SMILES!

I have a tradition that I’ve developed over the years, that began when Piper got sick and I chose to stay at home to care for her needs.  I’ve always been a music lover and this schedule highlights my varying taste in music styles.  And even though we’ve lived in three different states over this period of time, I have simply adjusted the stations I tune into, while following the same daily routine.

First thing during the weekday, I’ll get the coffee going and then flip on the local (Tulsa) Christian radio station and listen to the contemporary Christian music they play and catch up on local events and weather while enjoying the banter between the two morning show hosts.  Then a few hours later, following my Bible study time, a shower, Fiver’s morning walk & breakfast, I’ll click off the radio, grab the all-in-one remote, turn on the home entertainment system and listen to Sirius XM’s Southern Gospel channel. 

And then, in the deep recesses of the late afternoon, as I am beginning to wind down for the day, I’ll switch over to a classical station, where I enjoy not only the various pieces played but also the history and other antidotes that the live DJ talks about.  (and to be honest… dream about Piper, every time I hear piano concerto!) On weekends I normally skip the local station and go right to the Southern Gospel channel where they have special programming in the mornings.

So, I told you all that to lead into a song I heard this morning on the Tulsa station.  The Steven Curtis Chapmen Christmas song that was playing suddenly caught my attention while I was studying my Bible in the other room.  It brought back some very warm and cozy memories of the time, soon after that particular song came out, when Piper and I took one of our 2-night holiday’s together up the coast at the Fort Ross Lodge.

It was the week after Christmas and what had been a particularly busy time for us with the preparation, practice and performance of a large and very involved Christmas play at the church… besides the push to meet end of the year delivery projections at my secular job!

To put it rather mildly, we were pretty worn out by the time we sought refuge at our favorite coastal retreat.  I don’t remember us doing much while we were there, except for a few walks along the bluff overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Ocean and lots of sitting around or napping, while enjoying the warm fireplace in our room… and listening… over and over again… to that song… which was the same one playing on the radio this morning! 

One of the other things that I clearly remember though, was taking lots and lots of portraits of my lovely wife and her enchanting, encouraging and joy-filled SMILE!  We SMILED a lot over that little holiday just because we were alone, at the coast and fully focused… without distraction… on each other’s company!

As I sit at my desk today and look at the wall before me which displays a wide assortment of pictures of Piper through the years, I can’t help but notice that there were many sides to her smile.  There was the compassionate smile, the congenial smile, the ‘you caught me by surprise’ one’s, the happy one’s, the giddy one’s, the funny Mom expressions, the content and confident minister smiles, the Holy Ghost anointed – lost-in-the-Spirit-during-a-move-of-God ones, and my favorite… which only I could capture… where she was glowing with happiness in her complete and overwhelming trust and intense love for and belief in me!

And, I had a ‘WOW’ moment in the midst of my Bible Study this morning when I caught a glimpse of Jesus with that same trusting and intense love SMILE for another individual, in a story about Him, where it is described saying that,

“There was a woman in the crowd who had suffered with bleeding for twelve years, and no doctor had been able to heal her.  She snuck up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his robe, and instantly her bleeding ceased.  Jesus stopped and asked, ‘Who touched me?’ When no one came forward, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowd is immense; everyone is pushing against you.’   But Jesus clarified, ‘Someone touched me: I felt power go out from me.’  Then the woman, realizing she could not escape unnoticed, came forward trembling and fell down at his feet. In front of the crowd, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.  He smiled and said, ‘Daughter, your trust in me has healed you. Live in peace.’ “ (Luke 8:43-48 – The Remedy)

Can’t you just picture the absolute love on Jesus’ face that was radiated through His SMILE toward that woman?  It was a SMILE totally emersed in the love of God toward the woman who had just put her life into the hands of her faith… as she pushed through a crowd… toward the only One she believed could heal her!  And through her faith He did… and she was healed and made whole!

And I betcha anything… that she SMILED back to Jesus with that same intensity of love and trust radiating from her face! 

Is that the type of faith that YOU possess when it comes to your trust and intense love for the Lord?  It is most definitely the kind that I aspire to have!  It is the type of SMILE that I endeavor to have on my face throughout each and every day?  And with the Season of Giving upon us… that task is made even easier!  The true test will come when we return to our regular flows of life at the start of the new year… What do you think about that?

Enjoy your last week before Christmas, and as you do… Keep SMILING with the LOVE of God and EXPECTING His best for you… as well as for everyone you see along the way!