My daughter Morgan is a hoot. If there is anyone who can say a zillion words in a day, it would be her. She was blessed with an outgoing personality – sometimes a little too outgoing, according to her teachers at school. God love her! But she loves to talk. She loves to socialize. She loves to laugh. Overall, she is a really happy kid.

As a result, I have to give her the credit – she coined the phrase I used above. Every time someone we meet or interact with is nice, she says “I love nice people!”

If the Wendys cashier is especially nice and friendly, she says it. If she sees someone helping a stranger in the mall, she says it. If she is blessed with a teacher who cares about their students and makes learning fun, she says it. If she meets a new friend whom she likes, she says it.

It has been a great reminder for me, to be one of those nice people! Because I love nice people too!

And I have to be honest, I especially dislike un-nice people. Apparently God did not give me that special and rare gift of loving those sandpaper in my life. I have had some sandpaper people in my life of whom practically made my life miserable, and I can tell you that it is no fun. It is amazing actually, how the hurtful actions of one or two people can cause you to lose your smile, even when so many other things in your life are going wonderfully.

God instructs us to be nice to people, even if they are not nice to us, and forgive them. So being that way and granting that forgiveness is always a commitment – and it can start with a smile! Just trying to maintain that genuine smile, even if there are certain people or circumstances who try to steal it away. God is bigger than any of those things!

As my sweet Morgan constantly reminds me how she loves nice people, it has prompted and reminded me that I need to always try to BE one of those nice people. One of those people that someone else will see, and say “hey, she is nice. I love nice people!”.

A few years ago, I was getting some groceries at the grocery store, just minding my own business, going down my list, and trying to get out of there to get home to all my other pressing motherly duties. I went to check out, pulled my wallet from my purse, still in another mental world of my own and not interacting with the clerk, until I heard the young man say “Smile! It cant be all that bad!”.

At first, I thought – how rude! But then I realized, that I must have been looking grumpy, unhappy, or discouraged – and in all honesty, I wasnt feeling that way at all! The expression on my face portrayed something that I was not feeling, because I was focused on me, and nobody else. And his smile, made me smile! Smiles are contagious!

After that day, I made it a personal commitment to try to smile more. Sometimes smiling is something we have to practice, especially when we are just minding our own business, buying groceries or walking through the mall.

I had another example happen just recently. I was riding somewhere with my husband and we were sitting in the car at a stoplight. I looked down at the car beside me (because we have a big SUV and there was a little compact car beside us), and a man was staring up at me. Now I could have given him a weird look for staring at me, or simply just looked away and pretended that we actually did not make eye contact. Instead, I smiled a big smile at him – and he smiled back! And then he kept smiling after we drove off! It made me chuckle.

I have so many countless reasons to smile, and so many blessings to warm my heart. Even when I am having a bad day, or going through a difficult time, I can always find some reason to smile. Believe me, some days I forget that though. I get caught up with life, and forget to be caught up with what God has done for me in this life. Happens to the best of us!

But the key is remembering that one little smile can go a long way. One little smile or kind word can lift someones spirits for the rest of the day – and in the meantime, we get our spirits lifted as well! Something about smiling just makes one happy!

So as you go about your day, your week, your month – remember to smile! Try to be extra nice! You never know, you might even make someone say, “I love nice people!”.

Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you

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