Spirit of Good Cheer

One of the homes I clean has a sign posted in the entryway which says "May there be a spirit of good cheer, devoted friendship and unconditional welcome ever present in our home.

Each week as I dust that sign I read it and yesterday I really took a moment to think about what it means and I wondered if that was true for our home. I thought I might explore this in the next few posts.

Is there a spirit of good cheer ever present in our home? As a wife and mother I set the tone for our home. If I am happy and cheerful then everyone else is too but if I am grouchy and in a bad mood everyone else will be too. The old saying "If Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy" is true! That is because I hold the ability to cheer my family up or bring them down.

It starts at the beginning of the day. Do you greet your loved ones with a smile and kindness in the morning or are you grumpy and unhappy causing them to respond in kind? When they come home at the end of the day do you greet them with a hug and a smile or take out your days frustrations on them?

If you picked the second choice try being happy and loving and see how the whole atmosphere of your home changes. Even if our families have a bad day they will look forward to coming back home if it is filled with the spirit of good cheer!

So how do we fill our homes with good cheer when we don't feel particularly cheerful?
Only through God is this possible. The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit these things will be evident in our lives. We have the ability to possess joy in spite of our circumstances because we have the Lord in out lives and know everything is in His control. There is wonderful freedom in realizing that everything is in His control not ours!

So is the spirit of good cheer ever present in my home? Sadly the answer is no but I am working toward that goal as I strive daily to be a blessing to my husband and to my son!

Happy Saturday!
Blessings,
Liisa

Picture from www.allposters.com