

December 20, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Don’t you think that the Christmas season inspires more creativity than any other season of the year? There are multitudes of songs, stories, poems and plays. There are also a myriad of movies and TV specials. In an attempt to make money off of a movie’s popularity, film companies will often create a special Christmas offering. Notice that I didn’t say that all that creativity is actually “inspired.” Many of these works are admittedly forgettable. But there is one presentation you might not know about that always touches my heart.

One of my favorite movies is the 1991 Disney film, Beauty and the Beast. It was the first full length animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Not only was it popular, it really is an excellent film. Disney made lots of money in spinoff projects, one of which was Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.

The action is set in the middle of the original storyline during the winter while the Beast and Belle are becoming firiends and starting to fall in love before the enchantment is broken. Belle wants to celebrate Christmas which the Beast has forbidden. Her efforts are brought to a halt by the Beast but, of course, in the end he comes around and a joyful Christmas is celebrated on their journey toward an ultimate happy ending.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a musical offering and there is one song that so captures the spiritual essence of the holiday that I find it often in my head. The lyric that says it all is this:

“As long as there’s Christmas I truly believe that hope is the greatest of the gifts we’ll receive.”

Measuring Success

June 21, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. Acts of the Apostles 20:24 NLT

How do you measure success? That’s an important question as you review your goal progress. Your perspective can encourage or discourage you.

When you are discouraged, you will not be motivated to keep moving forward. If you measure success by check marks next to goals achieved, you may find yourself discouraged more often than not. Are you discouraging yourself?

When you set a goal, you want it to be specific and measurable. However, we often set goals that are outside our realm of experience. You don’t know what you don’t know. That means your goal may turn out to be idealistic. We should set completion dates for our goals, but our information and experience are sometimes not enough to help us set realistic timelines. That may lead to discouragement.

Encouragement is a propellant. It is the wind in your sails and the gas in your motor. Encouragement is the needed fuel for this journey. Goal setting is not an exact science and goal achievement requires flexibility. You need a perspective that allows for that to properly measure success.

Keep an eternal perspective. You need to remind yourself that any goal you set is temporal. It only matters if it has impact that lasts beyond you.

Review and Celebrate

June 7, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14 NLT

Goals are not set-and-forget. Part of the goal-setting and accomplishing process is review. It’s important to stop from time to time and recognize what you have done toward your goal. Even if you aren’t as far as you hoped you would be, it’s important to celebrate where you are.

Just as you set goals in the beginning of the year or season, schedule times to review and celebrate. It’s important to make this a regular rhythm. And here’s why.

Reviewing reveals progress. Throughout my book-writing process it’s been easy to get caught in the weeds. There are many, many details in any big project. Truthfully, I tend to get overwhelmed at the beginning of large undertakings. I see all the details at once and don’t know where to begin.

Then, as I find a place to focus and get started, I never lose the awareness that there is still so much left to do. Although, I am making headway, it’s hard to acknowledge because of what is yet undone.

Give Yourself Credit!

May 31, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14 NLT

Writing a book has been on my goal list for a long time. Often it seemed like I was making no progress at all. Yet, I was. Truthfully, God was doing much in me to deepen the message before it was ready to write. I understood the concept I was writing about, saying yes to God is the secret to a satisfying and fulfilling life, but I needed to do more living before the message was “ripe.”

Now that I am in the home stretch, I am not saying I have achieved “perfection” when it comes to living out that message, but I know that God has released it into the long-planned book. Before the end of this summer the book will be published. It’s hard to believe.

Why am I sharing this with you? Like me, you may be experiencing discouragement along your goal-accomplishment journey. You may feel like you are not making progress. It was easy for me to feel like I was failing because there was no book to point to. No manuscript or cover design. Only an outline and a few chapters. I did not allow myself to celebrate what I had done. I felt like a failure because of what I had not done.

Dear friend, learn to celebrate what you accomplish, not how much. We can get bogged down in comparisons. We compare our accomplishments to someone else’s or to our expectations of ourselves. Is what you expect of yourself reasonable?

Here are some questions to help you evaluate your progress.

The Promise of Perseverance

November 2, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrews 10:36 NLT

Life can be hard. True? There have been times when my life seemed so incredibly difficult that I could only handle one moment at a time. Perhaps you’ve been there. I call managing those moments “survival mode.”

In survival mode, you do the needed tasks but have nothing left for the extras. You focus on getting through the present but have no energy left to imagine the future. Perhaps your hopes have been decimated. I’ve been there. Imagining a different future is not possible while you process that pain. Survival mode gets you through.

But it is in survival mode that you begin to truly understand “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) It is in survival mode that you experience the truth “He is near to the broken-hearted.” (Psalm 34:18) It is in survival mode that you find strength in the “everlasting arms.” (Deut. 33:27)

Through every survival mode season, there are some things I have found to be true. Here is some hope for your current or upcoming survival mode.

God is using survival mode for your good. Current pain can blind us to the current positives. It can be hard to see beyond how hard it is now. But please, Dear Friend, remember that God is good and only does good. There have been moments when all I could do was remind myself of God’s good character. I couldn’t see the situation as good. I didn’t feel good. But because God is good, I chose to believe He was at work for my good.

That is true for you as well. Feelings are not good forecasters.

Just Being There is Enough: The Ministry of Presence

September 14, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 NLT

I have been thinking a lot about the “ministry of presence.” My husband is a chaplain, and the term is used frequently in chaplaincy circles. I’m a researcher, so curiosity leads me to look it up with my good friends: Search engines and books. I tried to find the origin of the term but came up empty. Still, many search results had the term in the title. Even scanning those titles and articles helped me crystallize my thoughts. So, here are some conclusions.

My presence is ministry when it is an expression of Christ’s love. American society is all about problem-solving and productivity. But the only problem Jesus came to solve was the problem of sin that separates us from relationship with God. He did not come to solve my relational or financial problems although He might. Jesus’ most productive act was His death. His death was an expression of love that opened the door to relationship and brought life.

My presence is ministry when I lay down my needs, wants, and desires as a bridge for others to get closer to God. Jesus’ sacrifice demonstrates what love looks like. He became our bridge to God. You and I are called to do the same for others.

Presence shares the burden and doesn’t try to fix the problem.

What Do You Need from God?

August 10, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” Romans 4:4-5 NLT

I’ve learned to be a hard worker from my dad. He is one of the hardest workers I know. Even at almost 85 years old he is always busy. As a child it was rare to see him just relax, enjoy and receive. I developed some of the same tendencies, but we have both gotten better. I am still learning to stop striving and to relax and receive all that God wants to give me. What about you?

God’s love is a gift. We don’t earn it by working hard to please Him or hold back His anger. Salvation is a gift. Jesus bought it and passed it on to all who will receive it. I can’t be good enough to get into heaven.

All good things on earth are a gift. I simply need to receive what God wants to give. But I often feel like I am not working hard enough. Am I trying to deserve all the good God wants to give me? Do you ever feel that way?

Author Joanna Weaver talks about faith and trust in her book Embracing Trust. I’ll summarize the message with this: Faith is what I have. Trust is what I do. Faith in God acts by trusting God. Trust opens my hands to receive what God wants to give. Are my hands open? Are yours?

What am I working for?

Where is God When I am in Pain?

August 3, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1 NIV

I’ve been on a journey these past few months! I had my final check-in with the orthopedist this week. The bones are healed, and it is “safe” for me to return to all normal activities, although it will take a bit more time to regain strength and flexibility as my wrists continue to heal. I’ve been sharing with you what I’ve been learning through this. But there is something I’ve learned that I hesitate to share.

No one seeks out pain. However, pain is part of the human experience. Physical pain has been my most recent experience, but I’ve been through other types of pain in my six decades. So have you. Each of us experiences different kinds of pain: emotional, relational, mental, financial.

When we are in pain we have one goal: End it! We want to end the pain. But in most cases, we have no control. I could not end the pain of two broken wrists and all the side effects. I had to walk through it just as you must walk through your pain. Where is God when you and I are in pain?

Your Trial Summed Up in a Sentence.

July 27, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrews 10:36 NLT

Dear Friend, are you facing a trial? Let’s be honest, if you are not facing a trial now you will be soon. That is the nature of human life. But somehow, trials seem to catch us off guard, don’t they? Why don’t we expect and prepare for them? Perhaps we don’t expect them because once they are over, they can be summed up in a sentence and filed away.

Consider this scripture:

“After two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.” Acts of the Apostles 24:27 NLT

I’ve read that passage before, but this time “two years” caught my attention. Two years summed up in a sentence. What were those years like for Paul? No true freedom, but his needs were taken care of by his friends. At least the ones willing to acknowledge him and visit.

How did he feel knowing that the only reason he was kept in prison was to please the Jews who still wanted him dead? What did he pray for as he slept on the cold floor of the dark prison amongst who-knows-what kind of vermin and insects? How many times did he share the Gospel and with whom?

After two years Paul was not released but sent to Rome by his appeal for Caesar to decide his case. The trial didn’t end, it just took a different shape. Paul was a pro at expecting and walking through trials. He understood that when he finally saw Jesus face-to-face, they would be summed up in a sentence and forgotten.

I don’t know if I have gotten any better at expecting trials, but I have gotten better at going through them. Here’s how.

What is Normal?

July 13, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NLT

I don’t know about you, but Tom and I have been in a very unusual season over the last six months as we have both battled some physical challenges. It’s natural to want to “get back to normal.” Ever feel that way? But I have found myself asking, “What is normal anyway?”

We think normal means smooth with no obstructions. Deep within we think normal means perfect because that is what God intended. We are wired for eternity which will be perfect. But the normal we live in is the broken normal that Adam and Eve bequeathed us when they took life into their own hands in the form of shiny, delicious forbidden fruit. Their bites broke normal as God intended and passed on to us a normal that we don’t want.

The normal we have received is full of bumps and obstacles, limits and loss. We lost perfect in the garden and gained struggle, heartache, and sometimes hopelessness.

Right now, my normal means I have limitations as I recover from the basement fall that broke my wrists. It means that I have a new normal. In this new normal I have faced some unexpected pains, struggles, and trauma. In this new normal I am a bit more careful as I head down into the basement or lift a pitcher of water or drive to the store. My abilities are not fully recovered, but so much better than when I was first injured. Even when my recovery is complete, the memories will be a part of me. I will remember falling, breaking my wrists and all that followed. So, normal will never be the same.

So, what should I expect as “normal”? Maybe these thoughts will help you navigate the broken normal you are living.