This week I chose to focus on our faces and the impact a cheerful look or a scornful look can impart. My daughter, Emily, has two daughters. When Emily was less than a year old she learned to scowl. We thought it was hilarious and often asked her to do it for others. Now Emily has a scowler of her own. Harper, her youngest, scowls at her and Emily returns the look until Harper breaks into peals of laughter. Harper has a great scowl.

Harper is also learning to talk. Her vocabulary is rather limited but she knows how to tell you exactly how she feels. Today I helped Emily with a doctor’s visit. With COVID restrictions, she can only take the patient into see the doctor. I offered to meet her at the appointment to sit with her Finley, her oldest. When they finished with the appointment, I decided to take Finley with me to the farmer’s market while Harper returned home with Emily. That was most displeasing to Harper and she did her best to convey her displeasure with crying and rolling her tongue while she cried. It most effectively conveys her displeasure with whatever is happening at the moment.

You and I are not really any different. We have our ways of conveying displeasure without using a single word. And we have ways of conveying pleasure without words.

²⁵Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

Proverbs 12:25

³⁰A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.

Proverbs 15:30

As you begin your day, or perhaps you are ending the day, consider what your face and words convey. Do you bring joy to the heart of others? It only takes a cheerful look or an encouraging word to change someone’s day!

Happy Hump Day!!