Smiley Face

"I have a friend who's just because of the way his face is made, he looks as though he's never smiling, and I remember him saying..his grandmother said to him one day, 'You keep that look on your face and one day God will freeze it.'  I actually think that happens.  I mean some of us are facially put together in such a way that we seem to be constantly smiling.  That's so irritating, isn't it?  But you know, nobody with ordinary health is incapable of smiling.  And some people almost seem to make a point of not smiling...Sometimes when I look into this face that used to be a young boy, I think, 'Have I made this face by the way I've lived?"  You do, don't you? You make your face.  It kind of settles in. Whether it's physiological or whether it's just disposition it settles in. You never smile.  You never laugh.  You're a frowner."
-Sinclair Ferguson

Sometimes when I have conversation classes with some of my students, I like to ask them what they would change if there was one thing they could change about themselves.  Whenever I used to aim this question at myself, the first thing I usually thought of was physical appearance.  I had wished I would look more like this or less like that.  But I know that if I were to ask my parents what they could change about me, they would say something along the same lines of my answer.  They would wish that I smiled more.

Next year is 2013.  That's the year when my California driver's license expires.  Three months later, that's when my passport expires.  Three months after that, that's when my visa expires.  That's the year I turn 30 (Korean age).  I remember telling someone that I thought it was going to be a very special year with all of the mentioned coincidences lined up one after another.  I remember thinking so many of my questions would be answered by then.

2012 is here.  Most of my questions remain unanswered.  When questions remain unanswered, it's hard to smile.  It's hard to laugh.  It's easy to be a frowner.  But I am hopeful.  I am hopeful because God gives me reasons to smile even when my questions become even bigger, more difficult questions.  I am hopeful because our mistakes and accidents are not coincidences, and our successes and joys are planned to the very last detail.  I am hopeful because even when you don't see me smile, God is turning me into someone who will never frown ever again.  But till then, I'll try to smile more.  =D

Thought of the Day:  Do you know the Muffinman?
Song of the Day:  Park Bom-You And I