Say Cheese!

Have you ever thought about what a blessing it is to be able to smile when someone takes your picture? Have you ever pondered the amazingness of laughter, or the beauty of giggles? Is there anything more beautiful than a child staring wide-eyed at a camera, grinning from ear to ear? 

Today is my "Highlight Your Favorite Charity" day, (I really just made that up because I needed an excuse to talk about this) and one of my favorite charities, Smile Train, is bringing smiles to children worldwide by providing free cleft surgeries to millions of children who wouldn't otherwise be able to smile. Cleft lips and palates are a huge problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. Many children with clefts have trouble eating and speaking, and often the stigma associated with clefts means that these children will not be allowed to attend school. An untreated cleft palate or lip often means a life of loneliness and humiliation, especially because in many developing countries, very little is understood about the cause of clefts, which are often attributed to things like evil spirits. 

This is why Smile Train is so amazing to me! Not only are they performing surgeries for millions of children whose families couldn't afford it, they are also providing training to local doctors worldwide to help them continue the mission in their home countries. For $250, you can provide the cost for an entire surgery, and completely change the course of a child's life, and provide them with a beautiful smile as well! Possibly the best part about this, is the pictures that show up in the mail reminding you of how you've helped to put a smile on a child's face. It's a great feeling!

I know this may sound a bit like a PR brief... but I really do get super excited when I talk about this charity! I love that the problem of fixing clef palates is not something that's unattainable. And for someone like me who's scientifically challenged, and will never go to med school, I can still have a part in helping to fix the smiles of children worldwide. Love it, love it, love it!!!

~Jasmine

These are all pictures that Smile Train has sent me. Are these kids adorable or what?!

I'm done!!!!!!

Finished. Completed. Concluded. Over. Accomplished. Executed. Fulfilled. Done. Wrapped Up. Ended. Finalized. Achieved.

I'm done! And I'm happy! My last assignments for school were just submitted, and I feel so relieved! One more thing to check off my "Ta-da!" list, and now to figure out what I'm going to do with all my extra time...

~Jazzy

:D <---------- This is me with a really big smile on my face, because I wasn't able to upload an actual picture. 

Uncertainty. Oh so beautiful!

Yesterday, it was warm and beautiful. I broke out my t-shirts and capris, and started making summer swimming plans. Yesterday, it seemed as if spring might have been here to stay, and that all my tomorrows would be warm. Today though, it's cold. Big fluffy flakes of snow are swirling around the window as I warm myself with a cup of cocoa. Today, I'm not really sure what to think about tomorrow.

Uncertainty. To me, the only thing certain about that word is that it throws me off balance. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on what to expect- it snows! Isn't that just how life is sometimes? Just when you're starting to settle in to a routine, you're sent off on an adventure, or you're hit with a storm, or you're caught in a blizzard wearing flip-flops. Sometimes you think you've got a pretty good idea of what tomorrow is going to look like, and it turns out to be completely wrong!

As I sit drinking my cocoa, pondering the uncertainty of life, I am struck by the fact that, while the sunshine and warmth of yesterday was beautiful, the chill and quiet of the air today is also beautiful. Unplanned. Unexpected. Unforeseen. And beautiful. These days, I'm learning that even if God changes my plans, He never ceases to provide me with something beautiful. I'm in the last few days of school, and while I am super excited for it to be over, the end of school also represents a tomorrow that I'm not too sure what to think about. Will it be sunny or cold? What's the plan? What's next? *shrug* I don't know. But I know that it's going to be beautiful!

It's kind of comforting don't you think?

~Jasmine

Sunroof: reminder that Jesus loves me!

Oh my goodness! Do you smell that? There's a fresh smell on the air, and I think it's spring! I don't know what it is, but there's just something different in the smell, and feel of the air when winter finally starts to loosen its grip, and spring slowly begins to tiptoe in.

It was so beautiful yesterday, I had a hard time not twirling and dancing everywhere I went. It was warm, and sunshiny; the sky was bright blue, and I got to drive around with my windows down, and my sunroof open. I absolutely love my sunroof. It's about as close as I'll ever get to a convertible, and there's something totally carefree about the sound of the wind rushing over my head as I drive, sun on my shoulders, music turned up, and bare feet on the gas pedal- oh yes!

What I love most about my sunroof is that every time I open it, I am reminded of just how very loved I am by Jesus. Last spring, the car I was driving started to die. Bless that little car- it was 18 years old, had almost 300,000 miles, sometimes stalled at red lights, and had trouble going up hills. It was quite the trooper. When I came to the sad realization that I needed a new car, I began my internet search. Craigslist and Google became my most-visited pages, and many a lunch break was spent pouring over classified ads. After months of searching and coming up empty, I was starting to get discouraged. I had a California road-trip planned, and did not relish the thought of braving the LA freeways in my little tired vehicle. One night, I decided to make a list of what I needed in a car, read the list to God, and see what happened from there (Yes, as if God didn't already know what I needed).

List of things I'm looking for in a car
1. It has to be within my budget
2. I'm going to need something with significantly less miles
3. I'd love to have a Toyota again (I'm a big fan of Toyota cars)
4. I love my sunroof, and it would make me beyond happy if my next car had a sunroof too.


As I looked at my list, I started to think how silly it was of me to include the sunroof. Obviously, having a sunroof doesn't affect the way a car drives, and if I'm being practical, the only thing that matters is whether the car gets me from point A to point B. "Well I guess the sunroof's not that important God, but that would be sweet!" 


Well guess what dear reader? A few weeks later, I bought a car that was $300 under my budget, had more than 100,000 fewer miles, happened to be a nicer Toyota model than the one I had, and yes... it had a sunroof! Every time I open that sunroof and feel the sun on my face, or watch the stars as I drive home, I am reminded of how very much my Jesus loves me! 


Think God doesn't care about the little things? Think again. I've got my sunroof!


~Jazzy

I took this picture at a red light, and I think the person next to me thought I was weird.

Go Pack, Go!

The theme of the day was cheese. Cheese and crackers, cheetos, chili cheese fritos, pigs-in-a-blanket with cheese, nacho cheese... you get the idea. It was a good day for the cheese heads yesterday! Is there anything sweeter than watching your team win the Superbowl? It was a happy day at my house last night- as the clock ticked down the last seconds of the game, we all stood up and cheered. There was dancing, high-fiving, jumping, screaming, and crying. Can you tell- we like us a little football? (And I'm just kidding about the crying...) We are one proud Green Bay Packer family today!

And guess what? Only 6 months left till football season starts again!

~Jazzy

 

 
 

Learning to jump...

For those of you who haven't heard, I went to New Zealand last fall, and while I was there, one of the epic things that I did was go skydiving. I don't consider myself much of a thrill-seeker, but skydiving has been on my bucket list for ages, so I was completely excited to be able to check it off in a country as gorgeous as  New Zealand. Oh my goodness! For a few seconds, I remember screaming- my mouth getting dry with the rush of air- and then realizing that I couldn't hear myself. It took me a bit to come to grips with the fact that I had just tumbled out of a plane- and lived! I had no idea how peaceful I would feel floating 12,000 feet above the ground. It was more spectacularly beautiful than I could've ever imagined, and it was so delightful and comforting to know that my instructor was taking care of everything, and I just got to enjoy the ride. 


Last year, the big thing that God taught me was that I could wait patiently, and know that he would provide for me just when I needed it. All year long, I practiced living in trust, and all year long, I saw Him supply my needs at just the right moment. Well, I have a feeling that this year is going to be building off of last year. This year, I think I will have to move beyond waiting. This year, I think I'm going to learn how to jump. This year, I want to learn to leap from the plane, and know that He's going to open the parachute. It's a scary feeling- getting ready to jump. But there's something peaceful about knowing that my Jesus is taking care of everything.  I don't know exactly what this means for me, or in what way it will apply to my life, but I'm excited to find out, and there's no one I'd rather free-fall with than Jesus!


~Jasmine

Lessons from an onion

I so love lessons that are learned from random, everyday occurrences. Such was the case for me yesterday. I was planning dinner, and one of the items needed was an onion. I have a love/hate relationship with onions. I love the way they make food taste, but hate the way they make my breath and hands smell, and I absolutely hate to cut onions because of the way I can't stop crying while I'm cutting. Yesterday, I had the onion to top all onions. Tears were running down my face, my makeup was smearing, and as hard as I tried, I could not re-open my eyes once the toxic fumes had reached them. (Now that I think about it, it was probably a really bad idea to keep cutting at that point...) If someone could figure out how to turn the smell of onions into a weapon, it would be a discovery of epic proportions because I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could stand against it. 

 Anyway... My lesson from the onion is just this: sometimes in life, the things that make us cry the hardest, are the things that add the most flavor. Sometimes, the hardest circumstances produce the sweetest results. It's the lowest points of a story that make the ending all the happier. My soup wouldn't be as tasty without those onions that make me cry, and my life wouldn't be as rich without the things that make me cry either. 

So as I enjoy my soup today, I'm thankful for the onions, and thankful for the reminder that the hard things that I've gone through are the things that have made my life so much sweeter!


~Jazzy

You can't quite tell, but I'm really, really crying here