Every morning as I’m driving in to work, I pass Randolph, one of the nicer private schools in town. It’s usually a fairly uneventful part of my day, but lately, it’s been different. You see, the police officer stationed there to direct traffic is a young African-American lady. Every time I see her, she has the biggest smile on her face. At first, I thought maybe she was just extremely happy that day. Maybe it’s her birthday or something. Maybe she just thought of a joke. Maybe she’s laughing at me! But then I noticed the same expression on her face the next day. And the next day. And the next day! No matter if it’s raining, sleeting, snowing, her expression is always the same. She’s constantly smiling, finding immense joy in what for most people would be a mind-numbingly boring task. I started thinking about how something that seems so insignificant (a smile) can make such an enormous difference in my life. I find myself smiling back at her now, and I feel better about everything after I see her each morning, dutifully carrying out her task with unmistakeable joy. She’s caused me to evaluate my attitude, my disposition. More than that, I want to be LIKE her. I want to be the one who brings joy to others. I want my expression to be as infectious as hers is. I’ve never spoken a word to her, and I don’t even know if she’s a Christian or not, yet I thank God for the traffic-cop lady and her irrepressible joy!