change Archives - Kristin Saatzer

How do I Accept and Adjust in Adversity? Part Two: 12 Keys

November 13, 2017 By Kristin Saatzer 7 Comments

A Brave Adjustment

How do you feel about change? I’m not a huge fan. Although I have come to understand that to live is to change and, change requires courage.

I touched on my journey of acceptance in my last post. See: https://wp.me/p4RztF-Sx

After acceptance comes adjustment. When we experience great loss or change, we may find ourselves at a crossroad. I’ve seen many dear ones in devastating situations and have walked through deep-trials myself. Once the grief subsides and our new situation becomes reality, which road do we choose? The one laden with bitterness or the one filled with intentional adaptation leading to hope and joy.

My heart grieves for my friends who have gone the way of resentment, refusing to let go. The ones who obsess with bitter words and thoughts for years. Never completely healing and living as victims while pain erodes their souls. It is not pretty. While I do not stand in judgment because I have not walked their walk, I recognize a healthier path and wish it for them.

I find inspiration from dear-ones who in time, choose in a genuine and transparent way, the path of adjustment that comes after acceptance. Life will never be the same, yet they bravely trust God and re-build. Friends who embrace the call of Jesus and seek the abundant life (see John 10:10). These are my heroes. I sit in the front row watching my heroes recover from death, divorce, grave mistakes, horrible health diagnosis, financial ruin, and so much more. Beautiful brave and courageous faith.

We rarely choose what is subtracted from our lives, but we can choose how we respond. How we reorganize our lives in order to move forward. Margaret Feinberg

In watching others move forward and moving ahead in my life, I have learned helpful keys in adapting to change. Steps to acclimate to hardships and what was taken away, never to return the same. I jotted down 12 keys to encourage you as you walk in courageous adjustment.Continue Reading

When Joy Meets Sorrow

November 15, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer 12 Comments

I am not writing today while feasting my eyes on a beautiful landscape of autumn’s delights. Nor am I wearing cute boots and a seasonal scarf. I am a southern California girl, sitting outside in shorts and bare feet, feasting my eyes on a dying lawn because I’m not allowed to water in this drought.

However, the calendar tells me it is Fall. I laugh at the contradiction of pumpkins melting on porches while warm Santa Ana winds blow. We SoCal’s drink our Pumpkin Spice Lattes as we dream of wearing socks. This is the autumn season in my world.

Eventually, the air will cool and we will wear socks again and drink our lattes without sweating. A welcome change.

Sadly, a season of unwelcome change blew into my life. Into my heart. Into my home. This intruder wreaked havoc in incalculable ways. This change flooded every area of my life, seeming unreal. Impossible.

Our financial situation reversed from stable to dire. Family members moved from happy to heartbroken. My health shifted from strong to weak. In the midst of these countless trials, we experienced grief and upsets: our beloved Golden Retriever died and my second son left for college. Nothing but change, loss, sadness and pain for months.

In childhood, when I complained about an unwelcome shift in my life, my grandpa quoted an old cliché, “the only thing constant is change”. I am in a season where this holds true. I never know what will move next. Truthfully, none of us does. Change is a guarantee. Not one of us gets a pass on pain or difficult periods. No one. Jesus promised us this in John 16:33 (NLV):

“…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, But take heart,

Because I have overcome the world.”

As a Christian, I have a choice: will I shrivel up in my pain or will I hold on to God with everything I’ve got?

In this terrible-changing season of my life, I’ve chosen/am choosing, to hold on to Jesus.

“Immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy…”

2 Corinthians 6:10 The Message

The paradox of my life these days is that I’m drowning in tears, yet filled with inexplicable joy.

I wish I could jot down an easy five-step plan. But there is no plan and it is not easy. It is messy and hard.Continue Reading

Baby Steps Part Three

March 3, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

“…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ” ~Philippians 1:6 NIV

Thanks for joining me again for Baby Steps Part Three. Who knew a funny movie could inspire so!*

Please refer to my last two posts for reference: http://wp.me/p4RztF-v3 and http://wp.me/p4RztF-vY

So, did you do your homework? Did you list your SMART goals and hindrances?

How was your time of prayer? In what ways did the Lord speak to you?

Let’s wrap up with steps 4 and 5.

Baby Step Number 4: Enlist a Friend (s)

“Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD is witness between you and me…’ “ 1 Samuel 20:42 NIV

Share your ONE thing with your buddy. Brainstorm together. Plan times of accountability. Choose a friend (or friends) that will truly hold you up and ask the hard questions, no wimps allowed. Perhaps your friend has a similar goal or struggle and you can hold one another up?

How about joining an online support group? Or make your goal public by posting it on social media and ask for accountability (gutsy, I know). Perhaps you send a group email asking for prayer.

All of the above?

When I began working towards my goal, my husband and I buddied-up and did a sugar fast. I also joined an online support group. When I’m well, I go to a weekly workout called Revolution Fitness. It is faith-based and encourages me as I continue in my health journey.

Victory is found in community.

Baby Step Number 5: BEGIN!

“The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably in thought and act.”

~Orison Swett Marden

JUST DO IT! Start. Execution is everything. Commit your goals to the Lord and take off.

Baby steps enable us to gain success. I have implemented one thing at a time in my healthy eating journey. I began with a sugar fast, then I started examining my foods and recording what I was eating. Small, do-able steps toward success.

My friend, I’m praying for you as you commit your ONE thing to the Lord. May you experience success as you take baby steps. When you stumble and experience temporary failure (as I already have), give yourself grace as God does and begin again. HE who began a work in you will carry it to completion, one baby step at a time.

Your ONE thing is waiting…

On your mark, get set- GO!

PC: Unsplash and Google Images

* “What About Bob”

Baby Steps Part One

February 16, 2016 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

Have you dropped your New Year’s Resolutions already? Or are you pressing on? Maybe you don’t set goals because you know they won’t come to pass?

Our family loves the movie “What About Bob” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JPa2mvSQ4 Bob learns that future success awaits him; he decides to follow the “Baby Steps” philosophy prescribed by his Psychiatrist. Yes, it’s a funny movie scene, but when I watch Poor Bob, I see a nugget of Psychology that makes sense. I find when looking at an entire goal, project or assignment I become overwhelmed. You too? Dr. Leo Marvin knows Bob has a LONG way to go towards his mental health healing. Instead of tackling it all at once, the doc encourages Bob to take one tiny step at a time.

I’m a resolutions kinda gal. I’ve been a planner and list-maker since childhood.

But I’ve resolved to do resolutions differently this time. I’ve made small, measurable goals instead of throwing out lofty hopes that may or may not come to fruition by the end of the year. Baby steps.

Are you a goal-oriented person? Maybe you are more casual and like to ride the waves of life instead of telling them how to get to the shore. Either way, we all have dreams and heart-filled plans don’t we? Something we’d love to see happen or even need to see happen? Perhaps it’s a broken relationship healed? A chunk of debt chiseled away? A successful step in your weight-loss journey? Or even tackling that ridiculously junked-out closet?