80 Years of Beauty: Four Things I’ve Learned from Mom

October 27, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

There are milestones in life that need to be celebrated. Some of them are expected and hoped for. Others creep up on you and you shake your head, “How did I get here?!” Mom turned 80 last week on October 19. When I spoke with her on that day, it was clear that this is one of those milestones for her. I mean, think about it, Mom was three years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed and the US entered World War II. Imagine all that has changed in her lifetime! From the telephone to television, to space travel to computers to the Internet and social media. A lot has changed!

So, Mom, how did you get here? You kept going and didn’t give up. You have lived your life one step at a time. You may think of your life as small and unimportant, but I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned from you. You need to know that your life has made a difference. So, here goes!

Can I Trust You?

October 20, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Africa on mission trips. Africa was probably last on the list of places I wanted to travel to, but I was longing for an opportunity to be a part of a missions team. I told God, “I’ll go anywhere!” So, when the door opened for Burkina Faso, West Africa, I walked through it with my husband. We became a part of a small team that would distribute shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse headed by Franklin Graham.

There are times when being on mission can be frightening. One of the scariest aspects of the trip for me was not that we were the only white faces in the towns we visited or traveling to remote areas where there was no running water or electricity, it was carrying a significant amount of cash in a hidden money belt. I didn’t even know such a thing existed! What if the belt fell off or I forgot to zip the pocket and the cash fell out? I felt the weight of the responsibility and I wanted to fulfill it well. I had been given a trust. In this case, the money was not our own. It had been given to us by a friend for the purpose of ministry in Burkina Faso. We were praying and looking for the place where God wanted us to invest it. Until then, we had to conceal it and keep it with us since it would not be safe left anywhere else. I was relieved when we knew where the investment was to be made and our trust was discharged. I was grateful for the grace God had given me to be able to fulfill that trust.

Every day you and I have a trust to fulfill. We have been entrusted with great treasures that are not our own.

Am I A Good Person?

October 13, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

There are moments in history that become etched in our memories. A generation of people remember where they were when they heard that President John F. Kennedy had been shot. Succeeding generations pinpoint when they heard that the Challenger space shuttle exploded or that Princess Diana had been killed or when a normal day at an elementary school became a war zone. Do you remember?

In August of 1997 we were at the end of a long car trip that began with a family wedding in Saint Lous, then a stay with relatives in Chicago and finally visiting with friends outside of Cleveland. We were in the car headed to Sunday services at our friend’s church when the radio announcer reported that Princess Diana had been seriously injured in a car accident in Paris. Her beautiful, young face flashed through my mind. It was unbelievable that such youthful radiance was now battling for life. When later that day news of her death at 36 years of age swept the world, millions mourned. Her good works were retold around the globe. Many openly wept. Their lives had been touched by what was defined as her goodness. I remember feeling sad and wondering if all her good works would be remembered by the One who matters most. She had done so many things that could be defined as good, yet without a relationship with God and a desire to please Him, they had no eternal value. I had no knowledge about any relationship with God she might have had. I wondered if her good works without reference to God were empty actions. Diana’s deeds helped many and were good externally, but if her heart’s motivation was to prove her own value or to be loved by people, then they were not acts of goodness in the Biblical sense.

Three Things I Learned From Cinderella

October 6, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

My favorite fairy tale character has always been Cinderella.She has had countless representations throughout the centuries, but the one that really captured my heart and imagination is the 1963 television adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical “Cinderella.” The lilting melodies and sparkling sets and costumes were certainly a part of the attraction for me even as a small child, but I think it was this Cinderella’s simple and gentle care for others in spite of her social position or other’s treatment of her that has inspired me.

This delicate and graceful, dark-haired Cinderella responded gently and respectfully to the cruel and uncaring stepmother and stepsisters, but her responses to the loving fairy godmother and the unrecognized prince passing by were equally gentle and respectful. Cinderella speaks of her father as being in heaven only once, but her face and voice reveal a great love for him and joy at his memory. It is clear that she knew that, in spite of her present situation, her father had loved her. Perhaps, having been deeply loved by her father before his passing created a character in her that was strong enough to overcome her circumstances. Yes, she is a fairy tale, but weren’t fairy tales created to teach moral lessons? This Cinderella exhibited a quality that is worth exploring in our selfish, combative culture: kindness.

Is It Really Worth Waiting For?

September 29, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

We recently went to be with a friend in the emergency room. We got there as quickly as we could to see our friend, but the ER personnel made us wait to go in while some things were being taken care of. I hated sitting in the waiting room knowing that our friend had been hurt. I kept getting up and walking around. It was hard to sit still. It seemed like forever before they finally let us go in! Don’t you hate waiting?

I once had the opportunity to teach elementary school students about the fruit of the Spirit we call patience. To begin the lesson I had found a video called “The Marshmallow Test.” Children were told that if they didn’t eat the marshmallow set in front of them while the adult was out of the room they could have two marshmallows when the adult returned. The camera captures the longing and reasoning in the children’s faces. Most didn’t wait until the adult returned and fully enjoyed their one marshmallow. But those kids who were able to restrain themselves had, not only two marshmallows, but the inner triumph of knowing that they had endured. You could see it on their faces. Their patience was rewarded with, not only another marshmallow, but the development of their character. Whereas the one-marshmallow kids were able to enjoy their treat, the two-marshmallow kids learned the lesson that waiting has intangible rewards as well as tangible ones Could those kids articulate all that they had received? Of course not! But the next time they were in a situation that required enduring, they would know that they could. My study in preparing for that lesson gave me a greater understanding of just what patience is and how much I need it.

Is Your War Over?

September 21, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

If you have seen the movie Unbroken or read the book of the same name, even if you haven’t, I want to recommend a movie called Unbroken: Path to Redemption. (https://unbrokenfilm.com/movie). It picks up the story of Louis Zamperini, former Olympian and World War II plane crash and Japanese prison camp survivor, where the movie Unbroken left off. Louis had survived a great deal, but the truth is that Louis did not come home unbroken. He was broken on the inside and was experiencing the ravages of his own war within. Unforgiveness, anger and fear tormented him. He was unable to find contentment. Nothing was right inside of him. The continual unrest was destroying his relationships and his marriage as well as his physical and mental health as he turned to alcohol to numb his pain. His war raged on and he couldn’t escape it. Even in sleep he was tormented by nightmares of all that he had endured. The seemingly unbroken war hero was headed toward destruction as alcohol took more and more ground in his life. He was helpless and without hope. Then something happened that brought a ceasefire to the battles within.

Confessions of a Drama Kid

September 15, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

I was a drama kid in high school. What do I mean by a drama kid? Well, my extra curricular activity of choice was the theater department. I loved being in the plays. The practices and performances were equally enjoyable to me. The camaraderie and community of working together for a common purpose bonded everyone who worked on a show, from the crew to the leading players. I was a drama kid. I loved it so much that I studied drama in college. I wanted to be an actress on the stage and imagined winning a Tony Award on Broadway, just like thousands of other starry-eyed drama kids.

The other part of being a drama kid was the off-stage theatrics. High school is an emotional time for kids no matter what activities they are involved with, but drama kids are all about emotion so every bit of feeling is enhanced and expressed. That said, there was not only drama on the stage, but plenty of it behind the scenes. Drama kids love drama. Tears, fights, depression, passionate short-lived relationships and extreme happiness were all part of the drama-kid package. I had my own share of behind-the-scenes comedy and tragedy. How else would you expect a drama kid to view life? Isn’t “all the world a stage”?

As I mentioned, I studied drama in college. The cameraderie and community continued as did the offstage histrionics. Young people are full of fervor and vibrant emotions and young thespians let them all hang out. But finally, overwhelmed by the intensity of my personal inner turmoil, I turned to Christ. There was a moment of deep sadness, desperation and confusion that caused me to cry out to Him with genuine earnestness and beg for Him to help me with all that I was feeling. And He did. He began to dismantle my internal drama and help me respond with more stability. Most of the changes happened slowly and subtly, but there is a moment I remember that was a major reset in my thinking and how I responded to life.

All You Need Is Love?

September 8, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

“All you need is love.” So sang the Beatles.“What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Maybe you are too young to remember that one. I used to know every word of so many songs that were on the radio. Maybe you know a few, too! Popular songs are full of a desire for love, a recognition of the need for love. It’s true: Individuals need love; the world needs love. But, as many songs declare, finding love is illusive. We know we need it, but don't really know how to get it. And, if observation is accurate, we spend more energy trying to figure out how to get love than how to give it.

Yes, love is central to life, but love isn’t primarily something we are supposed to get. It’s something we are supposed to give. Jesus gave his disciples a command to love one another. He said that the world would know those who belong to Him by the way they love each other. (John 13:34-35) That’s a command to love. Not a command to search for love. The command to give love is the primary directive. Yet, it’s been twisted into the main thing everyone is searching for. What if we turned our focus to giving love rather than getting it? In the current culture wouldn’t that immediately establish us as different? In a world where everyone is looking for love (“in all the wrong places”, as a popular country song once said), what if the identifying factor of Christians was that we gave love away rather than seeking it for ourselves?

How does that happen? We have to know that we are already loved.That deep seated need for love has already been met. “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son...”(John 3:16) “This is how we know what love is. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us...” (1 John 4:10) “We love because He loved us.” (1 John 4:19) The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that God’s motivation in reaching out to the world by sending Jesus was love for all humanity. He demonstrated His love by sending Jesus to die for us. (Romans 5:8) What if we stopped looking to feel loved and recognized that the love we are looking for has already been demonstrated? What if you took God at His word and believed that He really does love you? How would that change the way you see life?

If you and I really believed that we were loved by God it would change our approach to everything. We would come from a position of having that “love tank” filled. We would come from a place of being satisfied, not empty and searching. If I will allow the love of God to satisfy my need for love then I will find myself filled to the brim and overflowing with His love and ready to give it away. The world is dying of thirst for the only love that can satisfy and when you and I are filled with God’s love for us then we can’t help but let it splash out. Sociologists recognize love as one of the basic needs of people. I remember learning that in school, don’t you? It’s God who has designed us that way and that need is meant to be met by Him first. Those who belong to Him, you and I, are meant to stand in for Him and allow people to taste His love through us so that they will search for true fulfillment in Him. You and I are called to represent God by loving people in His name. What a high calling! What a great honor! What a tremendous responsibility.

Beloved, you and I are not equipped to love others in Jesus’ name until we become fully convinced that He loves us. Only then can we fully receive His love so that we will be filled instead of always searching. We will overflow with His love by the power of the Holy Spirit.No person will ever completely fill our need for love. God has also designed us to need human love. There is no denying that. You and I need our family and friends to love us. But, you know as well as I, that their love is imperfect and often disappointing. You know how it feels when stinging words or a cold shoulder come from the person you are closest to. The deepest hurts come from those close enough to get near our vulnerable places. It’s an undeniable fact that those we love most will let us down. They won’t be able to give us the love we so desperately need. Only God can satisfy that place. He’s shaped every heart with a home that only His love can reside in..

So, here’s the challenge: Reccieve God’s love for you. Let Him fully convince you that you are loved.Then, let that love transform the way you respond to the world. Let it fill you with all the life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:19 NLT) And finally, give that love away to everyone you meet. God’s love. Sacrificial. Doing what is best for the other person. Not the sloppy, do-whatever-makes-you-happy idea that the world calls love. God’s love always tells the truth and always leads people to Himself.

All you really need is love. God’s love. And once you receive it, all you need to do is keep taking it in and giving it away.

Key thought: My ability to give love starts with knowing that I am loved by God.

A Scripture to consider: “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: Do you struggle to believe that God really loves you as an individual? Take some time to meditate on Scripture and allow that truth to begin to become a part of you. Why not start with our Scripture to consider? Write it on an index card or post-it note. Set a daily reminder in your phone. Let God use His word to surround you with His love and let it change you.

Prayer: Father, I know that You love the world, but I struggle to believe that You really love ME. Help me to receive your love and let it change me so that I can give that love away to everyone I meet. As I experience Your love help me to love others in Your name. Amen.

Repost: Love the People Jesus Loves

September 1, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

Since I’ve been on vacation I had decided to find an earlier post to share again. This is from February 2017. It’s worth a second look!

Sharon was my first pastor's wife and the first woman I looked up to as a mentor. I wanted to be just like her! Sharon was a Georgia peach, a Southern belle who hadn't let years of living in New York State steal her Southern charm or her Southern drawl. But most important, Sharon loved her Jesus.

She was an excellent Bible teacher. The women of our church were more blessed than they realized as they sat under Sharon's wisdom and insight. (The men never got to benefit from Sharon's teaching as this church did not allow women in the Sunday pulpit.) From what I understand, there were times when Sharon used almost no notes as she taught. Her impact came from sharing what was obviously so real to her. It wasn't just knowledge. It was her life. It's taken me years to be able to articulate that. I still want to be just like her.

There is one thing Sharon said in a teaching that I have never forgotten. She said, "Love the people Jesus loves." Love the people Jesus loves? Who does Jesus love? Well....you know...EVERYONE! That's a fact that we often quote, but the illustration Sharon used was about God moving them from their home in Georgia to New York and then calling them to start a church in this unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar brand of people. "Love the people Jesus loves."

Who does Jesus love?That annoying co-worker. Your bratty neighbor's kid. The lady in church who sings too loud and wears too much perfume. The grocery clerk who is so busy talking to his co-worker that he barely pays attention to you and almost overcharges you. That person driving ON YOUR TAIL with their headlights in your rearview.

Who does Jesus love? The drug addict in your neighborhood. The homosexual couple across the street. The young lady with tattoos and multiple piercings and a foul mouth. Need I go on?

Love the people Jesus loves. When I said YES to Jesus, I said yes to loving the people He loves and that is an amazing part of this adventure. Because when I love the people Jesus loves I get to witness transformed lives. Sometimes the life that is most transformed...is mine.

Key thought: Love the people Jesus loves.

A Scripture to consider: 1 John 4:19-21

"We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

A YES challenge: Who is God calling you to love today?

Prayer: Dear Lord, this is hard. Loving the people You love is something that I can't do in my own power. I need You to help me. I need You to put your love in my heart. The fruit of Your Spirit is love. Fill me with Your Spirit today so that I can join You in the loving. Help me to love others in Your name. Help me to love the people You love. Amen.

Reflections: Three Things I’ve Learned Along the Way

August 25, 2018 Cathleen Zahradnik

Today is my birthday. Since I usually post my blog on Saturdays today happens to be August 25th, the day I was born in 1962. Go ahead, do the math! I am old enough now that I can say I’ve been around the block a few times and there are a few things that I’ve learned through the passage of time. All those sunrises and sunsets. Thunderstorms and snowfalls. All that grass mowing and leaf raking. All those hellos and goodbyes. We learn so much just from living through so much.

I can also say that I have walked with Jesus for close to forty years. I’ve learned a few things there, too. It was in February of 1978 that a high school friend gave me a little tract that asked the question “Would you like a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” It had never occurred to me that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus and I knew my answers was “Yes.” So, I prayed the prayer, signed and dated the tract on the line provided and put it in my wallet for safekeeping. (I am sorry to say, that somewhere along the line I lost track of that little important memento.) But the real transformation of my life started a few years later. In January of 1983 while I was in college I reached a crisis point. Overwhelmed with life I found myself kneeling by the bed in my rented room on Oak Street in Geneseo, NY, desperately praying, “God, I can’t do it by myself anymore. I need you to help me!” And He did. And He has.

So, what have I learned in all these years of church-going, small groups, ministry studies and personal devotions? I am going to winnow it down to three things.

1. Love is a choice.When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus replied “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew‬ ‭22:37-40‬ ‭NIV‬) He made it clear that the most important thing in life and in Christianity is love. Love God. Love people. Part of our problem today is that our culture has reduced love to a feeling of romance. Butterflies in the stomach. A rush of adrenaline. A tingling attraction. A sense of connection. If that was the kind of love Jesus was talking about, it would all be based on feelings. And you can’t make feelings happen. We can’t be commanded to feel. The Great Commandment has to be something that I can do without being motivated by a feeling. It has to be something that I choose to obey. Feelings may follow, but it has to start with my choice.

In more than thirty years of marriage I have learned that I may not always feel love for my spouse, but I love him all the same. When he annoys me or disappoints me, as is invariably going to happen with human interaction of any kind, the love feelings might hide for a while, but I have been commanded to love him. So, I can and I do. Love has to start at home, with the people I spend the most time with. The people who can hurt me most. Love is choosing to do what is best for the other person, even if it might be inconvenient or challenging for me. It’s at home where I get the most chance to practice that kind of love.

But that kind of love, the love that does what is best for others, doesn’t stop at home. Jesus commanded me to love my neighbor and then illustrated who my neighbor is through the story of the Good Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans hated each other in Jesus’ day. By making the Samaritan the hero of the story, he challenged the Jews He was speaking to, and you and me, to love everyone who comes into our path. Even the person we like least. That can’t be based on a feeling.

Like any choice God commands of us, if I choose to love because He asks it of me, knowing that it is beyond my ability, I can trust that He will help me to do it. And He has.

2. It’s not about what you do. It’s about who you are.There’s no denying that we live in a celebrity worshipping culture. People grab for their fifteen minutes of fame so that they can feel important. Some even plan stunts just so that they will get that attention. The strange thing is that once the spotlight has turned on them for that brief moment they not only feel more important, people treat them like they are more important. Young people today often list being famous among their ambitions. Just being famous. Not being famous for anything in particular. Not accomplishing some major feat. They see fame as a goal in itself and a validation of their existence.

Because of Tom’s work in radio and television we have had the opportunity to meet some famous people, even to have dinner with some. It doesn’t take long to realize that people are people whether their names are well-known are not. On a small level, a very small level, Tom and I have experienced a measure of fame. Through Tom being on local radio and television, even Christian radio and television, many people in our region came to know our names. It has been crazy to watch how some people have responded to seeing us in person after hearing about us from a distance. They treated us, Tom especially, like we were important people. They stared with awe and had trouble talking. Tom has always been great at just treating people like friends. For some of those star-struck people, even that wasn’t enough to take the stars out of their eyes.

Here’s the thing, we know who we are with all our faults, failures and weaknesses. In our younger days, we both had that same ambition to be famous. Achieving it, even on a small level, takes the mystery out of it. There is no satisfaction in it. Well-known accomplishments carry no weight. People forget what you do. God doesn’t applaud our worldly successes. Jeremiah 9:24 says, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord." What matters most is not being known or accomplishing tasks worthy of recognition. What matters most is being someone who understands what is truly important and living that out. I’d rather be known as someone who loves like Jesus than to just be known.

3. It’s not about knowing more. It’s about knowing Him. I love learning. I was a good student because I could retain the information long enough to answer all the questions correctly on a test. I have always enjoyed gathering information, but I didnt take too much interest in applying it. When I first started following Jesus I approached Christianity the same way. I gathered information and could give the right answers, but I wasn’t paying as much attention to living out what I knew. I learned more and more about the Bible, but it was in seeking to develop a relationship with Christ that I came to understand that just knowledge wasn’t enough. I needed to live what I learned.

In order to become a pastor I had to achieve a certain level of Bible education. I’ve realized that none of that knowledge means a thing unless I live it and teach others to do the same. None of that education has value unless it transforms my life and leads me to a deeper knowledge of God and His love, not just for the world or for others, but for me personally. That is something I am still struggling to absorb. God loves me and wants His love for me to guide how I live. Ephesians 3:19 describes a love that is meant to fill me with life and power through receiving it. “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:19‬ ‭NLT)‬‬ Wow!

Beloved, thanks for taking this journey of reflection with me. I hope that I can encourage you to love the way Jesus commanded. When you choose to love He will give you the ability. Let Him love through you. You can rest in the fact that you don't need to achieve anything to become someone God values. You don’t need to strive to know more in order to know Him. Just let Him love you. When you do, your life will be transformed and you will experience satisfaction and contentment. It really isn’t about knowing more or doing more. It’s about loving Him, loving others and being loved by Him. Be blessed, dear friend!

Key thought: Live what you learn.

A Scripture to consider: “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: It may not be your birthday, but take some time to reflect. If you could distill what you have learned from life to three things what would they be? Write them down so that you can review them in the future. Find someone to share your reflections with. How are you living what you have learned?

Prayer: Father, I thank You for this life with all it’s challenges and joys. My greatest satisfaction is in knowing You and learning to be the person You have designed me to be. There is nothing I want more than to grow in knowing Your love and sharing it with others. Amen.