A great smile at the grocery store.
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Our family has been visiting family in Saint Louis since Tuesday. On Wednesday evening Cassandra and I went on double date with her brother and his wife.
After dinner we needed to pick up a few things from the grocery store. As Cassandra and I were turning the corner of an aisle, an older couple saw us and as we passed, the man said, “now that’s a great smile”
We both turned to look at him, and he cracked a joke about how I ought to smile like my wife. I guess I have a serious resting face, or maybe I find grocery stores a somber setting.
He then said something that I’ve never heard before. He looked at Cassandra and said, “you must have Jesus in your life with a smile like that.”
He then talked about how when he sees people who look unhappy, he tells them how to find JOY; Jesus first, others second, yourself last.
This was rather profound for us because that acronym was the exact same advice our temple sealer used when we got married in the Idaho Falls temple.
We stood and had a short conversation and then parted ways. An uncommon interaction to have in a grocery store but one I’m not going to forget quickly.
I clearly need to do a better job of not looking so morose. I do believe in Jesús but so often I cave to fear, worry and anxiety, which no doubt is reflected in my countenance.
Cassandra on the other hand often defaults to faith, hope and optimism. She smiles a lot, laughs a lot, and loves abundantly. She fixes her focus of Jesus with simplicity. She is rarely cynical or skeptical and I’ve never heard her once express language of doubt in Jesus.
There seems to be an increasing number of unhappy, discontented and fractious people in our communities and countries. Like the man who dropped the F-bomb three times when describing Walmart employees after I helped him find the parsnips… I don’t work at Walmart, I was just helping him. I see these attitudes in myself sometimes.
Perhaps the cure to all the ills that plague the world really is that we need to return to Jesus, focus on Jesus, follow Jesus and try to do what Jesus would do, and ultimately become like Jesus.
I’ve found personally that when I put Jesus first, life becomes a little sweeter, a little more joyful.
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