A Happy Heart Makes Life A Continual Feast

I gave my cat Osha a bath yesterday, and if looks could kill, we would all be dead.

Afterwards, I went out to dinner with my husband and our son Daniel at a French restaurant in the French community where we live. The restaurant is small, quiet, and yet very elegant. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is comforting, and the waiters are refined. Needless to say, we enjoyed our dinner thoroughly. Unfortunately, the wife, husband, and daughter seated at the table behind us seemed to have a very different experience. Judging by their conversation, they were in the area looking at potential houses to buy. However, their search had been unfruitful so far because the wife didn't like any of them.

As the evening progressed, the waiter stopped by their table and asked how the food was. Before we could hear the husband's opinion, the wife spoke up and immediately proceeded to criticize everything on her plate in every way she could. We sat there in disbelief because we were all eating and very much enjoying the same dish she had ordered — the steak special. (I never saw the woman's face, but that image of Osha came to mind.)

When it came time to pay, the wife refused to wait and simply walked out of the restaurant with their daughter, leaving the despondent husband to pay alone. He never spoke a word to the waiter. He walked by us and out the door with his head hung down. As he did, I intensely felt his misery and whispered a prayer for him and his family.

I can't help but think how many wives or husbands in the world live in despair because their partner is negative and critical. The Bible says that a happy heart makes life a continual feast.

"For the despondent,

every day brings trouble;

for the happy heart,

life is a continual feast."

Proverbs 15:15 (NLT)

Last night, what should have been a pleasant family night out at an elegant French restaurant was ruined. Instead of a fond memory etched forever into their minds, all they acquired was a negative, miserable experience, best forgotten.

Let's make life a continual feast by being happy and appreciative. Let's enjoy every moment of life that we are blessed by God to have.