God-Centered Goal Setting Step 1: Ask - Listen for the Unexpected

January 17, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Psalms 32:8-9 NIV

Tom and I like to begin the year with a season of prayer and fasting. Why? We want our relationship with God to set the tone for the year. What characteristics does He want to build in us? What weaknesses will we work on? What does God want me to know about Him this year? What goals does God want me to set to help me grow toward the person He designed me to be?

Setting God-centered goals starts with asking God what He wants. This goal-setting process begins in the final quarter of the previous year. That is when I begin praying, listening, and looking to discover my word for the next year. That word becomes a guide as I enter the fasting and prayer season. This process of praying and waiting is about staying open. By removing distractions, like sweet treats, social media, or mindless games on my phone, I make space for God to speak. And He does.

The YES Adventure Framework for God-Centered Goal Setting

January 10, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”’ Luke 1:38 NIV

What does 2026 hold for you? How intentional do you want to be in pursuing God’s purpose for your life? If you want to make progress towards fulfilling your divine potential, I want to offer you a resource.

My book, 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.

You and I want Jesus to be the center of our lives. We want everything we do to honor Him and advance His kingdom. So, when you and I set goals, we want them to be goals that honor God and advance His kingdom. We want Him to be the center of every goal we set. This process helps us do that.

Here’s an overview.

ASK: Apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15:5) Setting God-centered goals begins by asking God to guide you in the goals that are important to Him. It includes recognizing your unique gifts, personality, and passions to discover the clues that God has built into you so that you can do what He has made you to do.

AIM: Once you have explored how God has crafted you and asked Him to guide you, you take aim in the direction you discern Him to be leading. Setting God-centered goals is an act of faith. You are saying YES to God’s purposes for you.

ACT: This is where you work on those God-centered goals. After writing out all the goals that come to your mind, you focus on the top three that you want to reach for the year. Narrowing your focus makes you more likely to reach the goal you set. It takes perseverance to follow through. You may need to fine-tune or refine your goals along the way. The important thing is to keep taking steps in the direction of YES!

ACHIEVE: Once you reach the goals you and God have set together, you get to celebrate and begin the process again. Be sure to celebrate your progress, even if you didn’t reach your goals. You have gone further than you were. That is a victory. And once you have achieved your goal, ask God what is next. There is always another YES.

That’s where I am right now. My book, this idea that started decades ago and began to take shape in 2013, has finally been accomplished! I have learned so much along the way. I am certainly celebrating. Now, I get to ASK again. Then I get to AIM, ACT and ACHIEVE.

What is my next YES and where will my YES take me?

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out the book here. Please leave a review on Amazon! That will help other people find the book and receive guidance and encouragement in their God-centered goal setting.

If you’d like a partner to work through your process, schedule a complimentary 30-minute coaching session here. I’d be glad to walk with you through it.

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

January 3, 2026 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 2026, what do you want to achieve? A more important question: Who do you want to become?

I have found that 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. I want to be a part of God’s purpose and become all that He designed me to be. Although that includes accomplishments, it is more about reflecting His character. That is what I want most.

The word God spoke to me for 2025 was Humility. Humility involves learning, not knowing. Listening, not teaching. Presenting a position rather than proving a point. I learned a lot about myself through this focus. I often found myself in situations where I had to remind myself that humility was what I needed to navigate them successfully. It wasn’t easy, but I pray that I have grown. The thing about growing in humility is that you are never fully grown. There’s always more growth needed.

I am still pondering my word for 2026. What about you?

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

One Last YES Lesson from Mary: Saying YES to the Unexpected

December 27, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Mary demonstrates the YES life in one more way. She followed through to the end. Mary went through a lot in her lifetime, but we never get the sense that she strayed from her trust in God. The evidence of trust in the young girl who said, “Be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) remains until the last mention of Mary in Scripture, gathering with the first group of believers in Jerusalem, praying and waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1:14). We can conclude that she was there and experienced the birth of the church with Peter and the others mentioned.

So, what would be the secret to her staying power? How did she live the YES life through the ups and downs of so much change and challenge? Since Joseph is not mentioned past the time when, at twelve, Jesus was found in the temple talking with the teachers, she likely lost her husband when she was young. She witnessed her son straying from the normal life path for people of her community, becoming an itinerant preacher who gained a large following and stirred up strong opposition, until eventually, she stood at the foot of the Cross and watched him die. And yet, if she was praying with the early believers, she must have also accepted and experienced the joy of His Resurrection. What was her secret? What can we learn from her about living the YES life?

As Long As There’s Christmas, There’s Hope (Repost)

December 20, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Don’t you think that the Christmas season inspires more creativity than any other season of the year? There are multitudes of songs, stories, poems and plays. There are also a myriad of movies and TV specials. In an attempt to make money off of a movie’s popularity, film companies will often create a special Christmas offering. Notice that I didn’t say that all that creativity is actually “inspired.” Many of these works are admittedly forgettable. But there is one presentation you might not know about that always touches my heart.

One of my favorite movies is the 1991 Disney film, Beauty and the Beast. It was the first full length animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Not only was it popular, it really is an excellent film. Disney made lots of money in spinoff projects, one of which was Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.

The action is set in the middle of the original storyline during the winter while the Beast and Belle are becoming firiends and starting to fall in love before the enchantment is broken. Belle wants to celebrate Christmas which the Beast has forbidden. Her efforts are brought to a halt by the Beast but, of course, in the end he comes around and a joyful Christmas is celebrated on their journey toward an ultimate happy ending.

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a musical offering and there is one song that so captures the spiritual essence of the holiday that I find it often in my head. The lyric that says it all is this:

“As long as there’s Christmas I truly believe that hope is the greatest of the gifts we’ll receive.”

A YES Lesson from Mary: Saying YES to Questions

December 13, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Mary had lots of questions. But she knew YES was the next step in God’s plan for her. She said YES to God’s plan . . . and all the questions that came with it.

· What would Joseph say or do?

· How would her family respond?

· What would happen to her and her baby—God’s baby?

· How would this baby even happen?

There was no way to know how YES would change her life. But there was only one answer her heart could give: YES!

God’s plan for you may leave you full of questions right now. I get it. I have definitely been there. But in the end, my friend, every question is worth it. The uncertainty is worth it. Because, at the end of the day, what matters most is God’s glory. Your path to fulfilling your divine potential requires taking uncertain steps. Your direction may be clear, but, nevertheless, uncertainty remains. Clarity does not cancel questions.

Are you ready to lift your foot and put it down, uncertain of where it will fall? Take the next right step and just watch what appears beneath your feet!

Excerpt from The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word by Cathleen Zahradnik. Check it out here. If you’ve read the book, please leave a review on Amazon to help other people find it!

A YES Lesson from Mary: Accepting the Risk of YES

December 6, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Mary’s YES allowed her to participate in the purposes of God. Her no would have excluded her from God’s purposes. She knew that there was a risk involved. She had questions that were not answered in a concrete way. All she knew was that God was asking something of her. God had given her a mission: to bear his Son. How could she turn him down? So, Mary’s YES adventure began. She gave God her YES. He did the rest.

What is God asking of you? As you recognize Him at work, calling you, there is really only one thing to do if you want to live this adventure of a YES life. Say YES and leave the rest to him. Mary will tell you that, although it is scary, God can be trusted and it’s worth the risk.

Give God your YES. Trust Him with the rest.

What is God asking of you that will involve risk and requires your YES? Decide how you will respond today. Don’t put it off any longer.

A YES Lesson From Mary: Saying YES to God’s Plans and Adjusting Yours

November 29, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Mary is a good model. Think about it. She had a plan: To marry Joseph and have a family, to do all the things a normal Jewish girl would have done in her culture. But God had another plan. He chose her and Joseph because their hearts were already given to Him. He knew they would roll with His new plan. And they did.

Having a plan is only a starting place. We make our plans. He directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9).

The bottom line, my friend, is to remember that with God, nothing is impossible. That’s what the angel Gabriel told Mary (Luke 1:37). Gabriel told Mary that there was no way she would make God’s new plan happen. All she had to do was to say YES. God Himself would make it happen. Her part was to cooperate with His plan.

Are you ready to cooperate with His plan? Are you ready to let Him adjust your plan? But first, are you ready to make a plan? Yes? Great! Just remember, you can do this!

A YES Lesson from Mary: Saying YES to Mystery

November 22, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

Confused.

I imagine Mary felt that way as she watched Jesus carry the crossbeam of his own torture through the streets of Jerusalem on a day that should have been preparation for celebrating the Passover. I wonder what kind of conversation she was having with God as she watched her angel-announced child bleeding from being beaten and scourged. How she must have cringed as insults were hurled at the child she had carried through promise and uncertainty and as she remembered the stable-turned-inn where she gave birth and received the visit of excited shepherds, or the small-home arrival of wise men with palace gifts. What were her questions? She must have felt so much confusion. “God, what are you doing? I don’t get it!”

Even for the woman who received a life-altering, history-making promise from a heavenly visitor, confusion was part of her experience. Modern culture tries to explain everything! You can find an article on the internet by “experts” in every field the mind can imagine. Every expert tries to explain anything that doesn’t make sense to humans. Sometimes those explanations are valid, and sometimes they are just weird!

A YES Lesson from Mary: Trust God with Your YES

November 15, 2025 Cathleen Zahradnik

The YES Adventure is a life of saying YES to God. One of the best biblical examples of someone living the YES adventure is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The Scriptures tell us a lot about Mary, especially in the book of Luke. Luke refers to “eyewitnesses” and “careful investigation,” and some scholars believe there is a good chance that Mary was a primary source for his gospel narrative. That would make the account of the birth of Jesus that many people read every Christmas Eve an accurate description of the events. If she was a primary source, then much of what we read about Mary in Luke can be considered firsthand information.

In Luke 1:38, Mary gives the answer that begins her YES adventure. She says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (ESV). Other translations say, “as you said” or “may your word to me be fulfilled.” Your YES adventure and mine begin the same way. We put ourselves completely in God’s hands and say “God, do what You want with me.”

We all know the story of the angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary that she had been chosen, out of the thousands of young Jewish women in Israel at that time, to become the mother of God’s Son. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. This young Jewish girl, doing her best to follow God, living according to the cultural norms of her day, betrothed by her father’s plan, doing the things that were expected of her.

Suddenly, she experiences an event way outside the norm. An angel visits her. An angel! She recognizes God at work but is most likely shocked at what the angel proposes. A baby?

August 15, 2026

How to Win the War Within (Repost)

'Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ' Colossians 3:1-2

You’ve left the room, but the argument is not over. Your thoughts are stuck in a loop. The same hurtful exchange of words flashes across your mind over and over and over. You can’t seem to reset your inner replay. All the emotions that should have stayed in that room follow you everywhere you go. Hurt and anger continue to shout in your ears. Your heart rate is through the roof. Hot anger rises in your flushed face. The war is far from over.

Your inner screening room then begins playing out possible outcomes for a future exchange. You don’t really know what will happen, but your mind is already strategizing your next offensive in the war of words. Your emotions rise and fall with every imagined interaction. When you hurl an imagined barb at your intended target proud and triumphant vindictiveness rises to the surface. You feel all the emotions of a situation that hasn’t really happened and then you carry that resentment into the next conversation which turns into another altercation. Your emotions have become attached to an unreality. Nothing actually happened before you walked into the room. Do you truly want to spend your emotional energy on something that isn’t even real?