Hey there, do you ever feel like your New Year's goals fall flat, despite your best intentions? Like, you set these grand resolutions, but somewhere along the way, you lose steam and fall back into old habits?
This week on the Nourished to Bloom podcast (episode 40, by the way!), we dive into this exact struggle through the inspiring story of Mary and her 'yes' during the Annunciation.
⚠️ Spoiler alert: Mary had her doubts and fears too, but she made a choice that changed everything for humanity!
Here's the thing that resonated with me the most...
Mary's yes wasn't just a passive agreement—it was a powerful, faith-filled decision that opened doors for God's work in her life. 🌟
Think about it—how often do we set goals that don't align with a deeper purpose or calling? Maybe we focus on surface-level resolutions without considering how they can help us grow closer to the Lord.
Here's the magic: By focusing on goals that align with God's will, we invite Him to work in our lives in profound ways.
It's like tuning your heart to God's frequency—the more you say yes to His plans, the more aligned you become with His transformative power.
What You'll Find This Week on the Nourished to Bloom Podcast Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect to hear inside Episode 40 of the Nourished to Bloom Podcast:
🌿 How to set spiritually aligned goals for the New Year
🙏 The significance of Mary's yes during the Annunciation
📖 How scripture can guide us in goal-setting and decision making
💪 Embracing the discomfort of deeper transformation
✨ Examples of small, everyday yeses that lead to big spiritual growth
Closing Thoughts Friend, your yes can open doors you never imagined. Even if it feels a bit scary, remember that God is right there with you, guiding you.
This week, let's challenge ourselves to set goals that aren't just about worldly success but are truly aligned with God's will for our lives.
Ready to say yes?
Next Steps:
Join the Faith Led Food Freedom Coaching Program - A 10 Week Christ-Centered Journey to Align Your Life Goals with God's Will. Learn more and register at https://www.karatrochta.com/faithlife Book your FREE Goal Setting Session at https://calendly.com/karatrochta/goalsetting Join the 7 Day Faith-Led Wellness Challenge: www.challenge.karatrochta.com Nourished to Bloom Community: https://community.karatrochta.com/spaces/8590323/list Nourished to Bloom Show Notes: https://nourishedtobloom.com Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karatrochta/
Join The Nourished to Bloom Community: www.community.karatrochta.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/karatrochta
The Nourished to Bloom Podcast Show Notes: www.podcast.karatrochta.com/shownotes
00:00:00
Year always has us thinking about the New Year and what goals
00:00:04
we're going to set or what our focus will be in this
00:00:07
upcoming New year. And honestly, for
00:00:11
most of us, our goals are very surface level things.
00:00:14
They're things that we think that we can control or
00:00:18
accomplish on our own. They may seem
00:00:22
like they're difficult or challenging, but the reality is
00:00:25
that we probably know how we're going to potentially achieve
00:00:29
that goal, but yet we somehow always manage to fall
00:00:33
short of really achieving that New Year's goal or that
00:00:37
New Year's resolution. But today I really want to ask you this
00:00:40
question of how these goals that
00:00:44
you're kind of flushing out right now, how these goals
00:00:47
will help you grow closer to the Lord? How
00:00:51
will they help you become holy and
00:00:55
live a life of sanctity? These questions
00:00:59
can really help you really be able to align this specific goal
00:01:03
with the Lord and allow him to work with you on
00:01:06
this goal. Or they may actually be an
00:01:10
indication that you need a new goal all
00:01:14
together, one that isn't focused so much on worldly success
00:01:17
or achievements, but one that will really cause a
00:01:21
deeper, longer lasting transformation.
00:01:26
But that can be scary. And I know that. So today
00:01:30
we're really going to look at the example that
00:01:33
Mama Mary gives us in the Annunciation, how
00:01:37
her yes to the Lord, her fee, her fiat
00:01:41
can help us as we discern what the Lord is really
00:01:44
calling us to say yes to in the new year. So in
00:01:48
today's episode, we're going to take some time to look a little
00:01:51
closer at this story that's announcing the impending birth of
00:01:55
our Savior and how Mary's yes really changed
00:01:59
the course of the of the whole human history and how
00:02:03
we can use her example, her attitude, her posture,
00:02:07
to really be able to embrace a
00:02:10
deeper transformation as we set goals
00:02:14
for the new year. Welcome to the Nourish to Bloom podcast, where
00:02:18
your faith meets your health. I'm your host, Cara Tracta, a
00:02:22
registered dietitian and certified Catholic coach, and I'm here to help you
00:02:25
cultivate a deeper connection with your body, your spirit, and the
00:02:29
nourishment that sustains them both. In a world filled
00:02:32
with noise and confusion about food, health and body
00:02:36
image, this podcast offers truth and healing from a Christ centered
00:02:40
perspective. Together, we'll untangle the deep roots of diet
00:02:43
culture and discover what it means to truly care for
00:02:47
ourselves through joyful nourishment of mind, body and
00:02:50
soul. We're here to dive into the transformative. Power of intuitive eating
00:02:54
coupled with the. Rich teachings of our Christian faith. With every
00:02:58
episode, I'll be cheering you on, offering insights, inspiration,
00:03:02
and practical tools to help you heal your relationship with
00:03:05
food and embrace the beauty of your body as a temple of the
00:03:09
Holy Spirit with confidence and courage that
00:03:13
can. Only be found in Christ. Join me as we journey together
00:03:16
towards a more holistic approach to wellness, one that honors the
00:03:20
wisdom of your body as God's creation, the teachings of our
00:03:24
faith, and the unique purpose you're called to fulfill.
00:03:27
You were made to bloom, to come into
00:03:31
full beauty and health in order to bear good fruit for the Lord with your
00:03:35
life. So if you're ready to nourish your body, feed your soul,
00:03:39
and bloom into the best version of yourself, then you're in the right place. And
00:03:42
I'm so happy you're here. Welcome to Nourish to
00:03:46
Bloom, where every day is a sacred invitation to
00:03:49
thrive. Hey there. Welcome back to another episode of the
00:03:53
Nourish to Bloom podcast. So happy to be here with
00:03:57
you this week. I have to admit
00:04:00
I, you know, in talking about some of the things we've talked about in the
00:04:04
previous episodes, kind of like, you know, the self care and
00:04:07
just really kind of like what I needed this
00:04:11
Advent season and it's really just been to slow
00:04:14
down and really kind of savor things a little bit more.
00:04:18
And one of the things that I find myself really kind of slowing down and
00:04:22
savoring a little bit more is scripture, which is 100% a
00:04:26
good thing. But here, lately and recently, I think
00:04:30
kind of over the last few months, there's the.
00:04:33
The Lord has really been, I think, calling me deeper into
00:04:38
study and better understanding of Mary and,
00:04:42
and her womanhood, her motherhood, and how she
00:04:45
could really be a good example and
00:04:50
a good friend and kind of someone to lean on in my own
00:04:53
journeys of womanhood and motherhood. And it's just
00:04:57
funny because I'll get into this, but there's no
00:05:01
coincidences with God. Right. But it's just funny when we have those little
00:05:04
God winks things that kind of pop up throughout our week, that you kind of
00:05:08
start connecting all these little dots and you can just really see
00:05:12
in a very tangible and practical and concrete way
00:05:16
how the Lord is, is working
00:05:20
and moving in my life. And for whatever
00:05:24
reason, I really felt moved to really focus on the
00:05:27
enunciation in today's podcast episode and
00:05:31
just looking at that story a little bit deeper and just looking at Mary's.
00:05:35
Yes. And really sharing with you this
00:05:38
invitation to study her posture and to study her
00:05:42
attitude and how we can use her. Yes. And
00:05:45
as an example for goal setting and
00:05:49
really thinking about what it is that we're trying to discern and what it is
00:05:52
that we're trying to maybe change or focus on
00:05:56
in the new year. And what's funny is when I
00:06:00
really kind of latched onto this, all these little things started to
00:06:04
fall in place for the podcast. And just some things I wanted to. Share and
00:06:08
even right before recording this, I got this. I,
00:06:12
I ordered some Bible tabs for my Bible
00:06:16
to better easily, you know, find the different books of the
00:06:20
Bible. And they're, they're beautiful. They are
00:06:23
this beautiful navy blue and they have some gold lettering and they have these
00:06:27
really pretty flowers on there and you know, with bloom wellness and everything. You
00:06:31
know how attached I am to kind of these images with flowers
00:06:34
and in the garden and everything. But the,
00:06:38
the kind of name that this particular designer gave
00:06:42
for these Bible tabs was
00:06:45
Mary's garden. And in the little
00:06:49
kind of insert that she sent
00:06:53
with these Bible tabs, it has kind of like the alignment thing on there and
00:06:56
like an a how to. But she, on this little,
00:07:00
the sheet, she has it titled, you know, Mary's Guarding Catholic Bible
00:07:03
Tabs. But she includes this little quote from
00:07:07
Pope Benedict XVI on there. And I just think it
00:07:11
was so
00:07:15
necessary maybe that I opened this before I
00:07:19
started this podcast episode because it centers around Mary.
00:07:22
And this quote says that in the Magnificat, we see how
00:07:26
completely at home Mary is with the word of God.
00:07:30
She speaks and thinks with the Word of God. The Word of
00:07:34
God becomes her word. And her word issues from the word
00:07:37
of God. Here we see how her thoughts are attuned to the
00:07:41
thoughts of God, how her will is one with the
00:07:45
will of God. And just thought it was so beautiful, especially as we
00:07:48
think about New Year's resolutions and goal setting and how
00:07:52
really some things that really stuck out was like how completely at
00:07:56
home Mary is with the Word of God. Like I think we can all
00:08:00
kind of envision what that would look like, that kind of this feeling that it
00:08:04
would bring if we were so at home with the
00:08:08
Word of God and that we were so attuned with his
00:08:11
words, that it became our words, that it became
00:08:15
our thoughts and how our will becomes
00:08:19
his will. And I think that's really ultimately the goal for
00:08:22
so many of us to really embark and
00:08:26
embrace in living this Christ centered life. And
00:08:30
so I just wanted to share that quote because I think it just embodies really
00:08:34
this, this message that I
00:08:37
feel I'm called to share today. And so I Want to start
00:08:41
off by reading the the account of the Annunciation
00:08:45
From Luke, chapter 1, verse 26 through 38.
00:08:49
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of
00:08:52
Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose
00:08:56
name was. Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was
00:09:00
Mary. And he came to her and said. Hail, full of grace,
00:09:03
the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the. Saying and
00:09:07
considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the
00:09:11
angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
00:09:14
found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in
00:09:18
your. Womb and bear a son. And you shall call him Jesus.
00:09:22
He will be great, and he will. Be called the Son of the Most High.
00:09:25
And the Lord God will give to. Him the throne of his Father
00:09:28
David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his
00:09:32
kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how
00:09:36
can this be since I have no husband? And the angel said to
00:09:40
her, the. Holy Spirit will come upon you, and. The power of the Most High
00:09:43
will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called
00:09:47
holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth,
00:09:51
in her. Old age has also conceived a son. And this is the
00:09:55
sixth month of her who was called barren. For with God
00:09:58
nothing will be impossible. And Mary said, behold,
00:10:02
I am the. Handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your
00:10:06
word. And the angel departed from her.
00:10:10
Just want to take a minute and oh
00:10:14
wow, so many things stuck out. I came across
00:10:17
this study on the mysteries of the Rosary and
00:10:21
it starts with the Annunciation. And I want
00:10:25
to now read this reflection on the Annunciation
00:10:29
because I think it's so profound and powerful to really take
00:10:33
this account of the Annunciation, the account of the
00:10:36
angel Gabriel visiting Mary. And just so many
00:10:40
things happened and that little bit of the encounter, so many emotions, so
00:10:43
many words were exchanged. And I just want to take a moment to share this
00:10:47
reflection. It was written by
00:10:50
Laura Kelly Fanussi. I
00:10:54
think maybe that's how you pronounce her name, but Laura,
00:10:58
Laura Kelly Fanucci and how
00:11:02
she really tied this beautifully together to what I think so many
00:11:06
of us are feeling and struggling with when it comes
00:11:10
to living this Christ centered life and really being able
00:11:13
to have goals that align with God's
00:11:17
will. And so she begins by saying, we are searching for
00:11:20
God as women of faith, we long to know the Lord.
00:11:24
But what if God's plan for your Life looks different from what you
00:11:28
expected. What if God asked you to go somewhere you don't
00:11:32
want to go? What if God's call is much
00:11:35
harder than we wanted? I think we can all relate to
00:11:39
those questions. As we enter into the stories of.
00:11:43
Mary's life, we find a woman who loves God deeply,
00:11:46
but wonders and even worries about what God asks her to
00:11:50
do. We feel this tension too, wanting to follow
00:11:54
God, yet fearing what it will. Mean for our lives if we really
00:11:58
listen to Him. Mary is with us in our desires.
00:12:01
Our questions and our fears. Her trust in God can be
00:12:05
ours too. In the first joyful mystery, the
00:12:08
Annunciation, the angel Gabriel says the same stunning
00:12:12
word to Mary twice. Behold.
00:12:16
His startling words capture Mary's attention.
00:12:20
Watch and listen, he declares. God is about to
00:12:24
do something incredible and new.
00:12:28
But an equally amazing truth about this scripture story is that
00:12:31
by the end of their encounter, Mary says,
00:12:35
behold, back to Gabriel. Because she is
00:12:38
doing something new too. She is offering
00:12:42
the biggest yes she. Can give to God's invitation.
00:12:46
Her behold will change the course of human history.
00:12:50
In our lives, we can behold too.
00:12:54
We can notice where God is doing something new in our hearts, our
00:12:57
work. Our relationships, our vocations. We can
00:13:01
respond with faithful hearts to. Offer God something new and loving
00:13:05
in return.
00:13:09
I just think that's so beautiful. It really wasn't until I
00:13:13
started to. Do this study that the word behold. Really caught my
00:13:17
attention. The way that she. She says, right, that this word
00:13:21
behold. And so what does the word behold
00:13:24
mean? So looking it up. It means to observe
00:13:28
something, especially something remarkable or
00:13:31
impressive. Other definitions,
00:13:35
it's don't miss this thing the Lord is doing.
00:13:39
Pay attention. Wonder
00:13:42
about it. Be surprised. Be sure to see
00:13:46
this. Do not miss this thing. Open
00:13:50
your eyes. God is working
00:13:54
in wonder or mystery.
00:13:57
It's a command to notice something incredible that
00:14:01
people are currently ignoring.
00:14:06
So hold on to this word behold.
00:14:10
We are called to behold to see the things that the Lord is doing in
00:14:13
our lives. And then we are called to share our own. Behold
00:14:17
our own yes to this new thing that we are being called to
00:14:21
with God. There are no coincidences, even though they
00:14:25
can certainly feel like it. But from the beginning of
00:14:29
time, God had a plan for all of history,
00:14:33
including your life. And we can clearly see this
00:14:36
plan written throughout Scripture. He
00:14:40
foreshadows so many things to come throughout the Old Testament,
00:14:44
which then come to be fulfilled in the New Testament through
00:14:47
God himself becoming human and walking this earth
00:14:51
as the Savior, the One who came to save us, to
00:14:55
save you and to Save me. Because God loved each of us
00:14:59
so much. I love this
00:15:03
Old and New Testament connection because it just kind of reminds
00:15:07
me of putting a puzzle together, right when these
00:15:10
pieces carefully come into place and they
00:15:14
fit perfectly with each other and these small puzzle
00:15:17
pieces each differently come together to create this bigger
00:15:21
image. It also
00:15:25
reminds me of being in an escape room, right, where you have to
00:15:29
solve all these puzzles, find all, and all these
00:15:32
clues are leading to an answer,
00:15:36
just like all the clues in Scripture lead us
00:15:40
to the answer of Jesus.
00:15:45
And one of these pieces of the puzzle along the way to our
00:15:48
salvation was Mary and her yes to
00:15:52
the Lord. God knew his
00:15:56
plan for Mary's life long before she did,
00:16:00
but her faith, her trust, and her surrender to what God
00:16:04
asked of her open the door
00:16:07
for our salvation, and we can really look at
00:16:11
her yes as a model and an example for our
00:16:15
own lives. Her yes.
00:16:18
Open the door for your yes to the
00:16:22
Lord. Her yes. Open the
00:16:25
door for your yes.
00:16:29
So where is the Lord asking for your yes?
00:16:33
Are there areas in your life that need to be reconciled to
00:16:37
Him? Maybe that's your yes for the next
00:16:41
year to invite him and allow him to heal those areas
00:16:45
of your life. Or maybe your
00:16:48
yes that he's calling you to is to serve in a particular
00:16:51
way, to pour
00:16:55
out yourself for the good of someone else.
00:16:59
Now, of course, we have a choice as to whether or not we're
00:17:03
going to say this yes to the Lord, just as Mary had a
00:17:06
choice, but God
00:17:10
chose her for this special
00:17:14
mission, just as he chooses each one of
00:17:18
us for a special mission, and
00:17:21
he invites us to set to say yes to him,
00:17:26
that we say yes, Lord, we will work with you.
00:17:31
I once heard in a talk that, you know, Jesus is the most
00:17:35
powerful of kings. But unlike many earthly
00:17:38
kings that we saw throughout
00:17:42
Scripture, Jesus leads us,
00:17:45
his followers, through conviction, not coercion.
00:17:50
He doesn't force us to do his will. He doesn't trick
00:17:53
us, but he invites us. And he
00:17:57
shows us the fruitfulness, the
00:18:00
abundance, and the providence that only he can provide
00:18:05
if only we say yes to Him.
00:18:09
I've also heard that when God calls us to something, he speaks
00:18:13
clearly. So if you're feeling discouraged, you
00:18:17
feel like you. You don't know what the Lord is
00:18:20
saying. Maybe things feel a little bit noisy or a little bit chaotic.
00:18:24
Just keep going to the Lord. Keep going to the Lord with
00:18:28
your questions, your desires, even your
00:18:32
frustrations. Because what's beautiful about this time of
00:18:35
waiting, this time that you are in waiting,
00:18:39
he is preparing the way for
00:18:42
you. And when he knows that you are
00:18:46
ready, and when the time is ready, he is going to
00:18:49
clearly reveal what it is that you are supposed to do.
00:18:55
Your yes. Just as Mary's yes
00:18:58
was years in the making, something that's
00:19:01
been carefully planned, well thought out and
00:19:05
orchestrated by a God who loves you.
00:19:11
In this same study on the rosary that Laura Kelly,
00:19:14
fci, she writes that God's plans for us
00:19:18
takes a lifetime. I'm gonna say that again. God's plan for
00:19:22
us takes a lifetime. There's
00:19:26
really some comfort in that. There's really some comfort in
00:19:30
knowing that we don't have to have it figured out by this afternoon, we
00:19:33
don't have to have it figured out by tomorrow, but that
00:19:38
God's plan for our life is revealed day by
00:19:42
day. That God needs our yeses. He needs our
00:19:45
big yeses that are revolutionary and are life
00:19:49
changing, but he also needs our small yeses.
00:19:53
The everyday yeses. The yes to I'm going
00:19:57
to take care of my children and be a mother and I'm going to live
00:20:00
out that vacation vocation, not vacation,
00:20:03
that, that yes to Lord. I'm going to wipe
00:20:07
down my kitchen counters, even though I don't really want to. Because Lord, you
00:20:11
provided this home for me, this shelter for me.
00:20:15
So he needs our big yeses and he needs our small everyday
00:20:18
yeses. He needs your whole heart, your
00:20:22
whole surrender to fulfill that plan. Just like he needed
00:20:26
Mary's whole heart and her whole surrender
00:20:30
to fulfill that plan of salvation.
00:20:34
And every day is this invitation to say
00:20:37
yes to the Lord so his plan.
00:20:41
His plan can be our entire life.
00:20:46
I want you to start to see the impact that your
00:20:49
yes can offer, how your yes
00:20:53
will help to write and shape God's history.
00:20:57
That your yes is an invitation to behold,
00:21:01
to watch and listen to witness
00:21:05
firsthand this new and incredible thing that God is
00:21:09
going to do with and through your life.
00:21:14
So as you are thinking about the upcoming year, take some time
00:21:18
to consider just how important and impactful your
00:21:21
yes is going to be.
00:21:25
Mary's yes brought us salvation. And
00:21:28
while our yes may not bring
00:21:32
salvation through us birthing Jesus Christ,
00:21:35
but our yes does help to fulfill God's
00:21:39
plan for his followers, for you
00:21:43
and for me. So what
00:21:47
will your yes to the Lord bring into the world?
00:21:52
At the very least, it's God's love, His
00:21:56
compassion and his mercy. And
00:21:59
it gives him the space
00:22:03
to continue to
00:22:06
fulfill his promises to each one of us.
00:22:11
I thank you so much for being here with me today. Thank
00:22:14
you for letting me share these thoughts that
00:22:18
I've been pondering that I've been kind of holding onto for the last
00:22:22
several months, and to just share them with you, to
00:22:25
maybe offer a little bit of a new perspective as
00:22:29
you go into thinking about and planning for the new year,
00:22:33
of just how important our yeses are and that we
00:22:37
can really challenge ourselves to allow our yes to align with
00:22:41
the will of God. So thanks so much for being here.
00:22:45
I look forward to being back here with you next week. Until then,
00:22:48
I hope you have a beautiful and blessed week. And remember,
00:22:52
beauty held is the seed, beauty shared is the flower.
00:22:56
It is your time to bloom. God bless and
00:23:00
I'll see you soon. Bye.