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About

In this special bonus episode of the Resilient Pastor podcast, Glenn and Holly Packiam share the heart behind their book The Intentional Year. Drawing from over twelve years of leading annual retreats, they guide listeners through a powerful process of pausing, reflecting, and living with greater purpose. Instead of adding more spiritual practices to an already full to-do list, this episode focuses on intentional spirituality — offering your entire life as worship to God. Perfect for pastors, church leaders, and anyone wanting to begin the new year with clarity, freedom, and deeper intimacy with Jesus.

Through the lens of Romans 12:1-2 (The Message), Glenn and Holly explore how to stop living on autopilot and instead align every sphere of life — prayer, rest, renewal, relationships, and work — around the love of God at the center.

Key Takeaways

• Intentional spirituality is not another item on your to-do list — it’s about offering your whole everyday life (sleeping, eating, working, playing) as worship to God.
• The Prayer of Reflection (Rest, Review, Rejoice, Repent, Request) is a powerful way to process the past year before stepping into the new one.
• Listening for a word or theme from God for the year should begin with a servant posture, Scripture, recurring life themes, and testing with trusted friends.
• Every season has both limitations and invitations — you can’t do everything, but you can do the right things at the right time.
• Take inventory of five key spheres of life: Prayer, Rest, Renewal, Relationships, and Work (Mission), with God’s love at the center.
• Turn spiritual practices into consistent rhythms, then schedule them as events in your calendar to create sustainable freedom and peace.
• The ultimate goal is not rigid discipline but bearing fruit — loving God and loving others well.

Highlights

• “Take your everyday ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life — and place it before God as an offering.” — Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)
• “We don’t want to compartmentalize our faith. God is interested in all of it.”
• “The best indicator of pastors not burning out after twenty years is a consistent practice of play.”
• “You can’t do it all, but you can do more than you realize. You just can’t do it all at the same time.”
• “Sabbath is one practice that touches multiple spheres — prayer, rest, renewal, and relationships.”
• “We’re not trying to control our lives. We’re choosing to participate with the Holy Spirit’s work of making us more like Jesus.”
• The three relational decisions: Lean In, Let Lie, or Let Go.

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