People

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An eleven-year-old girl named Sarah had Bell's Palsy to the left side of her face since she was born. This paralysis was a result from her mother who did drugs during pregnancy. All her life, Sarah did not have the ability to smile. When I heard this story, I thought how unfortunate. I cannot imagine not smiling -- even for one day.

Sarah's inability to smile finally took a toll, and she wrote an open letter to her classmates who would sometimes ridicule her. It was published in her school paper.

"Dear Friends: Do not look upon me with sorrow or pity. Do not judge me because I cannot smile. That does not mean I'm not happy. Look past the absence of my smile and get to know the real me, because if you do you will find a smile that cannot be explained for it is Christ within me who is my hope and true joy."

No smile for Sarah did not mean she wasn't happy. And I suppose if she could smile she probably would because she learned that a real smile can only come from genuine joy -- the kind that Jesus gives and never takes away.

"For you are our glory and joy," 1 Thessalonians 2:20, ESV.

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