People are precious

People make me smile.

And, like Buddy the Elf, smiling is my favorite.

I don't believe anyone on this earth is an accident, and we all have our own unique purposes and impact others in different ways. I've been trying to appreciate people more and not get frustrated with others when they do things to upset me. I've also been making efforts to be more thankful for the people who continue to bless me—whether they know it or not—because it's too easy to get caught up in your own little world and take for granted some of the people who matter the most to you.

And I really love when the exact people we need in our lives are sent to our worlds at the exact moments we need them the most.

It might be the barista at Starbucks who complemented you on your hair on a morning when you had rolled your eyes after looking in the mirror, because you felt like you were just having an ugly day.

It might be the Walmart employee who asked you if you needed help carrying your purchases to your car and then said, "Giirrrrlllllll, it's payin' off. Look at you bein' all Wonder Woman!" after you told her, "No, thanks. I lift weights twice a week."

Truth

It might be the cashier at your favorite restaurant who knows your order by heart and gets a styrofoam cup that's normally only for fountain drinks ready for you when he sees you walk in the door, because he knows you don't like the condensation that too easily forms on the other cups reserved for water only.

It might be a former student who sends you a note that says, "My journalism teacher just told me I'm the first student in all of his classes ever to make a 100 on his test, so now I have proof that you're the best teacher (:" during her first year of college on a day when you were questioning just how great of an impact you were actually having on your kiddos.

It might be the lady at Target who said, "Oh, heavens!" when you ran back inside asking if anyone had seen your phone that you lost. Then, when you realized it was in your pocket, all she could say was, "Oh, Lord, help her." (You don't even want to know what she said when you hustled quickly out of the store and slammed into the doors that weren't automatic, but you thought they were.)

It might be your best friends, who constantly keep you smiling with their ridiculous antics. They might make fun of you from time to time, but you know they would drop everything and do anything the second you need them to do something for you. (You know, like help you move into your new apartment and not let you do any of the work but then tell people that you did nothing to help.)

It might be your older brother, who unexpectedly gives you money to pay for your car inspection when you had jokingly (but kind of seriously) said that he should pay for it, because you had to fork over a ridiculous amount of money to get a new car battery that same morning.

Or it might be your baby sister, who comes into your room when you just want to be left alone and sits with you until you start to feel better and even start laughing with her. It's possible she gave you one of her signature kick-a$* pep talks in the process.

Life is full of people, and God puts them all right where He wants them when He wants them there. Some of them have tremendous impacts on our lives, while others are brief flashes of light to brighten our hearts for a bit; some of them boost our morales, while others bring us down or break our hearts; some of them make us smile and laugh, while others leave us with tear-stained cheeks; some of them show us genuine love, while others show us why the world needs more love; and some of them reveal what it means to be bold, while others remind us why we're often afraid to live with our hearts wide open.

And, the crazy thing is, we are just as often those very same people to every person we encounter on a daily basis. No meeting is by chance, and you are put into people's paths every day intentionally.

Bob Goff, author of Love Does, said, "God doesn't throw rocks at our windows hoping to get our attention; He sends us our friends." It's just one more way He shows us His love by working through other people, and it's truly remarkable that He can use such imperfect people to reveal His perfect love to others.

So maybe it's better just to let people let you smile—it might just become your favorite, too.