How To Silence The Soundtrack of Chaos

January 16, 2021 Cathleen Zahradnik

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:4-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

2021 has just gotten started and already so much has happened! The trials that began in 2020 have carried over into the new year. A new year always renews hope for the future, but the reality is that some things have followed us. The pandemic along with national and global unrest continue. What do we do with what is, especially when we wish it were not? How do we turn down the volume of the chaos that is the background music of our lives right now?

One thing God has helped me to realize is that, whether I am aware of it or not, the current world and national chaos is always playing in the back of my mind. Whether I am conscious of it or not, it is taking an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual toll. There is an undercurrent of tension as I wait for events to play out on the world and national level, as well as in my personal life. It’s taking a toll on you as well, Dear Friend. Do you recognize the effects?

Whatever Happens

January 9, 2021 Cathleen Zahradnik

Whatever happens conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Philippians 1:27

Recent events have made it clearer than ever that the world we live in is chaotic and uncertain. It is impossible for us to know from one day to the next what a day will bring forth. Whatever we thought was “normal” can no longer be depended on. The path forward is unclear for all of us. Maybe you are asking, “What will the future hold and how can I prepare to respond in the midst of so much upheaval and loss? What is my part in the drama that is playing out in the world around me?”

It can be overwhelming to think about everything that is happening. Or perhaps you choose to avoid looking at the news headlines completely and to just go on with life as “normal” for as long as you possibly can. Regardless of what your coping strategy is, I want to encourage you that you have a clear and high call in the midst of the turmoil swirling around you. God’s Word has clearly spoken about how to respond in any and every circumstance. We have an unchanging and steady guide in the midst of upheaval. Are you ready to take a look?

One Word That Brings Focus

January 2, 2021 Cathleen Zahradnik

2020 was a rough year and you may feel like you have accomplished nothing, but really, you have come so much farther than you think! Are you wondering how to plan for 2021 in the midst of so much uncertainty? Are you looking for something that will help you focus? A way to live for what matters and let go of what doesn’t? Read on!

In the past I had made it a practice to create a list of goals at the beginning of every new year. I found it helpful and focusing. Maybe you have too. By the end of the year, some of the goals were completed while others were still hanging out there and got transferred to the goal list for the next year. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it helped me to start the year purposefully. Having the goals written down on an index card used as a bookmark in my journal kept them before me throughout the year and helped me to refocus when necessary. I appreciated being able to review the card at the end of the year and see some progress.

A few years ago I came across a reading plan in the YouVersion Bible app that challenged readers to choose one word to focus on rather than create a list of goals. The idea intrigued me, so I downloaded the guide and began the prayerful process of choosing one word to focus on. The objective was to allow God to show me an area I needed to grow in and focus on that through my one word.

My one word for that year was “value.” I had struggled with feeling valued and valuing my own thoughts, opinions and contributions. So, along with the verses I had picked up in our church New Year’s service, I took an index card wrote VALUE at the top, my New Year’s Scripture references below that, and crafted some goals built around the word VALUE. Some examples: I will value relationships. I will value my own voice. You get the idea? As before, I kept that index card as a bookmark in my journal. My phone’s reminder feature was also a great way to keep the word “value” in front of my eyes on a daily basis.

At the end of the year, I could look back and see tangible growth in this area of my life. Growing in VALUE had helped me grow in stepping forward in God’s plan for me. I accomplished tasks. No doubt about that. But the inner growth was much more satisfying and precious. I have continued this practice in the years since. I have been encouraged and challenged by the focus and have seen growth as a result. This yearly practice has really helped me. I hope it helps you, too! My one word for 2020 was FARTHER and in spite of lockdown and limits, as I have reviewed the goals I wrote last January, I can see where God has brought me FARTHER.

Sound like something you’d like to try? Let me give you some suggestions to get you started. Here’s a snippet of Scripture full of words that might be worth your focus for the year:

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14

Do you need to focus on an identity statement? How about “chosen” or “holy” or “loved”? That’s who these verse say you are. Struggling with a relationship at home or work or church? You could focus on “compassion”,”kindness”, “humility”, “gentleness” or “patience.” Maybe your word is “forgiveness” or “forgiven” or “love” or “unity.”

Whatever word you choose, go through the process with God. Let Him guide you to your word. Your ultimate goal is to let Him do His work IN you as well as through you. A one-word goal is more about growth than accomplishment, so, no matter what 2021 holds, you can be sure you will make progress.

What do you think? Will you pick up the challenge? Let me know! Send me an email here. And by the way, if you’d like to receive my weekly blog post by email, just signup here.

Blessings, Dear Friend. I look forward to sharing 2021 together. Let’s focus. Let’s live for what matters and let go of what doesn’t!

Key thought: God wants to do His work IN us not just through us.

A Scripture to consider: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3: 12-14

A YES challenge: Choose one word to focus on for 2021 and see what God does in your life. If you focused on one word for 2020 take some time to look back and review your year. What has God done in you as a result of your one-word focus? Take some time to journal and be sure to share what you discover with a trusted friend.

Prayer: Lord, You know me inside and out. You know where I most need to grow and what I need to focus on for this year. Task goals have some merit, but I want a deeper goal. I want to grow in my character. I want to grow more like You and to become all that You planned for me. I give this year to You. Do Your work in me not just through me. Amen.

Some resources:

YouVersion (Bible.com) https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/809

Lots more info than I used at http://getoneword.com/

Ending 2020! You’ve Come Farther Than You Realize

December 26, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭107:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

2020 is almost over! Perhaps you are already beginning to look ahead and celebrate that this unusual, difficult year is coming to a close. Whatever is coming in 2021, it’s got to be better than this, right? But what if looking ahead too fast caused you to miss something significant? In a year like 2020 it can be easy to lose track of what God has been doing in your life. But, even in 2020, God is writing your story...and it is an amazing one! Think about it: What is your story? Where were you this time a year ago? 5 years ago? Ten years ago?

One of the traps people have always fallen into is forgetting where they have come from. Read the Old Testament and you'll see it over and over again. When God's people were going through hard times they forgot what God had already done for them and missed the chance to celebrate it.

As Long As There’s Christmas, There’s Hope

December 19, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

Merry Christmas, Friends! This post from 2018 seems even more appropriate for 2020. Please read it and be encouraged!

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.”

Joy? Now? YES!

December 12, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, here we are. December 2020. The holiday season is in full force, but what a season it is! COVID Christmas 2020. What’s your Christmas going to look like?

No doubt we are all going to try to maintain as many traditions as we can, but, for many of us Christmas will continue to highlight a year of disappointments and discouragement. Depending on where you live, family visits may be inhibited by travel restrictions. States are doing their best to discourage travel by requiring quarantines and COVID tests. So, we won’t see most of our family in person this year, but we will still connect virtually. I know what you’re saying. It isn’t the same! But it is better than nothing, right!?

You may be asking: Is there a reason for joy in this COVID Christmas season? Lost jobs. Travel limits. Maybe sick family members. Or family members lost, to the pandemic or to other causes. Being stuck at home so much, or separated so much, may have highlighted tensions in your relationships. Where is the joy in a year that has been clouded by controversy and coronavirus?

If you are a believer in Christ then you have a reason for joy, regardless of what else you are experiencing. You have a joy that, although covered by clouds, still shines. You have a joy that is unquenchable, even when its a little harder to reach.

Formulas and Variables: What Is The Formula For 2020?!

December 5, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Wouldn’t it e nice if life worked like a math problem? You know, 2+2=4. Simple. Easy. Always the same answer. It never changes. Put in these numbers and you get the same answer. Dependable.

But it isn’t like that, is it? And, although math is reliable, it becomes difficult at the more advanced levels. Formulas and variables get more and more complicated. The answers may turn out the same, but it becomes more challenging to get there.

Math is not my strong suit! I did really well at algebra for some reason. I remember getting a 96 on the New York State Regents exam! Discovering the value of x was not as difficult for me as geometry. Proofs and theorems just never settled with my brain. I took the Geometry Regents exam three times trying to get a better grade and just couldn’t improve enough. Geometry was challenging for me. Challenging. There’s a word for 2020.

A year like 2020 makes us long for the predictable. What is the formula for 2020?! None of us have ever walked this way before. We don’t know what to expect. We don’t like where we are and we just want it to be over. Lots of people have their opinions and ideas of what it will take to end this pandemic. They all think they are right. They each present their own “formula” for reaching the desired solution to the pandemic problem. “If we just do this...then that will happen.... and this whole thing will be over.” Yet, even the experts have no idea what will really happen. No one knows the formula to solve COVID-19 because there are so many variables. And COVID is only one of the 2020 problems that need solving.

Formulas. We like those. Variables. Not so much. This has been a year that has thrown formulas out the window. For example, the holiday formula goes like this: It’s Thanksgiving. Everyone comes home to visit and we go to Grandmas’s house for a turkey dinner. In 2020 — wrong! That formula did not work at all! 2020 has been a year full of variables. Nothing is the same. Add COVID as a variable and you get don’t get together with family for Thanksgiving. Christmas 2020 will be skewed by variables as well.

So what do we learn from all this? Let’s end 2020 with some positive takeaways, because there are some.

Stop. Think. Thank.

November 28, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:16-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

2020 has added extra stress to an already stressful time of year, hasn’t it? So, how was your 2020 Thanksgiving? Did you travel against recommendations? No guilt! You did what you thought was best for your family, but there was a layer of unfamiliar stress, right?

Did you cook a Thanksgiving dinner for the first time ever after you decided not to travel? I remember my first Thanksgiving cooking experience. As a newlywed, my job gave us a free turkey, so, after the holiday, Tom and I had both sets of parents for a Thanksgiving-style dinner. One of the most stressful experiences of my life! I feel for you!

Whatever your holiday looked like, it was different than you normally celebrate it, even if you did what you normally do. Now, we are entering the uncharted waters of a pandemic-altered Christmas season. Just the uncertainty of what this will look like adds an undercurrent of anxiety, whether you acknowledge it or not. We may as well acknowledge it, right?

Okay, here’s a little exercise for you in the midst of this holiday weekend. It won’t take long, but do it! You’ll have a new perspective on this whirlwind of activity with its 2020 twist.

First, stop what you are doing.

What Is The Truth? The Holy Spirit Knows

November 21, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me." John 16:13-14

Truth. It’s a precious commodity in this crazy world. Many people see truth as a variable, something that depends on the eye of the beholder or the twist of a circumstance. What God says is truth without variable and when God speaks I want to listen. I want to hear what God is saying to me because that is the only truth I can depend on. I want to be listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit, don’t you? But how do I recognize what the Holy Spirit is speaking to me?

Take Time To Listen

November 14, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik

“After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV

Doesn't life feel like a whirlwind sometimes? And that’s just in a normal year! 2020 has been far from normal! Amidst COVID concerns, the news headlines, household chores, family worries, ministry responsibilities, community tensions and a myriad of other things that call for our brain space, it's hard to know where to turn our eyes and ears. So many voices that blend into one loud roar. How do I know which voice to focus on so that I know where to turn my energy? Sound familiar?

I like checklists. I like being able to mark off a task that has been completed. It makes me feel successful, like I am accomplishing something, making a difference. What about you? 2020 has eliminated lots of things from my list without them even being attempted. That is so frustrating to a list-checker! Maybe you are someone who just kind of goes with the flow. Whatever calls for your attention first is the way you will turn. That works too, but I imagine that this year has had your head spinning! Whether you are a list-checker or flow-follower, how do you determine the best way to discern which voice in the whirlwind is the priority?