Ode To Annie...

There are a few movies I saw as a child that I have very clear memories...and some attachment to:

ET...
{I definitely cried with I thought he was dead and rejoiced when I found out he wasn't!}
Battle for Endor...
{Yes, the Ewok movie!  I so desperately wanted a pet ewok as a kid
...and may or may not still want one!}
Gremlins...
{This is NOT a good memory! I had such horrible nightmares and I am pretty sure I remember my older cousins getting in trouble for letting me watch this with them at such a young age.}
Annie...
{This was my older sister's favorite, but really, but who doesn't love a red-haired orphan that sings?
I even bought the soundtrack years later...judge if you will, but I loved it. }

 There are many others, for sure. But these are the ones that stand out the most to me right now. And as I was looking through some pictures from a recent trip to a village, a song from Annie came rushing to my mind...

 Here is the picture that sent me down memory lane:

...and the song was "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile"

I spend a fair amount of time being somewhat confused by my surroundings here in Cambodia...
 Language. Tradition. Culture. Expectations. Unspoken implications. My solution to all of this?

Smile

I can attest to the fact that a smile can certainly leave a lasting impression, even if you never say a single understandable word. When I was in this village (as the first white-skinned foreigner that has ever been there, I might add), I had lots of people asking me questions, speaking faster than I could understand, and carrying on conversations about me while I was sitting there. I tried very hard to follow, but it was less than easy to say the least. These ladies in the picture kinda hung around near me throughout the few hours that I was at this house, all the while talking and watching me.  And I must give all the credit to God as He continues to give me the grace and heart for this nation to not be too overwhelmed.

I may not have been able to communicate in words, but I did what I could. I smiled. Genuinely. And later, when I got the "reports" on what the villagers thought about me, they all said that I was very nice, friendly, respectful, kind-hearted and lovely. This from people that I didn't actually have a conversation with, but they said they could see it through my smile.

Good thing, because that is all I can do sometimes.  So I make sure to always go "fully dressed."