What’s Going On In There? A Guide For Staying In Touch With What’s Beneath the Surface.

April 18, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

In this season of global uncertainty every one of us is under stress. No one knows what the future holds. Whatever plans we had are now altered. We don’t know what the future will look like. All the questions and restrictions stir up emotions. In addition, you or someone you love may be sick. How are you feeling? Do you even know? What’s going on in there?

The truth is that in our normal lives most of us don’t slow down enough to be in touch with our emotions. We serve others. We take care of our families. We work. We pursue personal goals. We keep so busy that we don’t have time to really feel anything. But all the emotions we don’t process still exist below the surface of our lives. Without realizing it, what we don’t know about our own emotions spills over and affects our relationships. Like a jar of salad dressing that is continually shaken, everything is all mixed together. You can’t notice the individual ingredients, but each ingredient flavors all the others.

Now, as our lives have been forcibly slowed down, you may be noticing something. What happens when you stop shaking the jar? Some ingredients rise to the top and others sink to the bottom, right? As life has slowed down, or maybe even seemed to stop for you, those feelings that have been mixed in with everything else have started to rise to the surface. Maybe you are having trouble naming what you feel. Maybe you are unsure of how to process it. Maybe you are among the many who, as social media proves, are just trying to keep busy. Part of the unconscious motivation for that is to keep the jar shaken up and push all those feelings back down.

What about you? How are you handling what is rising to the surface? Maybe, just maybe, God is offering you the opportunity to experience Him as you process your emotions. I have been grateful for the moments when I can process this pandemic with God. I firmly believe that knowing myself helps me to know God better. As I understand myself and my own emotions I realize how much I need God to help me navigate them.

Emotions are too scary to face them on our own. I’d like to offer you this guide for recognizing and processing what you are feeling with God.

Too Much "Help"? Try This Tool Instead.

April 11, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

This current world crisis has produced another interesting whirlwind. In the midst of all the sorrow and grief and anxiety, we find thousands of people stuck at home, separated from their normal lives and looking for a way to fill their time and thoughts.

Many people, regardless of their faith journey, are attempting to use their time to help others. Certainly a worthy goal. However, the result is dozens of emails and social media posts offering "help" in the current crisis. Help for doing ministry or dealing with anxiety or staying safe or activities or purchases to help keep me occupied while I am stuck at home.

Normally, I would comb through all these messages to make sure that I don’t miss something that could be truly helpful so that I can pass it on to someone else. Part of my make-up is to be a researcher and a resourcer. The glut of “help” has made my head spin! My internal pull to check everything out, and the underlying awareness that I don’t have the time or the brain power to do so causes a tension. I have decided to limit my inbox and energy to just a few trustworthy sources to reduce overwhelm!

How are you handling all this “help”? What is your go-to source for encouragement and wisdom? May I suggest making the Scripture your first source? I try, not always successfully, to spend time in Scripture before I check email or news or social media. In order to truly receive my help from the Lord, I need to take time to think deeply on His Word, not just take it in.

Staying Anchored To Hope: The Pick One Devotional Method

April 4, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

We are living in a whirlwind right now. We are all being touched personally in some way by this pandemic. We need ways to keep hope alive within us. What habits have you developed to keep you anchored in hope? Not just now, but for the rest of your life?

If you had not developed a regular devotional time before this crisis, now is the time to begin. In a world that is uncertain and insecure, we need an anchor for our souls. A regular time in the Word and in worship will anchor you like nothing else. I want to offer you a way to get started.

Maybe you already have a regular devotion time. That"s great! This method will give you a way to change things up and perhaps even deepen your time with God.

If you have already signed up to receive my blog by email then you received a printable download: 5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Daily Devotions. If not, click here to sign up and I would love to send it to you and to be able to encourage you by email every week. The printable will give you some guidelines on getting started and being consistent. You can apply this method to the time you spend.

Are You Anchored? 3 Ways to Bring Stability To This Storm

March 28, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

Most of us don’t deal well with uncertainty. I know I don’t! But that is the place we all find ourselves right now. No one knows how this global crisis is going to play out and none of us know what life will look like when we get past it. We have questions about our lives and loved ones. How will we pay the bills? Will everyone stay safe? What will I do with my time while I am involuntarily isolated? How long is this going to last?

In these times of uncertainty, when we feel like a small ship tossed about by the wind and waves of a perfect storm, it is so important to make sure that our anchor is secure. It’s that mooring that helps us to keep from drifting and drowning in the sea of questions. Are you anchored?

Some ships have more than one anchor. Can you define what your anchors are? We need as many as we can get right now! It's time to examine your anchors.

You have an important role to play in this time of extreme global stress. Staying anchored can bring security and stability to those around you. So, let’s look at a few practical anchors for this time of uncertainty.

Don't Minimize Your Significance

March 21, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

The question I have been asking with all that is going on in our world right now is why you might even want to read what I write. What do I have to offer in this time of unprecedented concern? Before 2020 began I prayed for one word as the theme message to focus on giving you throughout the year. The one word I felt led to choose is “Significance.” This week, as I prayed and considered what I should write, or even IF I should write, I realized that now, more than ever, I can still encourage you in your significance. As I have questioned whether I have something to offer I have realized that I do, and so do you.

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

You may feel helpless right now. We all do! However, you are still an important influence in your circle. Don’t minimize your significance. God has given you spiritual gifts, abilities that are uniquely yours. God has given you and I gifts so that we can help each other. Ask Him what you can be doing with your gifts RIGHT NOW. You are needed.

Is it Faith or Fear?

March 14, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

You have a lot to do today and a lot to think about, so I’ll keep this one short.

Not one of us is unaffected by the current virus concerns. Whether your kids are being kept home from school or your business is being shut down or your church is limiting activity, every one of us is being forced to grapple with this crisis. As believers, we know that we are not supposed to live in fear. We know it and we say it, but sometimes we don’t recognize when fear is in the driver’s seat in our own lives.

One of my prayers for myself, and for the Church, is that I will recognize and wrestle with the reality of my own fear, in whatever way it presents itself. Fear is a natural reaction to danger. God gave it to us and it is a good thing as long as it is protective and not destructive. The question that I need to ask myself is, “Am I letting fear steal my peace and destroy my joy?” So far, I don’t think that I have, but I am not the best judge of that. Sometimes I might need someone else to point it out. You might as well. I am praying that I have the humility to receive any needed correction so that I can redirect my fear to faith.

With that in mind, I want to offer you a few thoughts on some differences between fear and faith.

It’s Time To Find Your Voice!

March 7, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I have a voice!” declares King George VI in the movie, The King’s Speech. God can use anything to speak to us and He has used this film to speak to me. I can recommend it. (Don’t be put off by the R rating. It is for strong language judiciously used in certain scenes.) The story explores the impact of a commoner on King George VI of England as he faces the beginning of World War II. The king’s speech impediment caused him to feel inadequate for his daunting task, but Lionel Logue, a speech therapist, helps the king to, not only work with his impediment in order to give comfort and leadership to his frightened empire, but to find his own voice. The impediment never disappears, but the men develop a friendship that changes their lives and impacts their nation.

Like the king, I often felt like I had no voice and no ability to speak up. You may feel the same way, like you have no voice and no right to be heard. That is so far from the truth. God has used this film to encourage me that I have a voice. I have a right to speak. My opinions and thoughts matter. And so, my friend, do yours. God wants to use you to influence those around you. You may not influence a nation, like King George, but you can make a huge impact on one person, as Lionel Logue did. It’s time to find your voice.

You Are An Influencer! Be The Best You!

February 29, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

Dear Friends, I have been sick this week, so writing has not been high on my agenda. Resting has! My plan for this week’s post was to encourage you that you have a circle of influence that is uniquely yours. This is a repost on being the best you. When you are pointed in the direction that God has for you,, those you influence will be pointed in the right direction as well. Be encouraged and discover your best you!

Road trip! I love a road trip! On our road trips I have usually been the navigator. Years ago a long road trip needed a great deal of planning. After the destination was decided I would pull out my road atlas and determine the best route. The Internet made it easier when I could search a mapping website and print out directions. Now, I pull out my phone, type in the destination and let my GPS speak the directions turn by turn. Definitely easier! Yet each method of finding the way starts the same: I have to decide where I am going.

When it comes to your adventure with God do you have an idea where you are going? Not specifics. None of us really knows that in advance. With God we get the turn-by-turn directions as we go. But God does want to give us an idea of what direction to head in. Have you asked Him about it?

You ARE A Leader. Yep! Even You!

February 22, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I used to apologize for my very existence. Really! I did! Maybe without realizing it, you do, too.

The first time I clearly remember openly expressing regret for my imperfect existence I had my first featured role in a play. I was a freshman in high school and was very excited to be playing “Agnes Nolan” in the musical, George M!, about the iconic American songwriter, George M. Cohan. (Even if you don’t know his name, you probably know a few of his songs like You’re a Grand Old Flag.) I even had a solo! But, as often happens among young thespians, I was sick the weekend of the play because of not getting enough rest leading up to the performances. I was disappointed knowing that I would not sing as well as I could and, as a true newbie in theatrical endeavors, I had not yet learned to put myself aside and project the character regardless of what happened. So, whenever I sang I made an apologetic gesture to the audience to indicate that I knew what they knew, I wasn’t singing my best. I didn’t realize at the time that I wasn’t really apologizing for my performance. I was apologizing for existing as an imperfect human being. I downplayed anything that was good because I couldn’t see past what wasn’t. It was my pride that needed to declare, “This isn’t my best! Maybe if it was my best I would have a right to be here.”

So, what does that have to do with being a leader? The title of this little post refers to even you being a leader. When I make some kind of regretful acknowledgment for being an imperfect human being I immediately devalue myself.

You Make a Difference. Really. You Do.

February 15, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

I was shocked when she said it. A year had passed since we had to step down from the leadership position where she had been part of our team. When it first happened we had considered leaving the church to avoid the pain, but, after prayer and consideration, we stuck it out. It was incredibly painful at first, but over time life became more "normal", whatever that means. Now, here she was saying, "If you had left, we would have left, too." In the time of our overwhelming grief and confusion over what was happening it never occurred to us that someone was watching how we handled it. But she and her husband were and our choices made a difference for them.

You never know who is watching you. If you were aware that you were being watched, how would you behave differently? Are you consciously working on setting a good, godly example for the people around you? Think about it. Who might be watching you? Your spouse, your children, your co-worker, your neighbor, your extended family? Who is watching the way you respond to your current crisis and what kind of example are you setting for them? If you and I believe that God works everything together for good, might He use your most difficult situation, or mine, as a good example for someone else? I know He will because He I have seen Him do it in my life.