Changing the World One Smile at a Time :)

Monica, Me, & Amee at trivia night for the Smile Train on Saturday night

Just got back from a trivia night to help sponsor a very cool org called the Smile Train. This international charity provides clef lip and clef palate surgeries for children in need in over 75 countries around the world.

Many children in other parts of the world are casted out of their community. They are often teased, not allowed to attend school, and cannot hold a job.

Here is a quick excerpt from their website of a story about a little girl's life who was changed by this org.

Little Pinki suffered for 6 long years.
Treated like an outcast, tormented by children who threw rocks at her and called her Torn Lip. Never allowed to go to school. There were times when her father thought she’d be better off dead.
Then one day, a social worker told her parents about The Smile Train. Pinki and her Dad walked 70 kilometers and she received free surgery that gave her not just a new smile, but a second chance at life.
Millions of children just like Pinki are waiting for the same life-changing surgery. Some have been waiting for 10, 15 even 25 years.
For a simple surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes—and costs as little as $250.

Tonight they raised $11,000. How amazing to think about how many childrens lives will be forever changed!

http://www.smiletrain.org.uk/site/PageServer

Check out Ice Kitchen

Last night I met up with some friends at a new place in Westport Plaza called Ice Kitchen. We were invited to a family/friend night by a friend who is one of the co-owners of Ice Kitchen.

This restaurant/vodka bar features tapas with a fusion taste of Latin American, Mediterranean, and Asian flavors. Tapa prices range from $9-15 and they are open for lunch and I heard the lunch menu rocks! A neat feature is the ice bar which has an ice-topped counter that keeps your drink cool. I love the interior decor, it has a great flare!

We dined outside (such a beautiful evening last night) and then later moved inside for a while for live music and a dj. I had a tomato salad as an appetizer and then an order of their risotto for my main tapa. Excellent! My highlight was ordering a martini flight. I love martinis and they have an awesome selection to order from. My flight consisted of chocolate banana (best choc martini i've had), cool flirt (my new fav), and gold digger (pineapple flavor, great for the summer;)

Last night we did have to wait awhile for the food (they have only been open for two weeks). It was a family/friend night to give the kitchen a chance to get hit hard with orders. So, they were hit hard. In return, there were some discounts and free tapas and drinks to sample. I'm sure in a couple of weeks all the major kinks will be sorted out and things will be flowing smoothly.

Great place to meet up with some friends for happy hour or to hang out on the weekends!

Definitely check it out!


Ice Kitchen
302 Westport Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63146
314-542-2000

RESPONDING TO INJUSTICE

While surfing the net today to catch up on some world news...I came across a disturbing story. It has been reported that the father of a 9-year-old "Slumdog Millionaire" star tried to sell his daughter to an undercover reporter (pretending to be a sheik) for $300,000. This allegation is under investigation and at this time the father is denying such claims.

When I read this story, thoughts flooded my mind...

...of places I visited in India and Thailand where children were being sold into slavery.

How much is a human life worth?


Sex traffiking has been around for centuries and continues to grow as a global problem. It is estimated that around 1.2 million children are traffiked each year. Fifty percent of these victims are children and around 70 percent are female. It can be found in Japan, India, Thailand, Eastern Europe, Brazil, and yes, even the US.

Children are sold into prostitution for an array of reasons. Some children are born into prostitution to support the family or it may be a form of bonded labor. They might be roped in by being tricked, drugged, or abducted. Because traffiking is so lucrative and growing in tourism, there is a demand. Often, these young children are promised to be fed, clothed, and educated. This never happens! When the pimps are finished with these children, either because of disease, sickness, or age, they are thrown out on the streets. Sometimes, these children are bought into slavery for as little as 10 dollars.

Hmmm....what you or I might pay for our dinner or a movie ticket...is the cost of a human life. That is disturbing to me.


I know, reading this information stirs a lot of thoughts and emotions in us. It grieves me. I feel angry. I feel overhwhelmed and hopeless at trying to fight such a global problem. Emotions are God given. Like I teach kids, they are detection signals in our body to alarm us that something is good or bad. How we respond is what makes it right or wrong. God allows us to feel. It is a way for us to connect with Him and others. What do we do with these feelings? How are we responding to these feelings?

Several years ago I attended a conferenece in Southeast Asia. I'll never forget listening to the speaker share about his stories and how he dealt with all the tragedy he witnessed in the world. He had traveled to some rough places and has ministered to some very broken people.

His response: "respond to injustice with justice"


How do we as Christians extend justice to an unjust world? An uunjust cause?

It's easy to turn a blind eye or frown upon these realities and say "that's ashame". Or, to think about and then block out the thoughts because they are difficult to face. And it is. But, I beleive as Christians we are called to respond to injustice. We serve a God that calls us to rise up and extend mercy, compassion, and justice.

How do we do this?

Extending justice can take on many forms. It is becoming aware of what is going on in this world. Take time to learn about human traffiking. There's lots of literature out there. Take time to see what orgs and ministries are intervening. I know it can seem burdensome, but there are many cool stories and miracles of children being rescued. There is hope!

It's about becoming an advocate for the voiceless. Share what you learn with others. Make them aware. Look for ways you can partner with orgs and ministries to help end slavery. There are many ways to get involved through being an advocate, financial support, prayer, or giving your time through volunteering.

It's spending time in prayer and getting God's heart for these children and crying out for their lives. Take time in your pesonal prayer life and band together with other Christians in prayer. Pray for these children and the amazing people that are out there fighting for these kids freedom.

Child traffiking is an area that I carry heavy on my heart. Stay tuned for future posts that will highlight some of these countries and what's currently taking place as well as stories and ways to get connected.

What are you passionate about?

What change do you want to see in this world?

What are you doing to bring about this change?


How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank

Anyone know how the Easter Bunny and decorating eggs ties into Easter?

(I know, my eggs were a little pathetic this year in the area of creativity. A bit last minute with all the hype)


Ever since I was a kid I have enjoyed decorating eggs every year for Easter. Even as an adult, I still like to decorate eggs! Easter candy is my favorite holiday candy, especially the Cadbury eggs;) I still look forward to getting a chocolate Easter bunny every year from my mom. This year while I was coloring my eggs and indulging in my candy, I thought about this trivial tradition…..eggs….a bunny….and Easter…how do they all fit together? I know the Christian meaning of Easter, but how does the bunny and eggs fit in?

Have you ever thought about how the Easter bunny ties into Easter? After all, why is a life-size bunny hopping around delivering eggs?

Christians observe Easter as the celebration of Christ’s rising, but the holiday traditions can be traced to legends and customs of pagan origins that have been passed down for centuries.

Even before the egg became a Christian Easter symbol it was a rite of spring festivals. Pagan’s saw the egg as a sign of rebirth of the earth. In Christianity, the egg symbolizes the rebirth of man. The decorating of eggs dates back to the middle ages in England. The egg is a sign of new life, just like a chick hatches from an egg. In the Medevil Europe, eggs were forbidden during Lent. During the strict Lenten, no eggs were consumed for forty six days. During Easter, the consumption of eating eggs resumed. In celebration, the eggs were often decorated.

The Easter bunny and tradition of decorating eggs are not a recent invention. The bunny dates back to the pagan festival. The goddess, Eostre, was worshiped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. During the springtime, this goddess was worshiped in hope of sunshine and new birth. Originally, the bunny was a symbol of fertility.

The next historical entry under the bunny & egg is found fifteen hundred years later in Germany. There, children would eagerly await the arrival of the Oschter Haws, a rabbit who delighted children on Easter morning by laying colored eggs in nests. This was also the first known time that the rabbit and egg were iconoclastically linked together.

The Germans are credited with bringing the Easter bunny to America. Christians did not acknowledge this tradition till shortly after the Civil War which is also around the same time Easter became widely celebrated in the US. For the last 200 years, the Easter Bunny has become the most commercially acknowledged symbol of Easter.

So there you go….a glimpse of Easter traditions and how the Easter bunny and decorating eggs fits into Easter!

Happy Easter!

CIAO ITALY

Last year I went to Paris with three girlfriends. We had a blast soaking up the culture and food:) We had so much fun that we decided we need to take a crazy adventure every so often. In June 2010, we are planning a trip to Italy. I've never been and I'm getting excited already! If you are interested, let me know and I'll fill you in on details as things develop.

Anyone been to Italy?

Love to hear about your experience!

No Choice for Medical Professionals Who Oppose Abortion

by Steve Watters on Apr 7, 2009 at 4:05 PM

During the campaign, Barack Obama won over a lot of pro-life Christians by saying that he wanted to reduce abortions. Our friend Gary Bauer writes today about how Obama is actually governing:

While President Obama likes to talk about “reducing the need for abortion,” his administration is taking steps to implement one of the most extreme proposals imaginable – repealing conscience protections for medical professionals. Make no mistake about the outcome of this action: religious hospitals, doctors and nurses will be forced to perform abortions or other procedures that violate their values.

Gary also shows how the polling-friendly term "pro-choice" doesn't apply to medical professionals in Obama's proposal:

This issue clearly exposes the pro-abortion extremism of Barack Obama and the Left. A woman’s “right of conscience” is protected to the extent that she can decide whether or not her unborn baby lives or dies. Now the pro-abortion Left wants to take away the right of conscience from doctors and nurses who want no part in the destruction of innocent human life. That is not “pro-choice” – it is pro-abortion.

Gary adds to his update information on how concerned voters can make their voice heard on this decision:

As required by law, the administration is accepting public comments before it takes further action on this outrageous proposal. The comment period ends on April 9th. Please respectfully share your thoughts with the Department of Health and Human Services by visiting www.regulations.gov or by sending an E-mail to proposedrescission@hhs.gov.

"How you treat creation reflects how you feel about the creator."

Over the weekend I posted a quote on FB from a book I'm reading. People started posting comments and asking questions. It started to get lengthy. I decided to post it on a blog.

To catch you up to speed....

I posted a quote from a book I'm reading by Rob Bell titled "Sex God". (See to right for more details on this book). The quote was "the way you treat creation is a reflection of how you see the creator." The author goes on to talk about how with every decision, conversation, gesture, comment, action, and attitude, we are inviting heaven or hell to earth.

It is interesting how quotes can spark a trail of thoughts depending what is going on in a person's life. When I posted this quote, I was reflecting on how Christians treat others. I was thinking about an incident I recently encountered with another Christian and how it made me feel. How our words, attitudes, and actions impact others lives. We either breathe life or death into others. The way we treat others reflects how we see and value God's character. If we have a revelation of God's love, we will transfer this over to how we love God and others.

What I found interesting is that the comments made regarding the quote took the direction of how this impacts our environment. What is a Christian's role in protecting our planet?

There are several verses in the Bible where God talks about man and woman having dominion over the world. This planet is God's creation and God has entrusted us to watch over His creation.

Below, I've pasted some comments that started on my FB page. I'd love to hear your thoughts too! Whether they are environmental related or not;) How does this quote speak to you?

Wow Emily, that is a powerful quote. What book is that?

love it... powerful words...

That is great, thank u for letting me know about the title of the book. At this weekly meeting Nocturne and I go to, called a PACE meeting, I am trying yo think of a way to hit home w/some of the ppl on the importanve of recycling and being e-conscious.

Many of the ppl there r from other countries where revycling and e-consciouness is not important so they know very little of the impact of thier decisions on future generations, ie the importance of recycling. Im going to mention that quote in the next PACE-thanks alot again because many of them are very faifhful peopld and want to be good w/God so I feel I may have a wzy to get through to them. Have a great week!

Amen! Why is that so many Christians put aside environmental issues? Confuses me as I think they are intertwined

Brittyne, that's an interesting point. I'm curious though...how or what helped you to conclude that they are related?

I would say Rob Bell, NT Wright and the Apostle Paul! It just seems to me if you believe in the Creator God whose creation was good and who will bring that creation to fulfillment when he comes bringing the "new heavens and new earth", then you have to believe that our stewardship of that creation is an important part of discipleship.

Ok, Paul the apostle - so contextually, can you point me to something in the Bible that Paul said or did that would support that?