Smile

Earlier this week, I had an experience that does not happen too often in my world. I had just found a CD that had six songs from my brother’s little high school band and was listening to it on the way to a family dinner. My brother and I were pretty close during those days and I was reminiscing about that great time in my life. I could remember all of the concerts at Daybreak Coffee House, the late nights we would stay up and talk, how we would play his guitar in the stairwell of our basement (I guess the sound was better in that echoey space), and leading worship in our student ministry.

The funny thing was, I had a smile on my face that would just not go away. Not an ordinary everyday smile, but a deep, genuine, BIG smile. The more I realized that I had a big smile on my face while I was all alone in my car, the more I was aware that it wasn’t going away. The more I paid attention to it, the bigger it became. Not that I wanted it to go away, but it was a weird phenomenon all the same.

When I finally arrived at my destination, I finished up listening to the last song, took a deep breath, and then tried to wipe the smile away. I guess I just didn’t want to have to explain why I had this gigantic smile on my face. It was almost embarrassing, a little out of control, and I guess a little personal all at the same time.

The LBD Dual Significance: I think it is absolutely awesome how our emotions have no knowledge of time. What made me smile happened about 10 years ago, but I was feeling happy about it in the present. My emotions didn’t know that it wasn’t happening in the present because I was thinking about it at that moment. So, it’s almost like I was able to experience the joy of that time in my life over again just because I was thinking about it. Wow, how powerful our thoughts are. I want my thoughts to be on…. whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. Phil 4:8