The Power of a Smile
Heather wept. Though she is normally bubbly and friendly, she’s sad because school is letting out for the summer.
Heather has enjoyed the children since beginning to drive a bus last fall. She’s sad she won’t be able to greet them each day as they go to and from school.
I learned that Heather was a bus driver when she posted a FaceBook picture of smiling children peering around bus seats on their last day of school. Their glowing faces communicated that Heather has blessed them too.
I thought of Mr. Bowman, my school bus driver when I was in early elementary school. I only knew him through riding the bus, but sixty years later, I still smile inside when I think of him.
Even brief encounters can make a big difference in a person’s day and his feelings about himself.
After seeing Heather’s post, I’ve wondered if the greatest return on her job—and that of other drivers—could be the positive impact made on the hearts and souls of the children in her care. Her love and care for the children went beyond safe driving.
Things are often rushed and tense at home as families try to get out the door in time. At school, a classmate may say something hurtful, a test didn’t go so well, or the teacher had a bad day. What a lift it would be to receive a bright smile and a lift from somebody that cares as you transition from one scene to the other.
A bus driver can offer a balm to a student who is stressed, hurt, lonely, or disappointed.
But kids aren’t the only ones who need encouragement. Adults also have days that drag us down. We don’t ride school buses, but there are times when a greeting and a smile brightens our world and provides energy to keep going.
Likewise, we have the opportunity to offer a cheery lift through a greeting and smile—in the home, the job, or going to and fro. Few of us drive a school bus, but we can all be “Heathers” in the grocery line, the library, and while waiting at a doctor’s office.
School may be coming to a close for the year, but life goes on and so does our opportunity to share the power of a greeting and a smile.
What is desired in a man is kindness (Prov. 19:22).
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all,
especially to those who are of the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).