Priceless Results 宝贵的结果
Dexu Xia
A cheerful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22
On every school day for three years, Colleen has been dressing up in a different costume or mask to greet her children as they exit the school bus each afternoon. It brightens the day of everyone on the bus—including the bus driver: “[She] bring[s] so much joy to the kids on my bus, it’s amazing. I love that.” Colleen’s children agree.
It all started when Colleen began fostering children. Knowing how difficult it was to be separated from parents and to attend a new school, she began greeting the kids in a costume. After three days of doing so, the kids didn’t want her to stop. So Colleen continued. It was an investment of time and money at thrift shops, but, as reporter Meredith TerHaar describes, it brought a “priceless result: happiness.”
One little verse amid a book of wise and witty advice, largely by King Solomon to his son, sums up the results of this mom’s antics: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22). By bringing cheer to all her kids (biological, adopted, and foster), she hoped to prevent crushed spirits.
The source of true and lasting joy is God through the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21; Galatians 5:22). The Spirit enables us to shine God’s light as we strive to bring joy to others, a joy that offers hope and strength to face trials.
By: Alyson Kieda
When has someone done something to bring you joy? What was the result?
Dear Father, thank You for giving me joy. Help me to spread it to others.
喜乐的心，乃是良药。—箴言17章22节
三年来，每当孩子们下午放学回家，科琳都会戴不同的面具或装扮成不同的角色，在孩子们下车的地方迎接他们。校车上的每个人看到她都很开心，包括司机。他说﹕“她给校车上的孩子们带来很多欢乐，实在太棒了。我很喜欢。”科琳的孩子们也非常同意。
这一切都是从科琳接受寄养孩子开始的。她知道这些孩子都很不容易，不但与父母分离，还要到新的学校上课。所以她突发奇想，扮成不同的角色去迎接孩子们。她如此做了三天后，孩子们不希望她停下来，所以她就继续下去。这表示她需要花时间与金钱在旧货店里寻找服装，但正如有一名记者所描述的那样，科琳所做的带来了宝贵的结果﹕快乐。
箴言这本充满智慧与忠告的书卷，有大部分内容是所罗门王写给他儿子的，其中有一节经文对科琳所带来的快乐做了总结：“喜乐的心，乃是良药；忧伤的灵，使骨枯干”（箴言17章22节）。科琳为她所有亲生的、领养的和寄养的孩子们带来欢乐，她希望能让孩子们开心，不希望他们消沉沮丧。
真正和持久的喜乐是源自上帝，是祂藉着圣灵赐给我们的（路加福音10章21节；加拉太书5章22节）。当我们努力带给人喜乐时，圣灵会使我们散发出上帝的光芒，这种喜乐能带给人盼望和力量，以面对各种考验。
作者： 柯爱莉
何时曾有人做一些令你快乐的事？结果如何？
亲爱的天父，感谢祢赐我喜乐，
帮助我把喜乐带给其他人