If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you – John 15:7
Desiring to usher in the first full week of October, Marcia decided to challenge her eighth graders. After writing “October” on the board, she divided her twenty-seven students into two teams. Their mission? Creatively build a positive acronym using the letters of the month. To guide them, Marcia offered a few prompts focused on hope and optimism, and then she started the clock. Shortly after, the two groups merged their ideas into a single, powerful anthem: Optimistically Consider This October Bountifully, Enjoyably Rewarding. Proud of their upbeat outlook, Marcia announced they would launch this positive trajectory with a pizza party the very next day.
The mind is the launching pad for wherever you hope to go or become when it releases an optimistic outlook. This was the message intended for the opening scenario, using the first full month of autumn to introduce a strategy for fostering positive thoughts. It starts with “Optimistically Consider”—by allowing yourself to imagine good things on the horizon, however, not in the far distance, but “This October”—and it will be “Bountifully, Enjoyably, Rewarding,” trusting that when your aspirations align with God’s Word, then it merits the promise assured in John 15:7.
Striving to maintain a positive outlook is a wonderful strategy for handling the instability that often comes with life, which, like most undertakings, will require God’s help, especially when faced with untimely outages.