Remember to Smile…. :D

  

    

Smiles have always intrigued me.  The way they make you feel and the way they form have always made them something I am fond of doing.  I always enjoy seeing other people smile and seeing their joy in situations. As you can guess this week I was inspired by smiles and the joy they bring to life.  I mean take a minute and TRY to imagine what life would be like with out smiles or the ability to laugh……?  It would be so dry and stale I’m pretty sure the world would end with out that joy! 

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may be glad all our days.” – Psalm 90:14

My experiences with meeting people usually start out with introducing myself and asking their name. However when I remember that person later, it’s usually not their name that sticks to my memory right away.  The most vivid thing I recall is their face and the expressions they make, but most specifically their smile and the way they laugh.  To me a smile is more then just an expression or shape of the mouth.  It’s a unique part of someone’s personality, a peek at who they really are and a positive reaction to an experience. 

“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

I always look forward to people’s smiles and the effect they put out into a room, on a group of people or even just the affect it has on me.  Besides the memories I share with the people around me, the unique friendships I have with them and my interactions with them, smiles are one of the things I cherish most about people.  When someone smiles it always cheers me up and always reminds me to put mine on as well.  People’s smiles are priceless; there is nothing that can replace a beautiful smile and all the money in the world can’t by the feeling they create in ones heart.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs!” -Psalms100:1-2 

 

 

Laughter is an incredible feeling, one that is hard to describe.  There are so many moments through out our week that we probably experience a laugh.  It is something we are blessed to experience…..have you ever thought about that?  Have you ever thought about how amazing and precious our ability to smile and laugh is…because we actually have something to smile about!  Imagine living in a way that destroyed smiles….that destroyed joy and laughter.  Imagine having nothing to be thankful for…. We are so blessed to have many things to smile about that we should do it more!  A smile should always lingure on our face….ready and eager to spread

“Laughter is the delightful crop of a planted smile.” – ME

Expressions on someone’s face say a lot about how they are feeling.  Their emotions are expressed through the different varieties of their facial capabilities.  We often a frown to being sad, a smile to being happy and anger to yelling or a red face and stern features.  Based on these expressions we judge how someone is feeling, what they are thinking and/or how they are reacting to something. The closer we get to people and the more we get to know them the better we can recognize their emotions, their feelings and their responses AND the better we can reply to their actions to bring out the response we want. 

“I will extol the LORD at all times;
       his praise will always be on my lips.” -Psalm 34:10

This is such a great verse! When I read it I think of smiling as a way I can praise God.  “His praise will always be on my lips!”….not sometimes…not just on the good days we have, but ALWAYS……the good days, the bad days, the days where we don’t feel like getting up again, the days we can’t stop praising Him…all the time! 

When I smile it always improves my mood…no matter what it, always brings my attitude back to the important reality of being thankful for the good things in life and the things that I can be joyful about!  It always brings me back to the immeasurable love God has for me and the joy that I can have in knowing that no matter what God is right there looking down on me protecting and loving me every step of the way.

“God didn’t promise day’s with out pain, laughter with out sorrow or sun without rain. But God did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and a light for the way, and for all who believe in His kingdom above, He answers their faith with everlasting love.” -Unknown

 Our life here on this earth is not perfect; in fact it is far from that!  There is more pain and confusion in this world then happiness and understanding.  It’s something that we face everyday.  Our challenge then is how we are going to approach each day of our life.  Will we groan and put our game face on just to make it through the day?  Or will we rise every morning refreshed in knowing that we can smile because God has blessed us with another day of precious life.  I don’t know about you, but a smile is much more appealing then waking up every morning dreading getting out of bed. 

I often remind people to smile, especially when they aren’t always having the best day.  It’s not always a smile on the outside though…an important part is smiling on the inside.  A smile is meaningless if it’s not real and full of life…it would be like trying to pretend to love…it’s empty, worthless and pointless.  When I remind people to smile I don’t just mean the facial expression though, I’m also talking about remembering to be thankful.  We always have something to be thankful about…and though there are minor tragidies that happen every day in our life there is always time for a smile, always time for thanksgiving and always time for praise that belongs to our God!

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so people have entertained angels with out knowing it.” -Hebrews 13:2 (Wouldn’t it be cool to make and angel smile?)

   Maybe this is sappy to you and maybe smiles are no big thing…like yesterdays dessery, but I challenge you (as well as myself) to examine our attitude and our approach to our day.  So we can smile more and laugh often.  So we can express our joy in Christ, so we can sow crop offer crop of smiles so that people may reap laughter.  So we can reach out to those in pain and replace their sadness with joy.  So we can remember to be thankful. So we can put down our anger, our sadness and take up a smile….  Who we are and the attitude we have in approaching our daily life affects the very people around us.  If our joy is unfailing, if our smiles were contagious, if our attitude becomes one that people long to have….then we will exceed in the mission of spreading joy to this world!

“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,” –Job 9:27 

 “This is life, this is your crazy, amazing life, and nothing happened today that didn’t pass through God’s fingers before it came to you.” ~Robin Jones Gunn 

 

So let’s greet our days with smiles, let’s spread our joy and put smiles on the faces of people around us.  Because this life we are living is from God and each and every thing that happens to us is unique and definite….nothing is a coincidence, everything happens for a reason. So let those words become a habit, a continuous encouragement, a constant prompt to call upon that feeling we all know.  Let us all……remember to smile….

 “O God, you are my God,
       earnestly I seek you;
       my soul thirsts for you,
       my body longs for you,
       in a dry and weary land
       where there is no water.

 I have seen you in the sanctuary
       and beheld your power and your glory.

 Because your love is better than life,
       my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live,
       and in your name I will lift up my hands.

 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
       with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” -Psalm 63:3   

 

 

- A special thanks to a unique friend who inpired me to write this :)