Be of Good Cheer

 Today I wanted to blog about being of good cheer. What does the word cheer mean anyway?  When I searched online this is what I got.....

cheer/CHi(ə)r/

Verb:	Shout for joy or in praise or encouragement: "she cheered from the sidelines".
Noun:	A shout of encouragement, praise, or joy.

Oh yes I like that.  To shout for joy or praise or encouragement...as in a cheerleader.  I was a cheerleader once upon a time back in the day.  Yes friends I was.  I am sure for most of you that does not come as a shock but for those of  you who may stumble upon my pondering blog you may ask what does this have to do with anything. Well let me tell ya.....but I must go back to a time when I was young & didn't understand the path God was setting into motion.  

I grew up listening to my mom tell stories of her glory days as a cheerleader in the 1950's.   I'm not sure how it came about that it was my dream to cheer too but I remember practicing all the time. At my parents home they had these big sliding glass doors in our den that led to the outside yard.  I would practice in front of those doors where I could see my reflection.  I yelled.  I tumbled.  I jumped. When I was in 6th grade I tried out for cheerleader before the student body and I lost.  I remember being so upset but more determined then ever that the next year I would win.  So I tried out again in 7th grade and I lost.  My mom was waiting for me with a hug and tears. We sat down over a snack and I cried while she talked....counseled...and.cried with me. I was not to give up.  I just needed to practice harder, longer and get a tutor.  (Yes she got me a High School cheerleader to come by my house that summer and tutor me in cheering.)   :) Mom also told me that I had to learn to be more outgoing.  Believe it or not (and many of you will not believe it) I was VERY shy. I never looked people in the eye and I rarely smiled big.  I was quiet when around people I didn't know. I was different with family of course.  


I practiced all summer before I started 8th grade.  It was wonderful to have a tutor who knew the ropes & could teach me things I was unable to teach myself.  She was very patient and kind with me.  

My first day of 8th grade came and before I knew it was ready to get on the bus for my first day of the new me........Right before I walked out the door, my mom said....now honey don't forget to smile at people with your teeth and with your eyes.  And call them by name.  Ask how their summer was etc.  I don't remember what my thoughts were but I do remember being scared yet determined.      


This was a turning point in my life. Every person I had said hello to, smiled and asked how their summer seemed to change right before my eyes. Their face would light up and we would talk.  I didn't just ask the popular people.  I asked the ones who were shy, ordinary kids....just like me.  When I got home that night my mom asked me if I had done what she has encouraged me to do.  I said yes I had.  Then I said............my face hurt. Ha!  Ha!  The muscles in my face had never been used quite to this extent before.  

The rest of the story.....I tried out for cheerleader my 8th grade year and I won.  I cheered for  three years.  Mama was right....it was fun!



For years I have told this story and didn't realize God's hand in this  Oh I know it is just a silly story about being a cheerleader.....a little girls dream to attain something that she was fearful yet determined to do.  But looking back it was more then that.  There are so many life lessons in this.  With wisdom God gave my mother the wisdom to teach me to never give up....to endure....to strive and to seek council from others who can help.  God also taught me to take a step of faith by looking people in the eye, touch their life in some way and call them by name.

My gift is hospitality.  The word hospitality really means to be kind to strangers.  My gift is a person....the person of Jesus Christ.  He gave me this gift long ago.  He cultivated it in me at a growing time in my life.  He used my passion for cheer leading to spur me on to achieve what He wanted for me............to use that gift for His glory.  

So what does it mean to be of good cheer?  For me it means putting my best foot forward even when times are tough.  To smile and greet people like they are special.....because really they are special!  To not take myself too seriously.  I am human after all and I make mistakes all the time.  I need to grant others mercy and encourage them when they have a rough day.  The older I get the more I realize there are so many hurting and lonely people out there who just want to know that someone knows their name.  Don't we all!  I pray that you won't ever discount the power of a smile....a touch.... or  word of encouragement.  They mean the world to the person to whom they are directed.  So Friends be of good cheer...God can and will do wonderful things with your life.  Till next time. 

Believe what the Word says....

How do I start this blog....?  I have so much on my mind early this morning that I want to get it on paper (so-to-speak) but I am not sure how to start this post.  Prayer first....oh yes I am praying as I type this that the words of my heart and the meditation of my mind will be pleasing in God's sight.  After all it is ALL about Him and not so much about me which I tend to forget on a daily basis.  Hence the Bible the written Word of God, a love letter to me......His child who is fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am loved but I forget that through out my days.  It comes home to me at the oddest of times.  Like right before falling asleep or at first morning light. It's that in-between time that gets me.  Yet I know that I am to BELIEVE what the Word says.  I am not of this world.  I am a child of God.

Last night my hubby and I were watching a movie on T.V.  We rarely watch movies that I consider "guy" movies.  My husband is so sweet to watch films that don't bother me or cause me to be upset.  My mind just can't take brutal films.  My heart aches and I almost feel sick at scenes that are harsh.  Yes I guess I am a Pollyanna of sorts.  I don't like to listen or see the hurting in the world even if it's just in a movie.  I am very picky about what I watch when it comes to guy flicks and the times in which I'll watch a movie like this one.  I am thankful my Troy indulges me in this area.  Anyway it sounded good and I knew hubby would enjoy it so we started watching it.  Or should I say I listened more then watched.  It was a movie about war and was based on a true story. Towards the climatic part of the movie I had to leave the room.  The gore and the story content was too much for me.   I apologized to Troy and went upstairs to my craft room where I could loose myself until the scene that was being played out could finish.  I came back down shortly with a project in hand that would continue to keep me sort of plugged into the film but distracted enough that I wouldn't take IN the scenes.  It wasn't long after that the movie ended.....not happily like I like but like real life where many died a horrible death and justice did not prevail until much later in life.

Then we went to bed.  (I don't know about you but I can't just fall asleep after a movie like that.  Hubby on the other hand....no problem.)  I was awake and thinking.  I thought.....I need to pray.  And as I prayed I kept thinking....how could men (the world in general) inflict such pain on each other.  We as a people never stop thinking of ways to hurt one another.  We cause pain with our words by bullying. There have been insurmountable number of ways in which people cause death through torture.  Or we do nothing, we aren't a parent to our children, or a friend to people, or a provider for our spouse, or a lover of others....we just love ourselves by being totally self absorbed.  We cause pain to our bodies by overeating, not exercising, taking drugs or alcohol, and the list goes on and on.  YUCK!  I was struck anew at the depravity of man.....me. As the film in my head kept going over all the ways in which I have seen this depravity in people (this week alone) my spirit was overcome with hopelessness, with sickness, with sadness over how bad we are......how bad I am.  Oh my soul hurt.  I cried out to God.    I asked for peace in my spirit, to be renewed again in my soul.  Crying....crying....realizing that I needed to believe what God says.....again as I forget so easily.

God is my Hope.  He sent Jesus to die for my sins.  He alone is worthy of any and all praise & worship.  I can and have done awful things with my hands, my words or in my mind.  I need Jesus.  It's as simple as that.  I need Him to be my breath of life every moment of the day.  I need Him to fill me in the places of my lonely heart.  I need him to restore those parts in me that are sick with His healing.  I need His love and His peace that passes all understanding.  I need His joy to fill me till I am overflowing and must share it with others. This life I am leading is all about Him.....the author and finisher of my faith. And with these thoughts...........came blessed PEACE....peace like a river flowing.  Peace like stillness......his Word says.....Be still and KNOW that I am God.  Be still Pammi....I am here.  I am God.  I have your life covered......covered by the blood of Jesus.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made.  I love you.  You don't have to worry about what you could become because I have you.  Your name is written on the palm of My hand.  Oh praise God the lover of my soul.  He loves me.  He loves me.  Thank you Father.  Thank you Jesus for the peace that passes all understanding. And with these thoughts in my head.....I slept.....at least till early morning (4 a.m.) when I felt this tug in my spirit....you need to write this down.  So here I am writing.

I don't have it all together.  I may look put together on the outside but on the inside where it counts....I know me.  I will come to this place again but know that God is there always.  He isn't going to leave me because of a doubt.  Instead He will finish the work He has begun in me.  He will be renew my spirit.  He will fill me with His love, joy, peace, and all those things I need to begin and end my day with.  He loves me.  I must believe what the Word says......God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Amen and Amen!

I'll leave you with some of his precious word.  Believe what the Word says......

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  Psalm 139:14



Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.  Psalm 25:5

Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone. Psalm 33:22



The LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness. The upright will behold His face.  Psalm 11:7

The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.  Psalm 12:6

I have trusted in your loving kindness.  My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  I will sing to the LORD because He has dealt bountifully with me.  Psalm 13:6  

Remember............When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19

Till next time....be blessed!  God's got you covered!