Welcome

Are you an easy person to get to know?  Are you open and endearing? Or are you the standoffish type that closes people off?  When other people meet you can they see your light shine? Or are you in the dark?  Do you hold an invisible “ Welcome” sign across the front of you? Or,  is a big “Closed” displayed?  

A smile is the universal welcome… Max Eastman

I hope to believe that I carry a big “Welcome” sign across the front of me.  I strive to be a kind, loving, joyful and compassionate person to anyone I cross paths with.  I know there are times when I get caught up in my ‘own’ moments and I get trapped in the selfish bubble – I think we all tend to have that happen from time to time. But!  Popping that selfish bubble allows you to let your light shine onto others.  God equipped all of us with unique skills and personality traits to help others.  We all have the ability to make others feel “Welcome”.

You may be asking yourself how you can be more welcoming? How you can let yourself shine onto others?  It’s quite easy actually.  You just have to remember what it is like to feel welcomed yourself.  When someone included you in an activity or event – did you get a boost of confidence?  Joy?  When someone greeted you with a smile and a handshake – did you feel liked? Accepted?  Being welcomed is a feeling.  So, being someone who welcomes others can create the feeling of love, acceptance, and joy to so many other people.  A feeling that is actually lacking today.  

We ALL need to feel loved.  

We ALL need to feel accepted.

We ALL need to feel joy.

How Do We Be More Welcoming?

  • Go up to someone you don’t know at an event, church, group, or party and offer a handshake or a hug.
  • Introduce yourself with a smile.  Smiles always shine light.
  • Learn someone’s name.
  • Find a way to connect with someone – kids the same age – a mutual friend  – or similar hobby.
  • Bake cookies for a new neighbour.
  • Make a customer laugh.

The way you present yourself to others is similar to signs displayed on storefronts or homes:

Which one puts you more at ease?

Which one gives you a feeling of peace?

Which one shines light onto others?

Who are you going to be?  Are you going to be the type that displays “You Are Welcome” Or the type that shuts others out “Not Allowed”?  I know who I am striving to be. 

As you begin your day today, wake up with a smile.  Hug your family or text a loved one a good morning.  Make someone’s day by welcoming others with your beautiful smile and letting your heart shine its joy for all to see.  Use your unique traits that God created you for good. Let’s start making this world the way it was designed to be – full of love.

NOTE:  This concept was adapted from a devotional I was reading – The Heart Of Who I Am.  It’s fabulous and definitely worth a read.  

Would you like to read more about how to shine onto others? Click HERE – to read about more ways to shine in a previous blog called “Be A Light”

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