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| St. Louis Arch, May 2010 |
The Little Engine that Could and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel were two of my favorite books as a child. I took to heart their premises that all things are possible with a positive attitude.
In high school I competed in girls' extemporaneous speaking contests. Large schools brought several tubs of meticulously indexed and filed articles of current events with them. Not me. I had one small index box with Winnie the Pooh stickers on it and note cards filled with positive thoughts and Bible verses I had written and filed away to look at.
I had no idea of how to prepare for competition. Each Friday before the Saturday tournaments, I would check out Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Reports magazines from the library. At the tournament, I would spread them out in front of me on the table in the prep room.
After we pulled a topic, we had thirty minutes to prepare a seven minute speech, memorized, with citations from our sources. I always said a prayer before I played my "Go Fish" game with my magazines.
After the prayer, I randomly selected magazines and always found articles I needed. It helped to have the Irish gift for gab as well, so I was fairly effective at my speeches.
I never really understood why the other teams needed so many tubs to compete until I had a student on my own debate team years later who finished in the octofinals at nationals in foreign extemp.
God makes all things possible. Positive attitudes and prayer go a long way with God's help.
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Thank you, Lord, for your help as we scale the walls before us each day.
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| St. Louis Arch, May 2010 |
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