Welcome Back
A New Direction: Week 1 April 2026- YADA Podcast
Welcome back! Thank you for your patience with me, in my decision to take a step away from Substack for the period of Lent. I hope you had a fruitful Lent and a blessed Easter.
In this time away, I have been reflecting on and praying through a possible new direction for this space. Recently, in my notes, I mentioned desiring to use this space to connect you, not just with my own (continuing) story, but also with the stories of others. So, I have been busy considering how I can best do this. Additonally, I have also been sitting with my deep desire to express the newness of life I have been walking into and experiencing, since my conversion. These verses, in particular, have been reverberating within me
Philippians 3:13-14, NRSVCE
this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 43:18-19 NRSVCE
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSVCE
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
So, to give expression to these two deep desires, this is what you will find in this space from now on:
Week 1 of each month (e.g. the first 7 days in April)
A c.5-minute YADA prayer podcast. Those of you who have been following me since before my conversion will remember these prayer invitations from my past YouTube ministry. What I didn’t see until later, is how this ministry was praying me into the Church, as without knowing it I began to step into very Catholic thinking and practices. During Lent, I was reminded of this ministry again and the fruit I saw unfold in me and others through it, and so I longed to take it up again. This time, however, I am offering it here in this new space, rather than separately on YouTube. And I am making it much shorter in length (c.5 minutes) and therefore also hopefully more accessible/doable.
Through this prayer podcast, I will take one Bible verse or more and pray this Scripture into our new month, inviting the Holy Spirit to help us to:
Yada - come to know and experience - Christ in new ways this month, through the verse/s chosen
Amen - to give us the grace to declare “so be it” - to the verse/s chosen, by helping us to remember how God has fulfilled this particular Word in the past to help us now agree with it and affirm its truth in the coming month
Do the Word: to give us the grace to live out the chosen verse/s in practical and tangible ways in the coming month to become not just hearers, but doers of God’s Word
Adore the Word: to give us the grace to adore Christ through the chosen verse/s, by helping us to look for and praise Him for His Word’s unfolding.
Week 2 of each month
A short written summary of a recent (Catholic) (re-)conversion story, recorded by Eddie Trask on his YouTube ministry Catholic ReCon. During my conversion process these stories were such a gift to me, but oh how I longed for a written summary I could read, when I simply didn’t have the time to watch the often hour-long videos offered. And so, now, I would like to offer others what I once longed for, while also giving myself new opportunities to grow in my own faith, in listening to one video each month to be able to summarize it.
I shared this plan of mine with Eddie and he replied: “Absolutely, Anna! You can use any and all my videos in any way you see fit.” So, with his blessing, I invite you to join me here every second week of the month to read a summary of a recent (re-)conversion story recorded by Eddie with a link to the full-length video. PS if you are a revert or convert to the Catholic faith and feel prompted to share your testimony publically, you may like to consider reaching out to Eddie- I am sure he would love to share your story via his ministry, also. You can do so by filling in: the Catholic ReCon Enquiry Form.
Week 3 of each month
A poem, paired with a photo of nature and a Scripture-infused prayer of blessing.
Week 4 of each month
A short reflection (no more than 500 words) on the fruit of the YADA prayer video- either by myself, or a guest contributor. Feel free to email me if/when you would like to contribute.
In the week a new month begins, but does not include 7 full days (e.g. like last week), that week will be a week of rest, with no new posts. My prayer is that I and all who visit this space will be richly blessed by the newness of life God reveals to us here.
Here is Week 1 for April 2026:
Welcome to the Yada Podcast for April 2026