Touched by an Angel

I met an angel on Saturday. I was on my way to a speaking engagement and I stopped to pick up a biscuit at a fast food resturant. As I pulled up to the window to pay, I just stuck my hand out with my money in it, caught up in my own little world of very important things. Then something startling happened. The girl working the window just about climbed into my car, or at least it seemed. I was in my Corolla, so I was pretty low to the ground. She went out of her to lean out the window and stoop a little lower so she could make eye contact. As I relayed the story to my wife, she said the girl was flirting. Trust me, I'm at the age where that kind of ego boost doesn't happen anymore. This girl just knew the importance of eye contact and a pretty smile. Even if it was bit frightening!

She took my money and came back with my biscuit. She asked if I needed ketchup for my hash browns. When that transaction was finished, she gave another beautiful smile and wished me a great day.

Something interesting happened to me as I drove away from the window. I felt really good, really happy inside. It had not been a bad day by any means. My wife and I slept in. The kids were getting along well when I left. I was looking forward to my time with some children's ministry workers. But it was all suddenly better. And it all was the result of someone going out of her way to share a smile.

Naturally, it got me to thinking. Man, what a powerful experience! You might think I'm a little off kilter, but I was profoundly affected. I began to think about all the ways I could begin to practice such power. What if I just smiled more often, and even more importantly, went out of my way to share it with someone? All the ladies that work for me here at the day care know how task oriented I am. Any time I have the "man on a mission" look between tasks, some of them began to worry and ask "What's wrong?" They much rather see my happy joking face. This morning I was on the phone with a future employee and I was in the middle of a task, so I was quite focused. Very early in our conversation she asked if everything was ok because I did not seem my usual happy self. Which I found VERY interesting because you can count on one hand the number of times we have talked and all but one have been on the phone.

The power of a smile. The power of joy. Nothing profund to ponder here. I just wanted to share.