Thursday, November 4, 2010

I Think I Can, So Why Not?

St. Louis Arch, May 2010
Psalms 18:29  "With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."

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.

St. Louis Arch, May 2010


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