Priceless Results

<p>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&mdash;including the bus driver: &ldquo;[She] bring[s] so much joy to the kids on my bus, it&rsquo;s amazing. I love that.&rdquo; Colleen&rsquo;s children agree.</p> <p>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&rsquo;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 &ldquo;priceless result: happiness.&rdquo;</p> <p>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&rsquo;s antics: &ldquo;A cheerful heart is good medicine,&nbsp;but a crushed&nbsp;spirit dries up the bones&rdquo; (Proverbs 17:22). By bringing cheer to all her kids (biological, adopted, and foster), she hoped to prevent crushed spirits.</p> <p>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&rsquo;s light as we strive to bring joy to others, a joy that offers hope and strength to face trials.</p>