Inner Views
BIO
Author Tamara Hester Battaglia is passionate about sharing God’s love with everyone. A flight attendant for almost twenty years, she has traveled the world sharing Jesus with others. Tamara grew up in Pasadena, Texas. She and her husband, Joe, live in Franklin, Tennessee. She loves traveling and spending time with her husband, kids, and four grandkids.
INNER VIEW
Kathleen Cooke: Congratulations on the release of your devotional “Written In Heaven: His Story, Our Lives.” I was honored to be one of the contributors alongside Karen Kingsbury, Priscilla Shirer, Roma Downey, and Lauren Green, with a foreword by Kathie Lee Gifford. What was the one thing God taught you through the journey of releasing the book?
Tammy Battaglia: That God can use anyone! Becoming a first-time author at 65 has brought me so much joy. And more than a few laughs! If you had told my 7th-grade language teacher this would happen, she might have fallen out of her chair. Language, both written and spoken, has always been a challenge for me. The idea for this book came to me unexpectedly, as I was dusting a bookshelf filled with works by incredible Women of God who have deeply influenced my life. My husband and I were newly married and in the process of merging our lives, our belongings, and our many books. As I looked through his collection, I realized I didn’t recognize some of the authors, many of whom turned out to be remarkable women with powerful stories.
My husband knows many of these women personally. As I met them, I was moved by their life journeys, their faith, and their impact. That’s when the idea struck me: What if these voices were brought together in one book? A place where readers could be introduced to these inspiring women and their testimonies. Standing on a ladder with a can of Endust and a microfiber cloth, dusting that bookshelf, and what seemed like a random thought became the foundation for a book called “Written In Heaven.” I learned that God can use anyone (and I qualify!) despite their lack of training and perceived ability. This brings to mind… I Thess 5:24—”Faithful is He that calls you, and He will bring it to pass.” Thankfully, it’s all about what God can do and not me! It’s important to listen to God’s silent language!
Kathleen: As a first-time author, what advice would you give someone who is contemplating writing a book?
Tammy: Time management, God’s way. Preparation and planning have always been essential parts of my daily routine. However, becoming a flight attendant completely transformed my life and my schedule. Suddenly, I was on call 24 hours a day. I’d arrive home from a flight to London in the early morning, only to find myself jetting off to Canada by evening. At first, it was a real challenge to stay packed and ready for spontaneous trips around the world. But over time, I began to find joy in the unexpected. It became a thrill to watch how God would unfold each day, teaching me to let go, trust, and simply relax. As I walked through busy airports and worked in metal tubes, I started to shift my focus. I began looking for the one person God wants me to reach that day – someone He loves and cares about deeply. Trusting in God’s schedule and not mine. That’s when I learned a better definition of time management!
Kathleen: The media and entertainment business can be exciting. But most people don’t realize it can also be extremely lonely. What has God taught you about dealing with loneliness?
Tammy: My first husband asked for a divorce the day our youngest child started college. That was devastating. I went from being a wife and full-time mother to not knowing what my life would now look like. My empty nest was now truly empty. I was trying to adjust to a home with just me, a dog, and a cat. What once was a beautiful home with laughter and love became a sullen shell of my former life. How would I now cope? A crippling loneliness filled my heart and home. And I didn’t know how to overcome it. Until….I began to dig into the Bible what it had to say about overcoming loneliness. I found that worshipping God, reading His word, and when I sang to the Lord, the loneliness disappeared. I began to sense the Lord’s presence and peace that I had never experienced previously. Col 3:16 “Let the word of God dwell richly in your heart… singing to God with gratitude in your heart.”
Kathleen: We are all influencers, and we often don’t realize the lives we influence. Can you share a story of how you unexpectedly influenced someone’s life?
Tammy: When I was 12 years old, I went to a James Robison revival that encouraged me to the next day at school to share my faith with a good friend. I gave her a New Testament Bible that I got at the revival and told her about my faith in Jesus. She did not receive it well, and I was discouraged by her response. I thought I had ruined our friendship. Or so I thought! Fast forward ten years. At 22, I got a letter in the mail from this friend thanking me for that New Testament Bible I had given her and for sharing my faith. She wanted to let me know that she became a Christian as a result of that effort 10 years earlier. And she had married a believer, as well. You never know how someone may receive something of eternal significance from planting a seed. Just be faithful and trust God for the results.
Order Tammy’s new devotional “Written In Heaven: His Story, Our Lives” here!
Inner Views
Sometimes the most important person to be truthful with is ourselves. It’s important to look honestly at how well we keep boundaries, where we’ve rooted our identity and the motives of our hearts. Read this month’s INNER VIEW as we dive deep with Andrea Polnaszek into some core truths and the ways we navigate them imperfectly.
BIO
Andrea M. Polnaszek has written many books and is the co-creator of multiple films alongside her sister, Alexandra Boylan, as part of The Boylan Sisters Entertainment company. Andrea’s most recent movie, The Greatest Inheritance, with her accompanying book by the same title, is a study of Ecclesiastes. The film wrestles with the theme, “There is a time for everything and a season for everything under Heaven.”
Andrea is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has spent her clinical career helping children and their families communicate their feelings. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work at Gordon College, a Master’s in Social Work, and a certificate in Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
INNER VIEW
Kathleen: As a filmmaker and writer, you come from a unique position as a licensed clinical social worker with an understanding of the human mind and our choices. What has God revealed to you on how we can make better choices that will sustain our careers and lives, especially during the disruptions of a pandemic?
Andrea Polnaszek: I had the opportunity to write a book and devotional about Ecclesiastes and specifically spent much time meditating on Ecclesiastes 3. During an unappreciated time, global pandemic, I felt like folks around me, including myself, were asking questions like: “Why?” “What do we do?” “I don’t like this new life?” While exploring the idea of – what season is this and what is God teaching me in this season…God brought a surprising insight.
I was invited to perform a funeral service for the first time. The woman who had passed had struggled with mental illness for many years before her death. Her family felt they had lost her many years before she died. The process of preparing for the funeral provided an opportunity to remember. Looking through pictures and reminiscing reminded everyone of beautiful memories. This insight caused me to ask: Why do we wait for funerals to share a eulogy? So, I have begun to tell people what I appreciate about them in real-time. I have spent some time thinking about happy memories and sharing those with others. The experience has brought me new insight into what the Joy of the Lord looks like. I believe that joy is born in gratitude. And a heart of thanksgiving is a gift from God alone.
Theodore Roosevelt said: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” God has brought me to a place of hard-fought contentment – accepting that there is good and bad in every season and that He is over it all! I would say that when I look at all that the last few years have thrown at me – the joy of the Lord was my strength. God revealed to me the importance of disciplining myself to put Him first.
Kathleen: It’s not the normal screenwriter’s path to come into the film business from a clinical social worker background. Many might struggle with their career goals and identity and lose their way. Yet God seems to carve us uniquely into His plan and purpose. Why is knowing who you are in Him the essential choice?
Andrea: Boylan Sisters Entertainment just finished principal photography on a movie called Identity Crisis. I have done a lot of thinking, meditating, and studying on this issue. Our culture seems to be telling us that unique needs to be named and that our core identity or “created in the image of God” can or should change. I struggle with this conversation because when I talk to people wrestling with gender disphoria and questioning their sexuality, I see genuine concern, discomfort, and a deep sense of longing to feel whole.
I was one of those teenagers and young adults who always wanted to be in a different stage than where I found myself. I wanted to be grown, married, and have children. I was convinced that when I became a wife and mother, those feelings of longing would be fulfilled. My life experience has taught me that every new stage of life comes with new questions and the opportunity to have even more longing. Different is more than OK. God has created us with an array of personalities, gifts, and various appearances.
I struggle with staying at peace with whom God made me. Ten years ago, when I wrote a book about rest and openly wrestled with being disappointed with God, I took the next step toward being at peace in my skin. I don’t always stay at peace, but I do find that if I am disciplined to be vulnerable and stay real with others and myself, I find the peace that passes understanding.
Kathleen: To sustain ourselves in our 24/7 world, we must have boundaries. But often, we don’t draw the right boundary lines. What’s a boundary you struggle with within your work and life?
Andrea: I am a recovering people pleaser. I find that when my boundaries go down, my people-pleasing increases. I am a lifelong student of John Townsend and Henry Cloud’s book, Boundaries. I discovered the book when I was at a very low point as a pastor’s wife. I found myself sad, lonely, and resentful. This book taught me the difference between walling myself off and having a fence with a gate. The key was that I had control of the gate; I could open it or close it. The Boundaries book reviews each of the main areas of your life – family, marriage, kids, work, church, and family of origin. I often use the book as a reference going back to it to read just one chapter on whatever area of my life I am struggling in.
The biggest lesson I have learned is that when I let my guard down and allow what I think other people want to overtake me, I need to pause and adjust my boundaries. In the past, I would think, “If she would just do this, then I could feel this.” Learning how to hold healthy boundaries has freed me from the thought that someone else can make me feel a certain way. It has caused me to focus on what I can control and what I am responsible for.
I am currently watching the TV series The Chosen for the third time. One of the things that I am struck with by Jesus’ example in that depiction is that He spent time with God and followed what God wanted, not what others wanted. He paused regularly to seek what His Father had for Him. I wish I could say I do this all the time. I don’t. But, I’m a work in progress, always striving to notice how I feel and how I am behaving and stopping to invite God to inform me who I am!
Kathleen: We all impact others’ lives. What’s the one thing you’ve learned about influence?
Andrea: Influence is a BIG word. With the rise of social media, becoming an “influencer” is sought after. For me, I feel it is a heavy weight. As soon as people are watching, whether online or off, I immediately get cocky and say something I don’t really believe. The thing I have learned about influence is that it is very important to be wise. My heart’s desire is to use my influence to give God glory, and I don’t mean that in a cheesy or churchy way. I mean that I struggle with a form of pride that is connected with “getting credit” for what I do.
When I find myself caught up in getting what’s due to me, I have taken my eyes completely off of God and how He has intended to honor me and chosen to focus on how I want to be seen. Influence is something that should be guarded and treated with great respect. For me, I must put my eyes on Jesus so that He is influencing me first before I am influencing others.
