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Where will your YES take you?

Discover your more when you give god your YES.

The YES Adventure

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The MORE You Were Meant For

August 23, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future“ (Jeremiah 29:11).

My YES adventure began with my first YES to God. At sixteen years old, I sat on my bed reading a small pamphlet a friend had given me. The final paragraph asked if I would like a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. A personal relationship with Jesus? I’d never heard of such a thing! Everything in me said, “YES, that’s exactly what I want!” I prayed the prayer, signed the tract in the space provided, and put it in my wallet because that is where I put things I didn’t want to lose. I didn’t realize that YES had begun to change my life.

It wasn’t until a few years later that my YES became complete. I was a junior in college, walking home to my rented room at 16 Oak Street in Geneseo, New York. The cold January night echoed the darkness that had clouded around me for the previous months. I had never felt so lost and confused. In reality, the situation that had triggered the darkness was minor. But it had become the major impetus for all my emotions. Friends had encouraged me to speak with a school counselor, but I maintained, “I should be able to handle my own problems.”

That night, a random, startling thought shook me to the reality that I was not able. I stood at a crosswalk on Main Street as a car approached.

“What would happen if I threw myself out in front of that car?”

Shock and fear gripped me as the car sped by. What if I had acted on that thought? Where had it come from? What did I need to do to escape that kind of darkness? I hurried home, unlocked the door, ran upstairs to my room, and knelt by my bed. “God, I can’t do it by myself anymore. I need you to help me!”

I don’t remember all I prayed, but the next day, I made an appointment with the school counselor. Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, that night, I fully surrendered to God. He had my big YES. That was the day my adventure truly started and transformation began. That was the day I began to discover the more I was meant for.

What makes your heart soar? I mean really soar. That thing that makes you want to shout at the top of your lungs and burst with joy. Maybe you haven’t quite discovered what that is yet, but it is in there. God put it inside you even before you were born, and He wants to help you discover what that is. Maybe that is part of what you will get out of this book. I hope so. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were created with a purpose that will fill your heart with an exhilarating song that lifts you to hang-gliding heights. Really!

God has made each of us with an “adventure quotient.” What do I mean by that? Your adventure quotient is what makes your heart beat faster and feel like you are doing the most exciting and fulfilling thing in the world. That adventure quotient is different for each of us, but each of us has it. The key for you and me is to find it. You were made for adventure. You were! But don’t expect your adventure to look like someone else’s. Your adventure is uniquely your own.

 

Excerpt from The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word by Cathleen Zahradnik. Check it out here.

Tags adventure, discovery; fulfillment; purpose
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NOW AVAILABLE: The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word

July 26, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

UPDATE: As of Sunday, July 27, 2025, the book is now available in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon.

Get your copy here!

Any day now, the book will be available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format! It’s been submitted to KDP at Amazon and is under review before publication. Check Amazon in a few days. I’ll do my best to let you know. Thank you for taking this journey with me!

The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word will encourage you and guide you through a God-centered goal-setting process: Ask, Aim, Act, Achieve. It’s been helpful to me, and I wanted to share it with you.

And once you achieve, the process continues. You begin to ask God and do it all over again.

What’s your next YES?

What’s my next YES?

Let’s find out together.

Tags goals, grow, process, adventure
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This Summer!

May 24, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Final edits and formatting are in process!

Thanks for your patience. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Tags goals, adventure, process, inspiration
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So…Surgery next

May 25, 2024 Cathleen Zahradnik

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Psalms 103:13-14 NLT

Hello friends!

Here is an update on my situation. You remember from last week that I fell, and God miraculously protected me from cracking my skull on the cement floor of my basement. However, as I told you last week, I had a cast on my right wrist and my left wrist was injured, but I expected it to get better within a few days. My situation has developed, shall we say. After my visit to the orthopedic doctor, it was determined that there is a crack in my left wrist. So, I now have a brace on my left wrist. I am OK with that because now it doesn’t hurt the way that it did. However, that leaves me with no 100% working hands.

The orthopedist also determined that I need surgery on my right wrist. Although the cast had immobilized my wrist, the bones were not staying aligned. Therefore, by the time you read this, the surgeon will have added screws and a plate in my wrist.

As you can imagine, that’s a lot to take in.

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Tags adventure, faith, christian living
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Where Will Your YES Take You?

August 12, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

'Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”’ Luke 1:38

 Do you ever feel stuck? You know what I mean. Your life becomes predictable. Comfortable. Mundane. Routines are a valuable tool when they are designed to help you accomplish what is necessary and important, but if you aren’t careful, they can just suck you into the same-old same-old. Rise, routine, repeat. Right? That’s not what you want!

What do you want? You want a life that zings with meaning, purpose, passion, and potential. You want to know that you are discovering more—all the things that God created you for. You want your life to be a fulfilling adventure, not simply satisfying. Full. Even a little bit exciting. Am I right?

I totally get it and I have been there. What I’ve learned is that every day holds the possibility to discover some of that MORE. The key that unlocks potential is a three-letter word: YES. If you can allow yourself to think in terms of that three-letter word you will find yourself on what I like to call The YES Adventure. Yes by yes you discover the more you were meant for. You discover your MORE when you give God your YES. Are you ready?

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Tags discovery, potential, adventure
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Are YOU Brave Enough to Say YES? 

August 5, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

“God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.” Psalms 18:32 NLT

 “You’re so brave!” she said. The thought had never occurred to me that what I was doing was brave. I was just taking the next step on my journey with God. He had opened a door that I knew was mine to walk through. Brave? Was it really?

I had worked for several years to acquire my ministry license. Hours of classes and tests. A qualifying exam. An interview before a committee of respected ministers in my fellowship. Waiting while their recommendation was sent to the national office. Every step along the way was simply moving forward in the direction that I knew God was calling me. I had no idea how it was all going to turn out. I just knew that each new opportunity or challenge required another YES. This new venture was just one more “yes.”

I had been in my current position, a public middle school library aide, for nine years. I loved working in the school library. I had come to love the students and the staff. It was June and another school year was coming to a close. I had already submitted my paperwork to confirm another year of employment. I had no visions of a life change. Then my pastor called me in for an appointment…

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Tags challenge, Self-discovery, adventure
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Take The Next Right Step

May 6, 2023 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21 NIV

Are you living a life of adventure? Adventure involves risk and uncertainty. You might think of adventure as bungee jumping or rock climbing. But what if you applied that definition to everyday experiences? Then every day takes on an element of adventure, right? And you know what? God is in the middle of our little everyday adventures just as much as the big ones.

My daughter lives in Brooklyn. She's lived in New York for a number of years and knows her way around the New York public transportation system well, so when we visit, we trust her to guide us from one place to another. But on a recent visit, a power outage somewhere in the system turned a routine trip into an adventure! It was full of risk and uncertainty.

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Tags adventure, faith, encouragement
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Are You Listening For His Voice?

May 14, 2022 Cathleen Zahradnik

No words of my own today, but some words from the One whose Word matters most. Are you listening for the voice of the Lord? What has He been speaking to you lately?

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings;
honor the Lord for his glory and strength.

2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.

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Tags challenge, encouragement, discovery, adventure
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Altitude Shift

April 24, 2021 Cathleen Zahradnik
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“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬


I live in a valley area. I don’t have to go far to find a high place where I can look out across the surrounding region. The beauty of the view is awe-inspiring and, from that perspective, I see the community I live in from a different point of view. Many of the imperfections are hidden from that height. I can see way beyond my little rural city (I didn’t even know that was a thing until I lived here!) and, except for some roads and a river, most of what I can see involves the tops of trees! I can breathe in a new outlook on whatever is going on in my life from that vista. Then, heading back down into normal life takes on a whole different atmosphere. I bring some of the upper air with me and I breathe differently back among the building ands vehicles. I carry some of that peaceful perspective into whatever comes next.

It’s amazing how a shift in altitude can shift my attitude. And God knows my attitude often needs shifting! What about you? With all that is happening around you right now — your family issues, our national challenges, a global pandemic that has yet to come to an end — what’s your attitude? What is guiding your responses? Could you use an altitude perspective that shifts your attitude?

Here’s a jolt: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” What?! The same attitude as Jesus! That’s what the apostle Paul told his friends in Philippi. What is Paul saying? Let’s take a few minutes to investigate that little loaded sentence.

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Tags discovery, christian living, challenge, adventure
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Limitless

August 29, 2020 Cathleen Zahradnik
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“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12 NIV

One of my favorite places is the beach. I love to stand on the sand with the expanse of the ocean in front of me, miles of blue over my head and a long stretch of sand as far as my eyes can see to either side of me. Can you see it? Ahhhh!

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Tags adventure, loved, inspiration
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