Smile

My morning ritual is to wake up, brew a cup of coffee and spend some time in reflection.  Then I brew another cup and visit my inboxes.  Today I received an email of affirmation which I greatly appreciated.  I went for a ride around the neighborhood and was greeted kindly by a little boy and his grandfather who, like me, were out to enjoy nice weather ahead of a rainy week.  As I was driving to the office—my second typical opportunity for reflection—I was filled with gratitude.  Seemingly simple encounters of kindness had made my Monday begin with greatness.

Monday mornings are supposed to be a drag, right?  We’ve heard this before, “How’s your day?”  The response is, “Not bad for a Monday.”   If we are honest, many days start off rough…if we expect them to…and we spend them in a funk from which we rarely fully emerge.  There is a reason my inboxes follow my first reflection time…I expect them to throw me off my focus on what is good.  Even if we expect better and are good at keeping our focus on God’s Kingdom there are more than enough distractions ahead of us each day.    

I was in the grocery store the other day and I passed by a girl with her family who greeted me with a smile and a cheerful “Hello!  I was pleasantly surprised by her enthusiasm and I replied, “Hey, I hope y’all have a great day!”  A bit later I passed them again and heard her compliment another shopper on her shoes.  Behind the mask I’m sure she had a smile on her face the whole time.  I’m also confident that she genuinely expected other people to smile, too.  

That compassion for others is either too rare or too quiet these days.  It is the voice of God that speaks into our lives and is loud enough to compete with the most draining distractions.  We are a world hungry for that compassionate joy that can only come from God, through one another.  

This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 1 John 4:9 CEB

Spend your day with a smile on your face. Use your words to affirm, build up, and spread Joy to those around you. It is through those who know His love that God’s voice will be louder than all distractions.