New Year, New Habits

TRANSCRIPT

 Welcome back to the Cultivate Women's Podcast. We are so excited to be talking about new Year stuff. I know that we're probably in the end of January, so it's not like exactly the new year, but this is where when we have set all these new goals and habits and or resolutions if that's what you wanna call them.

And then now you're feeling. , I don't know if these are working or maybe I missed a couple days. And I think that a lot of the times these goals and these habits and the things that we wanna pl like change come from a genuine place. They come from a place like within our heart of I want to do better at this, or I wanna do change my habits in this area.

I think that it all stems from a good place. But a lot of the time we don't have the proper. Strategy, like Sarah Beth's gonna talk about that. We don't have the proper resources, maybe resources or just things put in place to help us succeed. And so that's what we wanna talk about today.

Yeah. We wanna talk about some encouraging ways that you can be successful at these new habits or things that you're wanting to implement. And then just give you some Things that we've struggled with or we've done well with, or we've found success with. And that is kinda what we wanna talk about today.

And I think one of the biggest things like right now is like everyone starts a new Bible reading plan at the beginning of the year. And a lot of the times it's like the read your Bible in a year, like that's the goal. Yeah. Like, I've gotta read my, the whole Bible in one year. And I think that's an amazing goal.

Yes. That's super awesome and we're all really excited about it. But it doesn't always necessarily play out that way. Yeah,

totally. So let's get real for a second. . We're like, oh my gosh, I'm super advantageous. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna start off in January and by December 31st, man, I'm closing.

Page, and I've got it and I'm gonna know everything I need to know. Yeah. My faith's gonna be transformed, and that is definitely likely to happen if you read the whole Bible. I would definitely agree with that. Sure. But I am, I'm guilty. I'll just go ahead and raise my hand. I'll be the first one in the room.

I have definitely made out goals year after year to read the Bible in a year. And I've done everything from just saying I'm gonna open the first page and I'm starting at. You. And then and then I've tried the plans that are like the digital plans in the Bible app where it's okay, you're gonna read it chronologically and we're starting in Matthew Uhhuh,

And then all of a sudden you start reading, and I'm just gonna say it, you guys, we start reading and it's like the ancestor part, right? . It's like Adam was part of this and Eve was part of that and this was the mom of this and this was, and so was this. And and then I start reading it and I'm like, why am I.

What am I doing? What is this? And for me it's like I zone out. I don't mean to zone out. Yeah. It's just that I don't understand the relevancy. In some

of those names I'm like, how do you even say this  

like

this guy, I don't know. I do what in the

world. And those biblical names, catch you.

And then I'll get through, I'll force myself to read through that. Couple chapters. Yeah. And then it starts telling me a story, but then it's like relating to something else. And because maybe at the time I didn't have a theological background to understand what was going on.

Yeah. I just was like, okay, I'll just start reading the A Bible verse every day. I've done that. That's me, that's, I'm guilty of that. And I think all of us have been there. Yeah. Jordan, do you have, have you gotten through the whole Bible in a year? Have you done. ?

I have, yes.

I don't do it every year. But I have to say I've done it at least once. I probably maybe done it more than once, but I know I could say I've done it at least once. How'd you do it? I still fall into that too. Like I'll still fall into the, like I started and , I was like, sorry, there's a red light on the wall that wasn't there before.

No worries. Here you go. All.

Jordan, have you ever read through the Bible? Have you ever actually completed a plan? And if you did, how did you even do it? I just want all of the wisdom because yes, I've read through the Bible. I know every book. I get it. We sang the songs in ch in children's church, right? Sunday School is what we called it when I was a kid, but  Yeah.

I've read all of it. I know. Stand, and now I have a theological background, but as a listener here, like how have you done it? Give me all your

wisdom. I've done it at least once. I don't do it every year. It's definitely the, a goal to do that. Like I set out saying okay, I'm gonna follow a plan or whatever.

And like even this year I didn't do the whole Bible in a year, but it's the New Testament in three months or something. The first three or four months read the whole new Testa. Which I think is a little bit easier to do because it's when you get into that Old Testament that it's like you're going through Leviticus and you're like, what in the world where these laws and what is happening and you're not really, quite understanding.

But anyways, so I think for me, and it's something that we talk about at Passion Creek actually, and so it's something that Trey my husband has taught me. But it was more of setting a pace versus a.  like a goal. Yeah. So not like I'm gonna read five chapters today. That can seem like so overwhelming.

Yes. Depending on where you are in the Bible. Because if you're in the gospels, , they're 52 verses long each chapter. So you're like talking like 400 verses Yes. In your timeframe and like that. And maybe that's gonna take an hour, right? And maybe we don't have an hour in the mornings, or in the afternoons or in the evenings or whatever.

Is that time that you have? So for us, we have learned that that it's more about setting a pace or a time. Yes. So like I have this much time to devote to scripture at this time of day. Yes. So something that, like Trey says is pick a time, pick a place, and then pick a plan. So yes, it's important to follow a plan, but not in the way of You have to read all of this in one day.

You can look at that and it can be listed by days, but you know that like I'm just gonna read till the time's in. If I didn't, then I'll pick up where I left off the next day and I'll move forward. Because if we do it that way, I feel like we're less likely to get discouraged. Yeah. We're less likely to be like, oh my gosh, I didn't get through all the chapters.

Yes. Versus I sat down and I spent a solid 15 minutes reading scripture with the Lord.

And you can be proud of yourself. Absolutely. You're absolutely proud of yourself cuz you did it. Yes. And it's not that you didn't accomplish a goal, you did actually do something. You gave dedication, you gave time.

Yeah. You actually put into, on the paper, you, you read through the bible. The time and the place, and you've Yes. Completed that action. And I think

that reading the Bible in a year is like a worthy goal. Like I think that's amazing. But if you read 365 days this last year and you didn't make it through the whole Bible, Praise the Lord.

Amen. You got, you actually did read the Bible. You read the

Bible whole, the whole year, yes. So yes, it's okay to have that goal, but also don't hold so tightly to it that there's no wiggle room because when we don't leave ourselves wiggle room is when we can lead to that discouragement and that Feeling of this is pointless, or I'm never gonna get better, or I already missed two days and now it's over with or Right.

And sometimes it's you missed two days. Okay. Forget those two days. You jump forward four chapters or wherever it, yeah. It's okay. Like you can go back and read that again another time or  or whatever it is. Like we don't, it doesn't have to be so strict into the tea.

And I don't think that's what the Lord. The Lord knows our heart. He knows our desires. And if our desire is to truly open his word and to learn and to grow and to just genuinely just be in his presence, yes. Like he is gonna honor that 15 minutes over you trying to rush in five chapters in an hour.

And one thing that I started doing before I actually opened the Bible it, it might feel really weird at first, but just.  and be still. Yeah just be quiet. Don't look at your phone, don't listen to a song, don't do anything wherever your space is that you're gonna dedicate to actually reading. Whether that's the couch before the kids wake up.

Yeah. Whether that's, the edge of your bed before your husband wakes up. , whatever it is. Just stop and pause and allow the Lord to impact your heart. Allow him to speak to you. And sometimes when people say that I, when I was early on in my journey, I would always be like, so am I gonna hear him audibly?

What do you mean by that? But I feel like the, when the Lord speaks to us, you may all of a sudden it might feel heavy on your heart. My worth. I'm not honoring my. Yeah. In Jesus, and so then maybe if you don't know the Bible a hundred percent, you can just go over to Google and search.

Can you gimme a Bible verse or what book should I read? Yeah. If I want to hone in on my worth and what Jesus's truth is and take a minute to just pause before you read . Because I think it'll allow you to receive what God has to say for you and direct you where to actually go read. So if you are trying to read the.

every day of the year instead of all of it in one year. Yeah. You actually can know what God is wanting to talk to you about, and then pray on what you just read about. If you only got 15 minutes, read for 14. Pray for the last one . And really bring

it full circle. Yeah. And I think another thing that people struggle with is they feel like that the only way that it's.

Honorable to the Lord is if I'm sitting down and it's quiet and I've got my Bible open in front of me and while tho, those are all great things and it's definitely gonna be helpful and beneficial to have a quiet house in your physical Bible in front of you. I think I know where

this is going, , but that's not always gonna

happen.

It's not always gonna happen and that's okay. Like you've got young kids like maybe. You're playing it on your phone, the Bible's reading to you and you have it out loud while you're cooking your kids' breakfast. Yes. Because guess what? Not only are you hearing that, but your kids are hearing that. Amen.

Yeah. So it's like it doesn't have to be one way or it's forget it, I can never do this again. And maybe some mornings you're like, yeah, I can sit down and the kids are sleeping in for whatever reason and I have some extra time. Yeah. I'm going to do that. Yeah. Or it's oh my gosh, they were up at five and I don't know what to do with myself cause I didn't get my Bible reading done.

Like it can be so overwhelming and stressful if we think I have to have it done in this timeframe at this, specific thing. And I know again, I just said, pick a time, pick a place. But give yourself grace. Yeah. Have grace in that and know that not every day is going to go exactly the way you planned it to go.

Exactly. Like there are outside circumstances, there are things that goes on. , maybe a kid wakes up sick and  you've gotta keep them home instead of them going off to school and you having that time and so I think that there are different ways to do that. And the Bible, having the Bible read to you is, oh, I love that.

A really cool way. Yes. Maybe you commute to work. Yeah. And you've got a 45 minute drive, or you drive the kids to school, or you're driving the kids to school,

And you've got 10 minutes before you get there. Yes. But that's 10 minutes. That you're hearing the Bible, your kids are hearing the Bible.

Yes. And I think we wanna drive home more than anything, Jordan And I agree. There are no cultural norms on this podcast. So we wanna share with you lots of ways that you can actually listen to the Bible. You can read the Bible, you can pick a podcast like this one to listen to, right? And find something that really resonates with you.

Yeah.

And you had mentioned I'm going to Google if you're like, not sure if you're early in your faith and you're like, I don't even know where to start.  Or, I don't even know. And I think Google's a great option. Yeah. But also know that like you can message us on Instagram. Yeah. Go to our Instagram page, like maybe you don't have someone.

Who is further along in their faith than you? Or like maybe you're just like, you're just brand new to this space and you're not quite sure like who to go to. Or like maybe you attend a church where the pastor seems a little far off and you can't feel like you can't just grab it, walk up and grab him and say, Hey, like, where do I start?

Yeah. Yep. So know that like we are always there as a resource for you. Yeah, both. Through the podcast recording, but we will be on Instagram, send us a dm, Yeah. Any of those things. And we would love to chat with you, send you resources and that is the reason for this space.

Yes. For our Instagram page, for our podcast. All of that is we want it to be beneficial and helpful to you. So if you ever have . Oh. I just really, I don't know. And I don't know who to go to, know that SarahBeth and I are there and we are behind that screen. Yes. And we would love to pour into you and give you tips, resources, or anything like

that.

And it's a safe space, yeah. We are not here in, in a judgment way at all. Like I said, cultural norms don't exist with us. Yeah. We're here to be open, transparent, and to help you in your journey. If you just started believing in Jesus yesterday, We're here for you. Yeah. We wanna be there for you in that journey and give you tips on the, on where to go and where to be.

And I know that as someone who's always been interested in personal growth and development, I have enjoyed setting new goals and habits for myself at the start of the year. So to all of you, that started out 2023, this, I just wanna give you a huge hug, obviously virtual, but I want to give you a huge hug in that I believe that the start of a new year is a great opportunity to be reflecting on what we want to achieve and positive changes in our life.

But I've also learned that it's important to approach goal setting with humility. Yeah. And that the genuine change, or just a genuine desire for change that you talked. Jordan it, it's important because it's easy to get caught up in the hype of New Year's resolutions. Yeah. And to set these like unrealistic goals for ourselves, I'm gonna lose 50 pounds.

Do you know how hard it's to lose 50 pounds? Oh my gosh. Seriously? Do you know hard? It's to lose five, five pounds. Seriously. Let's down a level. People just set these goals and it's holy cow. And I've read a lot of books and. Several books that I've read, they talk about when people set goals.

It can, it's so exciting when you reach it, right? Yeah. You get this like dopamine high, right? And if you don't know much about what that means in the human brain, I encourage you to look it up because it's actually pretty incredible how our brain reacts and responds to different things. Yeah. And What I've learned is that and this is not something that I personally thought of there's a book that I've read Atomic Habits, and I'm reading it actually a second time right now.

Yeah. And it's fantastic. I listened to it the first time that I quote unquote read it, but now I'm actually reading it. And I like that because when I'm actually reading it, I see the figures. But when you listen to an audible Right, you can't really see all the pictures. But in this book, it talks about setting a strategy over setting a goal.

Yeah. And. I wanna speak to that for a minute. When you set a strategy like, Hey, I am going to do I wanna lose 10 pounds. Yeah. Let's just say that was our goal. Okay. Let's say I'm like, oh my gosh, I wanna lose 10 pounds, but I didn't lose 10 pounds. Then I feel defeated. , I stopped doing whatever.

If I was walking every day. If I was eating right for a week and a half, if I was had an accountability partner for two weeks, whatever it. Stopping it, right? Yeah. Because I didn't get my 10 pounds lost. Totally. Yeah. In the seven days that I tried. And so what I wanna try to think about for a second is instead of saying, gosh, I didn't lose 10 pounds, I want you to think about what your strategy was.

And I want you to say that every strategy instead was a goal. So if I wanna lose 10 pounds, I wanna start walking every day for 15 minutes. Yeah. Great. 15 minutes is 15. That's 15 minutes more than you were doing last week, right? Yeah. If I walk 15 minutes today, I'm gonna be proud of myself today.

I'm proud of myself that I took the step today. That gives your brain something to be honored about, something to light up that dopamine in your brain and give you that good sense of feeling. I accomplished this. Yeah. And one way that I try to take my strategy for everything that I want to accomplish is sometimes I'll take a picture and I'll throw it on my story on Instagram, and not because I want to in a haughty way.

Boastful way. I want to tell people what I'm doing, but I wanna hold myself accountable. If I don't post that, I went walking today and I didn't go walking, then I'm gonna be like, you know what? I can go walk for 15 minutes. Come on. So I wanna talk about some strategies that you guys can start doing now to get yourself to the goal you want to reach.

And I'm gonna talk about five of them. Yeah. But I'm gonna give you guys the names of these and then. To encourage you to go look 'em up if you can. Yeah, absolutely. And if you're not interested in looking 'em up, that's totally cool. If you wanna learn more about them on our Instagram, we're gonna throw up some stories about some information on these.

Yeah. And these might help you as you get through to figuring out what your goals are gonna be. Hey, if January was a busy month and you just wanted to take down Christmas stuff and you didn't get to make any goals. Yeah, let's make February. So let's start it fresh. So here's a few things, a few strategy planning methods, if you will, and you can pick, one or two of them that you wanna know about Smart goals.

If you're in business, and you're listening to this, you've probably heard of these before. The method involves setting specific, so s for specific, M for measurable. A for achievable, R for relevant, and then T for time bound goals, it helps ensure that your goals are clear, actionable, and they can help increase the chances of actually achieving them.

So I wanna host a family for dinner one time a week or one time a month to serve those in my church community. How can I do this and not go over budget on a meal or worry that my house isn't perfect enough for hosting? Yeah, okay. I've been guilty of that. I love to host people at my house. Yeah. If you live in Arizona, you're coming over.

Yeah. But for me, I want everything to be so perfect and not because I want people to think that I'm super perfect. It's because I literally want people to just feel blessed when they walked in. Yeah. And if I think that my house has something that it shouldn't have, I immediately feel bad. I immediately.

Oh my gosh, my house isn't perfect enough for someone. So the smart goals is a great way to lay out what you want to do. And then the second one is the Wheel of Life. This method involves identifying different areas of your life, such as health, relationships, maybe motherhood or parenting, and setting goals in that area.

It helps ensure that you're working towards a well-rounded and balanced life. Then there's the O K R method. The method involves setting objectives, like what you wanna do and key results, how you wanna measure your progress. It helps you ensure that your goals are aligned with your overall vision and that you have clear benchmarks for measuring your progress.

And then the fourth one is called the five whys, and I actually really, really love. This one. The method involves asking why five times to get to the root cause of the problem or the challenge that you can't get through. So if you made yourself a goal and you can't achieve it, you can actually go through and ask yourself.

Five, ask yourself why five times. This will help you identify underlying issues that are preventing you from achieving it and allowing you to come up with a plan for addressing them like working. Eating better, reading the Bible consistently. Ask yourself why Five times and then you'll figure out why you're not doing it.

Like why didn't I do it this morning? I was really busy. Okay but why were you really busy? Okay. I was really busy because I had a meeting at eight o'clock and I didn't prepare for it. Okay, but why didn't you prepare for it? Because I was really stressed out the day before because my schedule's too full.

Okay. Why was your schedule too full? . My schedule was too full because I didn't actually plan out my schedule and I was just trying to get done whatever I could get done. Okay. Why did you do that? Because I didn't wanna take the time to make a schedule because I didn't think I had time to make a schedule.

Okay. The root cause is that you're not planning your day yeah. So that the five why's is a great method. And then the last one is the growth mindset approach. The mindset involves adopting a growth mindset. That, which means seeing challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning.

It can help you stay motivated and persistent as you work towards your goals. So those are just five little options. We're gonna talk more about them on our Instagram, so definitely head over there. Yeah. We'll mention a few resources and some links so you guys can get in there. But Jordan, what do you think about different strategies?

People could start now if they didn't make a goal in the new year, or if they did and they're really. Whatever that goal is. Like what could they be doing that could help them start fresh now? Hey, we're at the end of January. Let's get February rocket and rolling.

Yeah, I think definitely. I love you touched, it's so much on mindset too.

It's like having that, like you can't have that mindset that . Oh, we can only set new goals in January. Like it is not a first of the year kind of thing. Yes. Like this is not oh I forgot I'm halfway through January, up the end of January, or the beginning of February, and I didn't set those goals, or I didn't work at them like just next year, 2024 I used to have a whole year ahead of you.

Yes. So I think having that mindset, , it doesn't matter if it's the start of a year or start of a month, the start of a week. Like you can set new goals and new like habits at any time. So don't hold yourself back. Don't put yourself in a box of oh, I missed my opportunity. Create those opportunities and know that  that it's okay. Who cares what so and so over there is doing. Who cares if she was successful? Cheer on. That's amazing. Yes. But don't compare. It doesn't change yourself. Exactly. Yes. To them. And that's the other thing is don't compare.

Yes. I think that it's cool to watch other people and be like, oh that's an amazing goal that she set, , maybe I wanna adopt that and tweak it so it fits in my life. Yes. But not in a way that like I am holding myself accountable to her and her standard and how she's doing it. Yes. If

that makes sense.

Totally makes sense. Do you have a suggestion on like small, something small, someone could start now maybe you were really trying to read the Bible in a year like we talked about Yeah. In the beginning of this episode. And maybe that's something that you can't quite grasp right now.

Are there some other ideas you have of what someone could start now that maybe is just something small that they could start with?

Yeah, so if you, so obviously a Bible reading plan is always like a good goal. And so whether and we talked, we touched on that one. But I think also, like there, there are a few other things that I've done that I found helpful.

Like a prayer journal. And so that's like having a specific journal that is set aside for for just that for prayers. And so that's writing those downs. And I think that a lot of the times when we write our prayers down, like it keeps us more focused. I feel like it's easy to get sidetracked when you're praying.

If you're, Walking through the house and you're like, or I'm doing laundry, or whatever it is. And like you see something on the floor and you're like, oh, I gotta go pick that up. Or I gotta throw that away. Or Oh that. And then, and like your mind just jumps and jumps Yes. Oh my gosh, I need to do that.

And that the

ADHD

and all of us . Yes. And so like I think that writing them down helps us stay focused. Yes. And make it through what we're trying to say. Cuz we're actively. , like writing that out. And then the other really cool thing about those is that you have that, like you, you wrote that down and Six months from now, you see the Lord working and something happens and you're like, oh my gosh. Like I prayed for that on January 6th, 2022, 2023. And like you're able to like reference back and it gives you this This gratitude and this thankfulness yes to the Lord to be like, wow. Like he provided and he was there and he was listening and maybe it didn't happen in my timeline and the way that I wanted, or how quickly I wanted an answer to this specific prayer.

But it allows you to see God's hand and his goodness and his faithfulness over the journey of. Your life over the journey of your

year. Yeah, I have a question about that. A lot of times I'll talk about prayer journals with people and they'll be like I think that's a great idea, but what if someone else reads this?

So I'm not gonna write. Like truly what I'm authentically thinking about, because what if I die tomorrow and someone has to read my prayer journal? And there was something in there that I did not want them to know about, that I was praying about, because it's embarrassing, I've been there, I've been that girl that's okay, so I'm gonna write this prayer out, but I'm gonna write it super professional and I'm gonna be like, dear Jesus, , and. Start writing exactly what I think God wants me to hear. Yeah. In the most prayerful way. And it's so elegant and so perfect. But I think I would love for you to share with me, like being authentic. Like how can I be authentic in writing in my prayer journal? Like I feel like that's something we don't talk about.

We're like, write your prayers out, but like, what if I just don't wanna tell the. I know. You know what I mean? I It's hard. It's, as a female, we're like, someone's gonna judge me. You

know? And I think that like knowing, like this is like you're having a conversation with the Lord. This is like I'm sitting across from Sarah Beth and I'm having a conversation with her and that is how God wants us to talk to him.

He wants us, like he is our father. He is our friend. Like he wants us to just have this genuine connection and conversation with him because he knows it all anyways. Yeah. Like he , he knows your inner thoughts. , he knows the things that you struggle with. He knows the sins that you haven't yet confessed or, like that you're just struggling through.

Yes. He knows all of that anyways. And while maybe the people around you don't know that I think that he. You for being genuine, authentic, and honest

with him. And I guess if we died tomorrow, our friends are gonna give us some grace. Whoever's gonna be

that. And it's like, like, is it gonna really matter if I'm with Jesus?

Exactly.

I'm in heaven. Thanks. By  I'm getting my new body. Yes.  And I didn't have to lose 10 pounds literally. And it's gonna be perfect. So yeah, I love that. Thank. Making that truth even to me, I just need that encouragement to know that like I can be truly myself. Yeah. Even when I'm filling out a prayer journal.

Yeah. And that journal, if you need to tie it with a leather strap and Right. Hide it under, hide under your mattress. Mattress. Yeah. Hide under your mat. Whatever you gotta do it. But the freeing nature of putting onto paper Yes. And letting it out of your soul. Just like giving it to Jesus, surrendering it all.

You will feel so much better. Yeah, I know personally. Absolutely. I have felt better just getting it out. It's not silly to write it. It's not silly to write a prayer. Even if you are a new believer and you're like, this feels lame. I promise. Do it once, then do it a second time. Yeah. Then do it a third time and just do that for yourself.

Even if it's just letting it out, do it for yourself. Write a letter to Jesus. Let him know what you're thinking. That's all a prayer is, right? Yeah. Writing

a letter to. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that maybe you're someone who, like you, I'm a pen and paper kind of girl. Like I have a journal that is a planner that is like physical paper planner that I fill out.

Love that. This is what I'm doing. I love it. This is my day . But I know some of you are like, Nope, I've gotta have it all on my eye calendar and like Google Calendar, whatever it is, . And so I'm sure there are. Programs or like even, probably even notion, if you guys have, we're not even gonna get into Notion, cuz we could we'll

get into that later.

We'll do three podcasts on that .

But I'm sure you could create like a space where you're typing out your prayers. Yes. And if you're more like technological, that's what you wanna do. Do it. And if you're afraid someone's gonna read it. I'm sure there's a way you can encrypt it in there is,

there's a password on the notes app.

You have to be protected, you

know? Yep, that's right. So it's like there. You're good, but Yep. It's just the actual, like you said, of like actually doing it. Yes. And there is something so freeing about speaking or writing or however that is out loud or on paper. We bring our, when we bring our sin or our struggles or our fears into the light is when we can see.

either. Wow. It's not that big of a deal. Like something that I was terrified over. Yeah. It's when you bring it out of the darkness and into the light, you're like, it's not a big deal.  you bring your sin out of the darkness and into the light like the Lord gives you. And I'm not to say this is always gonna happen and we're gonna have struggles and there's gonna be sins that we are reoccurring in it, in its process because we are human and we're gonna struggle.

But it's, you're gonna struggle less. I feel like I can confidently say, you're gonna struggle. If you.  bring that sin to light. Yes. Versus keeping it hidden in the darkness. You

may still struggle. Yeah. But I think even Jordan, when you're speaking to, you will experience, an element of less pain in some realm.

I think the reason that maybe you're saying that is because now you have a partner, Jesus is with you and you feel a peace of mind knowing that. , our Lord and Savior actually is with me. He's protecting me through this. Yeah. I don't have to have as much anxiety. I don't have to have as much worry. A prayer journal.

Start it now. Yeah. Start it now because you have 11 more months of this year, right? That you are going to go through trials you don't even know anything about yet. And that's not to be a discouragement, but I wanna encourage you to have that journal so that you have an outlet. Yeah. If you.

Significant other. If you have a husband, if you, or if you're a man and you're listening to this welcome Yes. And you have a fe, a woman, a wife in your life and you can share with them, that is also great. Yeah. But the way that the Lord provides for you is so different that un gosh, how do you even say it?

That, that unedited love that, that. All knowing, all, seeing, all believing love that he gives to you is something that you, that there's no comparison to that. So we definitely wanna be an encourager for you to start that. Jordan, do you have any other ideas on things that we could do for, just a goal we can start now?

Yeah.

Yeah, a couple more. I think joining. , A Bible study group is always a it's a good accountability. So it's like if you're saying like, I wanna do that Bible plan, but maybe I am never a successful at or , I struggle , get yourself some accountability. Find 2, 3, 4 friends who are like, Hey, let's all do this plan together.

Yeah. And whether that means like you're meeting up in person once a month or every couple of weeks, or however that looks. FaceTiming over once a week or, whatever that is. Find someone or a couple women to do that with. Because I think when you do that, you're able to like, understand and see scripture from different points of view.

because the Lord, like while scripture itself never changes, like the Lord speaks and reveals different things to different people while they're reading. And so I feel like I could read a passage and come away with something and then you could read that same passage and you may come away with something different.

And it'd be like to be able to share that and be like, I love that. Wow. Look, I didn't look at that way. Or maybe I didn't understand the meaning of that word or what he meant in that sentence. And you did. And so yeah, where when you're able to Have a group of women or people that you're able to like, share your thoughts with, share how the Lord is working in your life or through those verses like y you're able to grasp scripture from a more rounded point.

Yeah. Rounded point of view. Yeah. you're getting different takes on it. Are

there resources that we have that we can share with our listeners on like joining a group, even local here at Queen Creek, Arizona? What are some ways that women can find a group? Because I think that's scary, right?

Yeah. It's gosh, how, where do I know how, if I were to type, join a Bible study group, I'm gonna get a million ads on Google, right? But what can I do to. Find a place? What's my

resources there? Yeah, I think your first and foremost should be like, seek out something within your local church.

So whatever, wherever you are, whatever church that is that you attend whether that is like talking to leadership and saying Hey, do you guys have a women's Bible study that meets, or do you have is there a women's ministry? A lot of the times, like there are women's ministries at churches.

That they provide that so cultivate our Women's Ministry of Passion Creek. We have done bible studies before and it was like there was a book that we got from.  she reads truth, which is a really helpful resource that they do bible studies that you can purchase either on the app or on like the physical copy.

They'll mail you a physical copy of it. But we have done that and it's like every Saturday morning, like through the next two months everyone's meeting at my house and we're gonna , watch a video love, or we're gonna read a scripture. So I feel like a women's ministry is a really helpful resource.

So whatever your local church is like talking to leadership of some sort. Yeah. Leadership and asking. . And then like places like she reads truth. Yeah. They have like studies that they go through, so they're like, okay, we're going through this book. So you can buy it and you can follow along.

And there's an entire

online community, online community that's

going through it. You can type in your questions and you can type in whatever. And there's discussion and back and forth. Yeah. And that's more like big skill, like not local, like where you're gonna get that like face-to-face.

And I think there's a place for both of that. Absolutely. That's okay if you're starting out and you're just like, maybe I'm, maybe you're new to church. Yeah. And you like, haven't really made those relationships yet. But you don't wanna wait to get started. You can go through the avenue and that's totally fine and that's great.

Yeah. But don't just use that as a way of

I'll just do this instead of going to my church. Because you're missing out. Yes. Don't you think that there's something super special about being in community with the women locally, right? Yeah. And I think it just popped in my head as you were talking, but let's say, maybe you're a new believer or maybe you're seasoned and you're like, gosh, My church doesn't have anything. You can be the leader, right? Yeah. Like you can start something, right? Go on Facebook. There's a million moms groups, women's groups, million chats. You can, Hey, I live in Queen Creek, Arizona, and I'd like to start, yeah, a women's Bible study once every, I wanna do it once. A one Saturday a month. Yeah. Whatever. , start off easy. Don't commit yourself to every week. That's terrifying, right? Yes, . Yes, that's right. That's right. You don't have to be like a lead pastor at your house, . And you can start it. You can be the one that starts it.

Absolutely. And I know at Passion Creek we even have groups that, your whole family can go to. Yeah. We have together groups and all these great things. , so there's a lot of resource. Here locally in Queen Creek, Arizona. If you're here, we'd love to see ya. But there's also ways that you can actually be a leader in your own hometown, city, state, whatever it is.

Yeah. And just start small Bible study groups can be you and one other person. That's all it takes, right? That's a group . Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. I think so often in, in so much in life, we sit back and we wait. Especially friendships, we'll probably get. But I feel like that is a huge barrier in friendships.

, because we sit back and be like she didn't reach out to me and she didn't make an effort. She didn't . But did you? You can't, yes. You can't sit back and expect everyone to come to us. We have lives if you wanna have a relationship. Yeah. , everyone's busy and everyone busy.

Everyone has everything going on. Not to get off onto that topic. I know we won't

get there. We'll get there later. We'll get there later. , yes, but that is the point. It's like you can't be that leader, be the person that starts the Bible study group. If you want it, if you desire it, do it. God is speaking to you.

If you are listening to this and you're like, gosh, you know what? I really wanna be in a Bible study group. That's God speaking to your heart. He is. He is paving the way. He is telling you that you need this, you need something. So listen to that. In my opinion, don't be afraid

to be a leader. Yeah,

absolutely.

Absolutely.

I'm sure there's other women that are like,  that are thinking the same thing you're thinking and no one's just

stepping up to do it. Yeah. And maybe they're thinking it like, gosh, I wish a leader would reach out to me, . Exactly. So be the leader and reach out to your friend. Cool.

Yeah. Just a couple more ideas that we have had is service projects are always really a really cool thing to get into.

And that can be as little as Going and serving that. If a local food pantry or , a homeless shelter or serving breakfast on a Saturday morning or whatever that is depending on where you live. I don't think we really have we have a food pantry here in Queen Creek, but our po our homeless population isn't huge.

So there's not a, you

can go to the library and read books to kids. Yeah. So there's a million things you can

do and those things out and that, so it can be something in as little as that up to. , literally sign up for your church's next mission trip. Like, where's your church going in the summer?

Maybe you've never been out of the country. Maybe that terrifies you. Do it. Do it. Do it like put yourself like step outta your comfort zone. Yep. And it is insane the growth that can happen on a mission trip. Yes. When you step out of.  America and the comforts that we are used to living with and go to a country, whether it's whether it's like a known country that like, has all the amazing, like I went to Puerto

Rico, and I've never been more uncomfortable in my whole entire life, but I never had a better time in my whole life.

And I think that, a service project. , it'll teach you that yes, you're gonna be uncomfortable, but it's gonna put make you uncomfortable so that you can find the beauty in it. Yes. And so a service project is an amazing way for you to show your time, your talents, your health. Yes. You can even incorporate this in your life by just doing a little bit of research.

And we'll talk about this on our Instagram too, just different service projects you can have things we find out locally. Yeah. And nationally that you can get involved in. . Yeah. We actually have one coming up for passion Creek for our church. We are, we did what last year and we're doing it again this year and we run a soccer camp.

So we have a mission team that's actually coming from Tennessee and they're bringing a whole crew here and we are gonna set up at the middle school soccer fields and it's gonna be so cool. All the kids from kindergarten up through. , I don't even know. Middle school or high school. Yeah. But you sign your kid up and they get to come and just learn soccer, and then we do Bible studies and learn about Jesus, yeah. And so if you're like, oh, I wanna help with that, like I'm gonna go and I'm gonna do the Bible study for that day, or I'm gonna help Run around and grab soccer balls for the kids or Yeah, bring water, like whatever it's waters for the kids. Yeah. Those are little things that that help your local church or your leadership in ways that like, you think oh, that's not that big of a deal.

Like it's just snacks. So Yeah. But it's one less thing that they have to think through or they have to figure out. And yeah, definitely like turning to your local church and figuring out Yeah, what are ways. You guys are serving the community and how can I be a part of it? I love that.

I love that.

And then the last one that we had was personal spiritual growth. So this is like setting goals to focus on your own spiritual life. Such as participating in a retreat, attending conferences create a plan on how you'll make time to incorporate these activities in your life. So these are things that are outside of your normal routines and habits like your normal rhythms of like scripture reading and fasting and Sabbath thing and all of those things. Like what is something that's going to take my spiritual growth to the next level? What's gonna push me outside of my comfort zone and allow me to grow in a different way?

And so we've had, over the years at our church personally, we've had spiritual formation retreats where we get a group of eight to 10. , it's a 12 adults, and we head up to a cabin up in the woods, and we are just learning and growing and being vulnerable and opening up with our struggles and just really just walking.

We're walking life together. . And it pulls you outside your comfort zone and it allows you an opportunity to, one, to actually open up and to create relationships with people that maybe you didn't see on it. You don't interact with them every Sunday. Yeah. And so it's you're like, oh, wow.

Okay, we have this in common, in this common, and you build those new friendships. But it's also a way of of building community and like doing life together. Cause that's, that is the Bible preach. That's God wants. That's God's goal for us. Yeah. Yes. Is to have that community where we are open and learning and growing and the focus is solely on him through all of that.

I love that. That's awesome. . No, I mean I think that, yeah that, those are just come some of the ways that we both in like spiritual versus like you touched on some just like more business-minded or growth minded. Yeah so those are just some of the things that we had come up with of ways.

That you can take and you can incorporate those in how, in, in your planning for absolutely new goals and new habits throughout this year. Thank you so much for joining us on the Cultivate Podcast as we discuss the importance of building strategy for our New Year's resolutions. We hope that these strategies and ideas have been helpful and that you feel empowered to start working towards your goals now, or even starting new goals right now.

February's almost here. We're ready to get going. Remember, it's never too late to start cultivating positive changes in your life and building a foundation for success and your faith. We humbly encourage you to start now and not scrap at what hasn't worked in the. Until next time, keep striving towards growth and don't be afraid to seek guidance and support as you work towards your goals.

God bless you guys in your journey.