One Word and a Framework for God-Centered Goal-Setting.

January 4, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ' Philippians 3:12

It’s that time again. January. When everyone gets a fresh start. As you consider 2025, What do you want to achieve? A more important question: Who do you want to become?

I have found a one-word theme for each year helps me focus and make progress in both of those areas. One word focuses on an area for personal growth, but has also helped me define goals that keep me working toward new achievements.

Here’s a framework to help you discover and build on a one-word theme.

ASK - Ask God what He wants for you in the coming year. Ask Him what one word to focus on. You may be surprised!

AIM – Set goals that line up with God’s word for you and dreams that you know are from Him. Consider all areas of your life: Spiritual, Physical, Relational, Financial, Emotional, Work.

ACT – Design some next steps to achieve those goals. Be sure those steps include all areas of life. When you complete each step determine the next step.

ACHIEVE – Celebrate your wins as you take steps and achieve goals. Then prepare to go through the process again. It’s about the growth, not the goals!

Questions for reflection:

Start with reflection and prayer. There are plenty of resources to help you reflect, and I use several, but here are some questions from me to get you started.

What are you grateful to say goodbye to from 2024?

What has been difficult about this year?

What can you celebrate? What are some of the good gifts God gave you in 2024?

Now, here are some questions to consider as you look forward to 2025:

What do you want to say when you get to this time next year?

How would you like to grow in 2025?

In what way is God calling you to move forward and how will you focus on that?

Let’s take a little more time with that framework.

How to Stay Anchored in Hope

December 7, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV

What does hope mean to you? For me, it means expecting God to move. I have hope because, regardless of what I see happening, I know God is in control. I believe God is God and will act accordingly. Sometimes I don’t get to see the good outcome, but I believe it will happen all the same. Those aren’t just words to me. It’s something I have learned to live and that helps me stay anchored in hope.

Are there times when you wander from hope? What brings you back?

Here are a few things to consider that help me remain connected to hope.

God’s promises help me stay anchored in hope. “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” Hebrews 6:19 NLT

The promises of God are a lifeline that keep me connected to Him. When I stay connected to Him, I stay connected to hope.

There are times when I feel like I have to figure everything out. I feel responsible for solving the problem in front of me or helping someone I care about by giving them an answer to their dilemma.

What Are You Thinking?

November 9, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 NLT

Where are your thoughts these days? Are you expecting the worst? For your family? For our nation? Are you expecting the best? There are a lot of questions about all of it.

Where is God in your thinking? I have found that when my thoughts wander to the worst, God has provided a tool to wander back to truth. God has given us guidelines for our thinking. Philippians 4:8 describes what to think about so that we stay focused on Him and expect the best that only comes from Him. Expecting the best is expecting God to come through.

Expect the best even when you accept trouble. Does expecting God to come through mean you will never have any trouble? Of course not. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Focusing your thoughts in a positive direction is not about ignoring trouble or expecting God to deliver you from every trouble. Despite what some preachers have told you, trouble is a part of Christian life. Read the New Testament more carefully and you will notice that the New Testament writers came from that position.

Silent Saturday: Counting the Cost

March 30, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

It is Saturday of Holy Week. Good Friday has passed. Easter Sunday is yet to come. We wait in anticipation of that joyous celebration. But what did the disciples do on that Saturday after the crucifixion? They did not know that joy awaited them. They observed the Sabbath in obedience, but that day of rest from work was most likely anything but a day of rest in the mind. How could they do anything but continue to relive Friday’s horror and wonder how they would ever face, not only Sunday, but every day after?

It is in human nature to avoid the painful, but what if you and I took this Saturday to relive some of Good Friday’s pain? Might it increase our joy of the resurrection?

Know Your Purpose. Plan Your Time.

January 27, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.’ Ephesians 5:17 NLT

How often are you distracted by something that is calling your attention away from what you really want to be doing? Perhaps you are in the middle of deep work on a passion project. All the gears are clicking. The ideas are flowing. The strategy to accomplish this long-held dream is pouring out onto the page or your hands are busy creating what you see in your imagination. Then the phone rings. You hesitate for a moment and then you answer it.

The telemarketer on the other end of the phone doesn’t care that he just interrupted a moment of Spirit-inspired genius. He doesn’t care that you were in the middle of coming into the light after years in a tunnel of doubt. He is just trying to do his job, which is to convince you to buy what he is selling. An item you don’t need or want — like a new satellite TV system or gutter guards on the house that you added those to three years ago. All he cares about is selling to you and he doesn’t take no for an answer.

Finally, you realize that the only way to end this conversation will be to hang up on him. You hate the idea of that rude action, but there doesn’t appear to be another way. Your stomach is in knots. You politely tell him that you need to go and then you hang up the phone.

When you turn back to your project the gears that were clicking are still and silent. Your mind is a blank and your stomach is still in knots. All forward motion has ended. You decide that it's time to check the laundry, or some other everyday task, and walk away from your desk feeling defeated and frustrated.

Answering that call interrupted what you really wanted to be doing, what you feel called to do, and you wonder why you even answered it!

My friend, there are legitimate interruptions that have the same effect on your progress. Those are the ones you have to accept, resolve, and then do your best to get back on track after. Those interruptions are immediate and important. Like a backed-up drain that needs a plumber’s attention. I found myself in that position this week after an “aha” about what was preventing me from moving forward on a passion project. Even though I was motivated to move forward I had to stop. There was nothing else I could do about that. I didn’t have a choice about that interruption. However, you and I have control over plenty of the things we allow to interrupt us, like phone calls and text messages to name the most frequent offenders.

When you and I interrupt the important for the immediate we often squander one of our most valuable resources: TIME. What if there is a better way? Would you take it?

Discover Your More in 2024!

December 30, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 NLT

Dear Friend,

I have a challenge for you as we close out this year.

How much time do you take for reflection? It isn’t part of our culture at all, is it? Go, go, go! Do more and do it faster! Make more money! Have more impact! Be more efficient! What if the more you are looking for is really about becoming who you want to be, who you were designed to be?

Here is my challenge: In these last few days of the year take time to stop, ponder, and determine what you want for next year.

To help you meet that challenge, I’m giving you some questions to jumpstart your reflection. Let them stir grief if needed, inspire celebration, and ignite desire for the new year. If you journal, have your pen nearby to jot down some thoughts.

Silent Saturday: Counting the Cost

April 8, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

It is in human nature to avoid the painful, but what if you and I took this Saturday to relive some of Good Friday’s pain? Might it increase our joy of the resurrection?

Who Am I?

December 17, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ' Colossians 3:12

You stand in front of the mirror. The face looking back at you is familiar, but how do you describe the person that you see? What defines you? Who are you? How do you answer that question, my friend?

That may be an easy question, but then again it may not be. My younger self was defined by the expectations of other people. My greatest fear was making the wrong decision or disappointing someone else. My identity was based on avoiding conflict. I didn’t really know who I was. I let what other people thought define me. I was afraid to voice my opinion. Afraid to express my own needs and wants. Afraid of failing. Afraid of rejection. Afraid to be me and unsure of who that person was.

Do you know who you are? A strong sense of identity will settle you. You won’t be as heavily influenced by others or by the media. Knowing who you are brings peace and confidence. You are who God says you are. Do you know who God says you are?

Cultivate Grateful: Getting God-Centered

November 5, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.' 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 MSG

Have you ever thought about what a grateful heart does for you? What's the benefit to cultivating grateful? How does gratefulness affect us and our relationships? Most especially, how does cultivating grateful affect our relationship with God.

In his book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God Pastor Tim Keller contemplates the most familiar prayer of all time as a model for building our communication with God. He considers what we call "The Lord's Prayer" as a structure for approaching our Heavenly Father. As I read Pastor Keller's thoughts it seemed to me that cultivating grateful is a key to opening the door to experiencing God's presence.

Keller says, "Adoration and thanksgiving - God-centeredness- comes first. Because it heals the heart of self-centeredness, which curves us in on ourselves and distorts all our vision."(p.114)

When I cultivate a grateful heart I am more able to recognize God's majesty and goodness. A grateful heart can glimpse God's great love and longs to honor and obey Him in response. A grateful heart opens the door to closeness with God.

A - C = P: Anxiety - Control = Peace

September 24, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. ‘Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

I was listening to a podcast when I heard a quote that brought so much clarity, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Here it is: “Anxiety results from wanting to control something God has not given us to control.” I didn’t remember the name of the person or why she was on the podcast, but what she said made so much practical sense. (I looked it up later. So, if you are interested, it was Joanna Weaver’s podcast, The Living Room, and the guest was Sharon Hodde Miller, author of The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety It Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises Us.) As I pondered her statement, a formula took shape in my brain, “A – C = P,” Anxiety – Control = Peace. Easy to remember and a goal worth aiming for.

Anxiety is something we all experience. Anxiety steals peace and commands focus. Whether it’s something personal about your family, or a job, or something broader like politics and the world situation, anxiety creeps up behind us, leaps upon us and gets us in a stranglehold. Ever feel that way?

Your brain goes in circles, trying to resolve something you are powerless to resolve. You can’t sleep and every waking moment is consumed with mental and practical fruitless attempts to solve the problem. Suddenly, it seems like nothing else is happening in your life. What started as a thought becomes a huge shadow. What do you do?