May 18th, 2011: The Captivating Kathy Zellinger

If you possessed the courage, talent, and resources to do anything in the world what would you do?

My answer to this type of question for years has been, “I would love to work in a green house and play with plants all day.” I grew up in the country and every summer we had a couple of vegetable gardens which we got to help with. It was so fun to water and weed the plants, watch them grow, and eventually produce things which we would then eat or can for later use. Yum!

Devotional:

One of my goals for years has been “Focus and Complete”, which means that I would like to focus on one thing, complete the process, then move on to the next thing. In reality, that does not happen as much as I would like. What normally happens is that I end up having five things started on my desk and then I get a phone call or somebody stops by with a question. I’m normally able to eventually get all of the five things completed, but the process of getting there is very different than if I had started Project A, finished it, then started Project B, completed it, etc. On the positive side, I’m really good at multi-tasking, but on the negative side, I can become distracted and/or feel out of control.

There are times when I think, “Why can’t I be more organized like so and so? Their desk is always clean and their pens and highlighters are always neatly organized.” It’s so easy to want to compare myself to somebody else to see how I measure up to them. “They’re better at ‘X’ than I am” (shame) or “Hey, I’m better at ‘Y’ than they are.” (pride). Over the years God has reminded me again and again that he does not look at us this way and does not compare or rank us to other people. He has given us all different skills, gifts, and talents, but he loves us all the same. In Psalm 139, He reminds me that he has fearfully and wonderfully made me to be me, but that he has also fearfully and wonderfully made that other person to be who he made them to be.

Prayer requests:

My parents are celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary this July. My six siblings and I are planning a party for them which we hope will be a fun, relaxing, and God-honoring time. Please pray that we would focus on our parents and the friends and relatives who will be attending and not get stressed about all of the “things” which are on our to-do list.

One of my roommates is getting married this fall which means she is moving out (her fiancé said “no” to the idea of living on my back porch - for some reason - so she could still live with us.) My other roommate and I are praying for a person who will be a good fit for our household.

I would love prayer for the Holy Spirit to help me stop more often to tie up loose ends on certain projects so they are complete and off of my desk.