I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

We have a lot to learn from the Little Engine that Could. The Little Engine could because the Little Engine had a growth mindset. A growth mindset is when, “… people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. “(Carol Dweck).

Just like the Little Engine.

Big things didn’t scare her. She was up for the challenge.  She had grit. She had drive. Blood. Sweat. Tears. The secret to her success? Thoughts. True thoughts lead to courageous words, which lead to bold actions. Success does not depend on talent, resources or smarts. Success is determined by mindset.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind[set], that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

God is all about a growth mindset.

Spiritual Fixed Mindset

In an earlier post, we learned a Spiritual Fixed Mindset believes I can’t because God can’t or won’t. This mindset is marked by negative self-talk, playing it safe, living small, and walking in fear.

But a Spiritual Growth Mindset says I can because God can.  This mindset is about  hope, faith, dreams and Truth.

“I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.” That’s what I’m talking about.

Spiritual Growth Mindset believes God has called and gifted each person to be highly effective and fruitful within their sphere of influence. This mindset believes God redeems all sin no matter how deep, how wide or how ugly. A Spiritual Growth Mindset also embraces the truth God uses all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Spiritual Growth Mindset is marked by:

• God-talk. Speaking God’s words. Speaking about God’s goodness.
• Faith. Living by faith. Thinking by faith. Praying by faith. Planning by faith.
• Focus. Eyes riveted on God and His will. All the time.
• Thankfulness. Thanking God for what He has done, is doing and will do.
• Joy! Enjoying life and the work God has provided.
• Service. People in need + you + your gifts = ministry
• Seeking God. In good times, and in hard times. Especially in the hard times.
• Prayer: Praying through struggles, progress, setbacks, jump-starts, trials and blessing.

Spiritual Growth Mindset says despite past mistakes, flaws, and sins, God uses anyone who is willing to follow Him. Because God is eternal and the giver of life, nothing is fatal. Nothing is final. We are never stuck or without hope. We can change, heal, and grow. The lame leap, the dumb speak and the dead live again.

Live it out.

Eliza was in my math class a few years ago. She was growth mindset waiting to happen. Eliza never met a math problem she couldn’t conquer. No, she wasn’t the SMARTEST kid in my class—she was the WORK-HARDEST kid in my class. I knew when she was struggling because she self-talked out loud. “I will get this problem. I can do this! and then she’d try and try again.

Let’s try it.

Let’s change our minds, change our words and change our destiny.

Because God is almighty and all powerful, I can beat ___________________ (name your obstacle).

With God, I WILL over come this fear of ___________________.

God, because You are on my side, I will not bow down, walk out, give up, or turn back on __________________.

God is working _________________  for my good and His glory.

God, because I know You’ve got this, I will by faith _________________ (name a next step).

With a growth mindset, the Little Engine made it over the mountain to the sunshine valley on the other side. Use your Spiritual Growth Mindset and speak to that mountain. Tell it in the name of Jesus to get out of your way.

Action Steps:

1. Watch your words and thoughts. Quit with the defeatist words and attitudes. NOBODY likes to listen to a pity-party—especially God.
2. Get you some God words and thoughts. Find a few Bible verses that speak truth into your situation and say and pray them as often as needed.
3. Keep on keeping on. Never give up. God is the victor and He always wins. The more Word you put in your heart the more you will be changed.

A changed mind leads to a changed heart which leads to a changed life. Leave me a comment and let me know how your life is changing. I’d love to hear from you!

all rights reserved.

copyright 2017

Welcome back to week 3! In case you’re wondering what this is all about, check out my initial post for information. I’d love to have you join us in praying for America.

Alabama

This week finds us in Alabama. As I was driving to Wind Creek State Park in Alexander City, Alabama, yesterday, I was singing the words to the song: “It’s burning in my soul,” and “Lord, let Your fire fall down!” I found myself praying for revival and for God’s word to penetrate our souls.

I was encouraged because I kept seeing scripture references on the country roads. Yes! God’s word is alive and active.

Add your Prayers

This week feel free to add whatever prayers God is directing you to pray for Alabama and the U.S. in general to the comments below.

Drive-through prayer line

I’ll leave you with this picture that Mark took of a drive-through prayer spot he found at someone’s house while biking past last week. He stopped and prayed on his bike.

Pray on!

My husband, Mark, and I are on a journey.

Well, we all are, aren’t we? But we are on a traveling journey that is a bucket list item for him. He has always wanted to ride his bike across the country. It’s a family kind of thing.

Mark going on a training ride.

Mark’s brother Steve rode his bike from Indiana to San Diego when he was 19. Our son Jesse walked across America by himself (I know, lots of grey hair for me) when he was 19. And Mark is getting ready to ride his bike from coast to coast. It’s been in the works for several years, but now it’s happening. I’m going along with him to be his support. I’ll be pulling a 14.5 foot travel trailer that will be our home for the next several months as Mark bikes from Florida to Portland, Oregon. If you’re interested, you can follow our blog at Kick Up Some Dust and our Facebook page.

We’ve been in Florida training for the last four weeks, but that is drawing to a close.  We leave Monday, April 10, 2017, our first day on the road.

What’s My Part in This?

As I was praying about this trip and what God had in mind for me, the phrase “prayer across America” popped into my mind. Over the next several days as I mulled this over, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to focus on two areas:

1. to pray geographically as we travel across the country, and
2. to watch for any “God appointments” as we travel.

Prayer Support

I would love for you to join me in praying through each geographic area as we travel across the country. A couple of times a week, I’ll post about where Mark and I are currently along with a prayer for that area. I hope that people will then add their prayers in the comment section at the bottom of the post. If you live in that area, by all means, please list any requests that are pertinent to that general area.

Here’s my inspiration for Prayer Across America, a wonderful Bible verse that Mary felt led to:

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7

Let’s join together in praying for our wonderful nation. I can’t do it by myself. Will you join me? Starting next Monday, April 10, I will put up the first geographic prayer post. Let me know if you have any questions or if you’d like to join me in interceding for our nation by leaving a comment below.

You can find a link to each week’s prayers below.

Week 1 Prayer Across America

Week 2 Prayer Across America

Week 3 Prayer Across America

Week 4 Prayer Across America

Week 5 Prayer Across America

Pray on!

For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! Jeremiah 2:13

One hot summer day, I filled a jug with water and tea bags and let the tea brew in the sun all day. That evening I transferred the tea to a pitcher and placed it in my refrigerator. A couple hours later I opened the door only to find a puddle of tea running down the shelf from an unnoticed crack in my pitcher. My broken pitcher couldn’t hold any tea.

We run the risk of being like that cracked pitcher.

In the passage above, God is lamenting how His people, the Israelites, have abandoned Him. He was offering them an abundant life in a covenant relationship with Him. He referred to Himself as the fountain of living water. Yet the people tired of that relationship and turned from God to cracked cisterns, which could hold no water at all. In other words, the people abandoned God and started to worship the false idols of the nations around them. When they did this, they themselves became marred by sin, no longer able to have a healthy relationship with God.

Why would they do this?

Their bloom of love for God had faded. Somewhere along the years, they tired of the relationship, of following God’s rules. To them it probably looked as if their neighbors in the nations around them were having a lot more fun than they were. The neighbors didn’t have nearly as many laws to uphold. The Israelites were looking for the next exciting thing.

Have you ever felt like that?

When we become bored, we often disconnect from God. When we stop reading His word, praying, studying the Bible, worshiping, and listening to Him, we are at risk for exchanging the truth of God for lies. We become vulnerable to the temptations around us. We allow our red, hot love to cool to lukewarm mediocrity, and if we don’t reconnect, we may let our relationship fizzle out all together. Soon we find we’ve wandered over to the land of the cracked-pot gods doing things we should never be doing, wondering how we got there.

Reignite the flames

If your spiritual life has burned out, reignite the flames. Recommit to prayer and ask God to show you what your purpose is for this season of life. Make time with Him a priority each day. And start looking for the opportunities He is providing that you have been missing, while saying no to the opportunities the enemy has deceived you with. Keep the fires of your first-love God going. His creativity and love for us never fades. After all, He is the fountain of living, read that life-giving, love-breathing water. Be a vessel that is intact enough to hold and absorb that water and then share it with others.

Welcome to a new year.

2017 brings new opportunities to use our gifts, develop our skills, deepen our walk with Christ,  and impact the world for Christ. On TV the other morning, two ladies shared their New Year’s resolutions—lists of things they wish to achieve in 2017. Good things. Worthy things. Resolutions are good, but they are often forgotten by January 2nd, when the busyness of life sets in again. But what if we tried one thing? One new thing, one old thing, one important thing, one critical thing to focus on for one year. Most of us can handle one thing. Below is a list of one things to spark your imagination:

One Things:

1. One word: I love the One Word movement. Simple. Quick. Effective. Follow the link to choose your One Word for 2017.
2. One podcast: Listen to one Christian podcast a day. I love Breakpoint, Insight for Living, Turing Point, and Joyce Meyer Ministries. One Place is a good place to find Christian podcasts.
3. One prayer: Commit to pray for one important thing every week day this year.
4. One habit: establish one new good habit, or evict one old bad old habit.
5. One relationship: Work on one important relationship,  partnership,  friendship,  or courtship.
6. One study: start or join one Bible study group this year. And. Finish. It.
7. One project: Focus on starting or finishing that one important project you’ve been dreaming about.
8. One hour: Devote one hour a day/week/month to prayer, ministry, Bible study, exercise, volunteering, studying etc.
9. One composition: Listen to one excellent piece of music a day. Start with Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi and Debussy. Enter a name in a Youtube search bar and listen for free!
10. One book: Read one excellent book a week. Please click on the link to find a few good books and get started! 10 Books Every Christian Should Read

It’s not too late to try one thing.

Take a moment to pray and ask God to show you what He wants you to focus on in 2017. Let me know what one thing you are going to work on this year. Leave me a comment below. I’d love to chat with you!

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

all right reserved. copyright 2017

Welcome to 5 Days to Fast & Pray for the Election. We are so happy to have you join us in praying for our country during this important time. No matter who you are supporting, we can all agree on the fact that prayer is needed as we head to the voting booth and as we transition to a new administration.

We are leaving it up to you to decide if you will participate in the fasting aspect of this prayer guide and if so, what type of fasting you will do. If you are able, remember to join us for prayer Monday-Thursday evenings from 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m Eastern time on our Facebook page. You may also post prayers anytime of the day or night on that page as well. If you have not yet asked to join that page and you would like to, go to the Facebook page and request permission to join, and we will grant it.

Day 1: Turn from Sin

1. Find a quiet place to process with the Lord. Take your Bible and a journal.
2. Pray for revival to start in your own heart. Ask the Lord to show you any habits, actions, thoughts, words, attitudes, etc. that need to change in you so that you are ready for revival.
3. Journal about what you feel God is showing you.
4. Once you feel your own heart is set, move to praying for your community, state, and nation. Choose a scripture that you can pray specifically for our nation and use that throughout the week.

Day 2: Turn to God

1. Make a plan to pray for the elections several times throughout the day. If needed, set the alarm on your phone to remind you to pray.
2. Pray for people in your building or neighborhood to pray for God’s will in this election. Ask another to join you in prayer today.
3. Take a prayer walk and pray for the elections and issues in your own city.
4. Get out a map or look up a map on Google and pray across the states in our great land. Ask God to raise up Christians tp pray and exercise their right to vote.

Day 3: Turn to Wisdom

1. If you haven’t done so yet, it is time to become educated about the issues of this election on every level. Please do your own research or click on the following link to learn about the candidates for 2016: Wall Builders. If you go to your state’s .gov site, you will be able to download a copy of the ballot to see all the candidates you will be voting on, plus any initiatives you may be voting on. 
2. After you have completed your research, make a list of whom you plan to vote for and for the proposals in your community.
3. Research the location of your polling place and check the hours.
4. Help elderly neighbors and relatives by offering then a ride to their polling place.

Day 4: Turn Your Eyes

 Day 5: Turn Your Heart

 (VanOsdol)