Sing and Speak

Dense fog lingered until mid-morning before slowly dissipating. When it began to lift, I raised one of the sunroom windows (from which my husband had removed the screen) and began to photograph the little songbirds feeding beside the deck. 

Despite the dreariness of the day, the birds chirped cheerily, or so it seemed to me, and continued to do so that afternoon even as rain moved closer and closer to our area.

As I listened to them, I thought, I wish I could be truly cheerful ALL the time, especially when conditions are less than ideal and/or when all signs indicate unpleasant change ahead.


Later that evening, when I read Psalm 89:1, I realized I'd been shown how to do that: Sing (or speak) about God's faithfulness and His mercies! 

Happy Heart. Happy Face

Since childhood, I’ve known the song that says, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.”

I was reminded of that recently when I photographed children attending an event in our community. A few were “glum chums.” Others wore bland expressions. But some had such a radiance on their sweet faces that I was immediately drawn to them. They made my job easy, for I didn’t even have to try to coax a smile out of them. All I had to do was take the picture!

Regretfully, I failed to ask permission to post their pictures here. But if I could post them, you’d immediately see the HUGE difference a genuine smile makes. The eyes light up. The face is relaxed. There’s a warmth and a gentleness on it, which is so appealing.

So, I’ll post two photos: one of my Daddy, taken many years ago; and one I took of myself recently while seated near a window in our dining room. Like Daddy, I have a perpetual smile. Like him, I have a glad heart, even when life isn’t one big happy, happy. And, as the song says, the inner happiness (and joy, gladness, cheerfulness) shows up on the face.

A glad heart makes a cheerful face….

~Proverbs 15:13, ESV