An Experienced Smile

This morning I am thinking about the sign I saw while I waited for my cup of coffee at the Dunkin’ Donut drive-thru window.  The sign said, "Looking for Experienced Smiles."  It prompted me to pause and contemplate my own smile.  I know that in one season of my life I had a naive smile.  Fueled by idealism and inexperience, it was a smile from a heart and imagination that believed anything was possible because I really hadn’t tried to do very much yet.  Behind that smile, I pitied those who were sad and scoffed at those who were cynical.  I couldn’t relate to either, and I couldn’t imagine that I ever would.  In another season of life, I had a go-along-to-get-along, fake-it-‘til-you-make it smile.  Fueled by a desire to be polite and pleasing to others, it was a smile from a heart that was guarded and increasingly disillusioned.  I had gradually grown to believe that real happiness and success were ultimately a function of chance, so it didn’t really matter how hard I tried at anything.  The important thing was to portray an image of happiness and success.  Behind that smile, I wondered if anyone could see just how sad and cynical I was on the inside.  But I now find myself in a season in which I think of my smile as an incredible gift that often connects me to others in a powerful way…somewhat like high beams on foggy paths of life where faith is tried and uncertainty looms large.  I am not living out this earthly experience in a bubble of isolation.  Not only can my best achievements and sweetest moments be a blessing to others…so can my worst mistakes and deepest heartaches, if I choose to yield them in faith and trust, understanding that God has a plan.  So, now I have the kind of smile that is void of pity or judgment, but fueled by compassion and understanding. Behind my smile, I’m usually thinking “I wonder what good thing God is going to bring out of this?  I wonder what amazing way He is going to provide in this situation.  I wonder who I’m here to bless today.  I wonder if today is the day I see the answer to my prayers manifested.”  I guess what I have now could be called an experienced smile.  It has endured fear, pain, loss, rejection, disappointment, and loneliness.  And it has not only survived, it has been refined.  It is not a smile of obligation, but a smile of declaration that my God is so faithful and so good!  All that’s left to say to that is “Cheese!”