by Dana Peters-Colley
We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5b NIV
Do you remember the film Hildago? In the story, a man rides an unknown horse in the world’s hardest endurance race. He faces severe obstacles, but in the end succeeds. As believers, we can be like him. No matter what difficulties arise, if we hold onto the Lord, we can ride strong.
In my endurance race of life, one of the obstacles I face is winter. I’ve met some who love winter. They embrace the fire, nesting with books, and sipping hot cocoa. They don’t mind shoveling snow. They enjoy gray clouds and weather nipping like a bad dog.
I’m not that girl. My idea of winter was what I grew up with. We made winter a destination spot, we didn’t live in it. My family built a cabin in the mountains, but we left when it was not to our liking. I have great memories of sleds and the big fire we’d warm up to. But then, down the mountain we’d return. Sunny civilization bloomed and I’d drench in the ocean, maybe surfed that day. The only other place I lived was Hawaii.
So, for me, now living in Tennessee, the winters there were no man’s land. My flesh shrieked. I was a willful horse who bucked and reared and cried out, “I can’t do this, God!”
Yet, there was plenty of good to our move to Tennessee. The people were fantastic. The church life phenomenal. The hills pretty. Green was greener than you’ve ever seen. But ohhhhh, the winters! For many years sadness drenched my pillow. Yet, I knew God wanted me in Tennessee. I knew it was His will to take me from my homeland of half my life to this place, 2,200 miles away from family and all I knew. And each year, when winter hit, I melted.
Then, I discovered a little thing.
Isn’t it wonderful how little things can be giant things in your life? Well, this little thing I learned suddenly, made winter doable. In fact, at times I didn’t even notice winter was underway. The little thing you wonder? It was a statement I made to Jesus. Do you want to hear what I said to the Lord? I said, out loud, “Show me where forward is Jesus, I’m not going back.”
That shut the door. That was my blue-ribbon statement. Like the rider in Hildago, I didn’t give up and took the lead. I surrendered to God’s will for my life. You can say these words, too. You can say, “Show me where forward is Jesus, I’m not going back.”
It assures your direction. It gives the Lord leadership over your life. When I did it, Satan didn’t avalanche me anymore with the winter blues. I left him in the dust! Or maybe I left him in icy snow freezing his tail off. But I surrendered to Jesus and freedom came.
Now, one last thing to help you.
I starve winter. I starve it like it’s a diet, and I’m going to lose fifty pounds! No matter how I feel, I don’t discuss how winter makes me feel. This is critical. Diet the negative thoughts and words. In fact, dieting like this is Biblical. The Apostle Paul gave wonderful advice. He said, “…whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report…think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 KJV)
Stop there. Good report. There are the words. We diet the negative thoughts and negative words and Wham! We win the race!
This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA)

About the author: Dana Peters-Colley is a creative who loves Jesus. She has been tucked away developing a brand of Christian parable books, faith-based fiction, and inspirational books as well as screenplays. Dana holds a B.A. in journalism, studied screenwriting at U.C.L.A., and is a former long-time Disney creative leader and producer. When the Lord got ahold of Dana everything marvelously changed. She is developing a heavenly-inspired brand line that brings stories to build family, inspire discovery, and teach kingdom ways. See danapeterscolley.com to connect to her spiritual blog and gaze at her adventures.

Do you have a friend you want to receive Jesus into their lives? Do you want to receive how much God loves and values you? Do you want to be empowered to do the impossible? Then, you have to know who you are! Treasure will take you into the realization of God’s love for you as you discover you are His treasure.
Join the conversation: What thoughts do you need to diet?