"Sometimes she said, 'A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.'  And it was true.  

If you turned up the corners of your mouth, you just couldn't help smiling!"  - A Lion in the Box 

(oh how we loved this book!)

Debi Pearl once shared a story where her husband mentioned the "pretty clerk down at the general store."  For the life of her she could not recall a 'pretty' woman working there. All she was aware of was a rather homely, heavy set woman.  When referring to her by name her husband said, "Yes! that's the one!"  She was puzzled by this but when they visited the store the next time she noticed how the woman was always laughing and smiling and her enthusiasm was infectious. So infectious, it was, that it transformed her into a most attractive, engaging person despite her natural physical attributes, someone whom people flocked  around and whose presence brightened the room.

She paused and took note.  One of those pondered in your heart moments.

A fascinating post script to that story was that some time later they ran into the same woman in the grocery store, ranting at her daughter, her face twisted in anger and disgust.  When her name was mentioned the husband could not believe it was her. The very same?  Yes, it was.  In her agitated state she bore so little resemblance to the bright and sunny woman they had come to know he could not even recognize her.  

I think of this story often lately. Everyone is beautiful when they smile. Smiles turn wrinkles into happy exclamations – for which I am eternally grateful lol.  They draw those around us in and warm cold hearts. Even our own. 

I have come to realize that a smile does not have to depend upon everything going well. It does not need to mean that we approve of all that happens around us. It does not rely upon the behavior of others nor the accomplishment of our goals, nor the happy resolution of our problems.  Rather it is a vote of confidence. It is a salute to the One who works it all for good no matter. It is a gift to others.  It is a gift to ourselves. I am determining not to be stingy with smiles.  They are free after all and tend to multiply as we give them away.

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.  ~Author Unknown

(Shown above are mitts knit by the gypsy. LOVE love LOVE them.  Thank you for making me smile!  Sending you back a smile of your own from a happy little mug from my childhood.)