Smiling heart

He was the ugliest man in the church. Gary honestly looked like a character off the old TV show, “The Munsters.” But he had a smiling heart! 

Gary was a railroad man, accustomed to hard work with rough people.  But Gary’s heart smiled because it had a story to tell of God’s transforming power in his life, and the treasury of blessings that surprised him every day.  Gary was an unlikely choice to be a greeter, with his hard-etched face. But each Sunday he handed out bulletins to people entering the church. Just as they wondered if he was going to mug or welcome them, Gary would break out in a huge smile, and say “Welcome!”

One week, Gary’s pastor opened a note. “You don’t know me,” the woman said. “I came last Sunday as a visitor to your church. I awoke that morning with the determination to kill myself if someone didn’t show me some care. Your usher’s smile saved my life.” The smiling heart is a powerful witness of hope.

TODAY’S FOCUS
If your heart were a face, would it be smiling right now?