At a moments notice you may need to take someone to the hospital, or rush to a friend’s house that just lost their dog. You don’t know what may come up today and is your vehicle BATTLE READY S-H-M-I-L-Y? Clearly the Bible teaches us to put on the full armor Ephesians 6. But what about your vehicle? I read this story about S-H-M-I-L-Y I found at a Christian site this week when doing my devotions at Somerset Assisted living and in the presentation of it words came I had not ever thought about before and it all had to do with the armor as you will see. Here is the story below…

SHMILY

My grandparents were married for over half a century,and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “shmily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it,It was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged “shmily” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. “Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave”shmily” on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places “shmily” would pop up. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows.

“Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’ house as the furniture. It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was away of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.

Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ’em.” Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.

But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents’ life:my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside. Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather’s steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore.For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to G~d to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.”Shmily.” It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet.

As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief,the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby. Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew that, although I couldn’t begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty.

S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.

What does that have to do with cars or armor you may ask? Allow me a little more unpacking before I get there.  As I was sharing this at Somerset it hit me, Jesus is the master of S-h-m-i-l-y, how many mornings has he greeted me with a sunrise or a cloud formation or even better. It’s that little wink Jesus gives us daily even this morning on my way to the station, my mind was filled with S-h-m-i-l-y and joy, quickly dissipated when this Diesel Truck Zoomed past me at on the right at probably twice the speed limit then went three lanes to the left to turn left at the upcoming light. As we approached the light it turned red on him before he got there and as I was beginning to the intersection I was thinking, “see all your rush didn’t get you there any faster”, that’s when I got my S-h-m-i-l-y the light went green for me but gave him no arrow it stayed red for him. I stop at that light every morning of my life and I have never seen it do that, I never even had to stop I just cruised by him laughing at what I knew was a Jesus, S-h-m-i-l-y. I laughed all the way to the station, not because I really cared that much about the poor guy waiting at the light but because it was a reminder that Jesus was right there with me.  I could in fact see how much He loved me!

Now for the armor, we are to fit our feet with the readiness of the Gospel. That’s GOOD NEWS, the Gospel itself is the ULTIMATE S-h-m-i-l-y. How could Jesus have done anymore than to die for us. This idea of beautiful are the feet of one who brings Good News is do you run like 2: Sam 18:27 “The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”

So in order for your vehicle to truly be BATTLE READY it needs to be fitted like a “Good man” who brings “Good News”, in other words when people see your car coming do they brace themselves for impact or are they seeing something in your driving that tells them S-h-m-i-l-y. Like God we too can S-h-m-i-l-y our neighbor.

Back to Jesus, S-h-m-i-l-y you for a moment, John Eldredge wrote a wonderful book call Beautiful Outlaw that is such a Journey of Jesus S-h-m-i-l-y, He has an amazing sense of humor when you see it in the scriptures. Jesus loves to play with us, that’s why you love to play with your kids, you were made in his image.  On today’s Show I am hoping you will call in and share your Jesus S-h-m-i-l-y… 866-348-7884..10am Saturday April 22, 2017…That time Jesus brought you a Deer in your Yard or a card from a forgotten friend… Let those S-h-m-i-l-y’s sink in it’s GREAT NEWS I’m telling you.