September 25, 2009 09/25/2009
Dear Friends and Family, A quick update on the Smith household: We just got back from our first family vacation! We drove to Longboat Key, Florida (about 18 hours) for 10 days. We were literally about yards from the beach. And the pool was just outside our back door. We had an amazing time! It was the first time Nathan, Rachel, and Anna had ever seen the ocean, Sarah hadn't seen it since she was a baby, and Elson didn't remember it either. It was so cool to be able to see their reactions! We went to the east coast to Sawgrass Community Church for church one Sunday where a friend is the pastor. I got to see a bunch of people who I'd met and had gone on trips to Haiti with me in the past which was very good. We had a very good time. We went to Hollywood Beach while we were there so the younger kids could see the Atlantic side of the state. We also went up to the Tampa Bay area to see Dad's cousin and her family. We got to spend the afternoon and evening with them and enjoyed swimming, dinner, and riding 4-wheelers. We also visited an aquarium at the very end of the trip (so no one would be afraid to get in the water after they saw what could prospectively be swimming at their feet) and got to see all kinds of new animals. Overall, it was a very relaxing time and was good for all of us. It's been a little bit hard to have Daddy go back to work after having him pretty much to ourselves for 10 days. Sarah, Nathan, Rachel, Anna, and Elson started school last Monday. It has gone very smoothly. They're working hard and getting their work done. They're each doing a book report on their favorite sea animal that they saw in Florida. So they got to go to the library the other day and pick out all of their books and are really enjoying reading about their animal and learning more about it. Rachel says that she's going to write a book about the jellyfish which is her animal. And I just started my college classes last Wednesday. It's going to be a lot of work but I think I can manage. To finish my degree in 2 years, I have to study a minimum of 4 hours a day on college stuff and about 1-3 hours a day on high school stuff. As I've been a homeschooler all of my life, I've gotten used to being able to get up and get my work done and being done, usually when working hard, within about 2-3 hours. It will be very different to have a set amount of time I have to study. I started 2 courses last Wednesday. Speed reading and Dynamic Reading. I will finish those by Monday and will, hopefully, take my first CLEP test on Analyzing and Interpreting Literature in about 2-3 weeks. And then about 2 weeks after that, Geometry. And every 2 weeks after that. If I pass these tests, and prove that I've mastered the content, I will get college credit for each of them without actually having to take the class. I've been able to connect with a couple of kids my age doing the same program through this program's online forums. I'm pretty excited! On the Haiti front: I'm still keeping in close contact with my Haitian friend, Rebecca. And like I said above, I got to see a bunch of people I know from Haiti a couple of weeks ago. And I just received the picture book I made online with a lot of my pictures from my last trip! It turned out very well! For those of you in Anderson, I'll try to keep it close to me while we're out if any of you want to see it. As always, I'm very thankful for all of you and your prayers! And I would love to hear about what's going on in your lives! Love, Emily Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 August 28, 2009 08/28/2009
Dear Friends and Family, It was necessary for me to drop out of the October trip to Haiti. Dr. Mark Fulton wrote a check today for the flight tickets and I hadn't yet earned all the money. I don't know if it's because I haven't realized I'm not going yet or because I'm still hoping to go, but I don't feel sad yet. I trust that God has a reason for keeping me here this time and that He has a bigger plan for me. Pray with me that I'll accept God's will cheerfully. :) I met my CollegePlus coach online this past week. She plays violin and piano, too! I'll buy my books tonight or tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know what's going on in my life right now! Thank you, as always, for your prayers! Love, Emily If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to gottskint@hotmail.com.I also have a website now. I would love it if you would visit it and sign my guestbook! All God's Children Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 August 22, 2009 08/22/2009
Dear Friends and Family, Only 42 more days!!!!!!! I leave October 2nd for 8 days in Haiti!!! I'll be going with several friends who have gone with me before who love spending time at the orphanage so I'll be able to spend more time there. We'll also be holding medical clinics which I love! I still owe money for this trip so I'm praying that God will provide that. And I'm praying that if He doesn't provide it at this time it's because it isn't His will for me to go this time and that He'll help me accept His answer and wait patiently for when He is ready for me to go back. But I'm still making plans as if I am going. I'm beginning to collect medications for the clinics. If you or anyone you know is interested in donating we will be taking as much as we can. Just a few of the much needed items are: vitamins, vitamin infant drops, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Antacid (chewable), Zantac/Tagamet, Eye Drops (Saline or with THZ), Antifungal Skin Cream, Topical Cortisone Cream. When I was in Haiti, I got to meet several of the original 10 kids who started the orphanage. One of them, Monox, has had a tumor on his shoulder for several years. They've done surgery to remove it twice and it's come back both times. Although it makes him very sad, Dr. Mark isn't able to bring him to the States to have treatment because the chances of him living are very slim and he can't justify taking all of that money and energy to get Monox treatment when he could bring someone else who has better chances of living. One of the very last days we were there, we received the information that doctors didn't think Monox would live through the night. At that time we all got together and prayed for him. I just found out that Monox not only made it through that night, he's up and walking around and feeling better. The tumor isn't going away but God gave him at least a couple more days on this earth. You can be in prayer all the time for Dr. Mark because he has to make these extremely difficult decisions all the time about who can get medical care and who can't. I'm also enrolled in CollegePlus and my first official call with my coach for the next 2 years or so is September 16th!!! I'm beginning to buy the books I need and I expect to take my first CLEP test about 10 weeks from now! And then about every 6 weeks I'll take another one and hopefully have at least 1/2 of my college credit by the end of my first year and then I'll enroll in an online distance-learning college for any classes I need to complete my college degree. I'm working on re-doing my website so you can look for those changes soon! We've had an episode of poison ivy in our house this week. The younger kids spent a solid 2 days out in the woods clearing brush and building a fort and didn't realize a lot of the brush they were clearing was poison ivy. 3 of my siblings have been miserable for the last week or so. But they say it was worth it. :) Thank you for all of your prayers! Love, Emily If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to gottskint@hotmail.com.I also have a website now. I would love it if you would visit it and sign my guestbook! All God's Children Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 August 3, 2009 08/03/2009
Dear Friends and Family, I received indication this week that there was a misunderstanding in my last update. When I begin this college program I will be able to work it around my trips to Haiti. I will continue to go to Haiti as often as God allows. Actually, I leave October 2 for an 8 day medical clinic. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear in my last e-mail. And I also realized that in my last e-mail, I wrote about a video that I was attaching but the video was too big so it wouldn't allow me to add it. I'm working on adding it to my website. Before I left for Haiti, my dad said I WAS NOT allowed to bring home a baby. For those of you who know me well, you know that's almost impossible. :) Well, I didn't bring one home but I found one who is about 8 weeks old now and who lives in the same village where my brother, Elson, came from. And she doesn't have a family yet. They call her Maki (Makee) and she is the most adorable and precious little baby. The lady who takes care of her brought 8 babies to come and stay with us on the compound for a couple of days and I was given the privilege of being able to take care of Maki about 1/2 of the time she was with us. I'm attaching a picture. I would love to adopt her but I don't know that my parents are open to adopting another one at this point. Dad says if I want to adopt her that's fine. The only problem being that Haiti's adoption rules state that you have to be 35 to adopt. Pray with me that if this is what God wants us to do, he'll open all of the doors. (and my dad's heart. ) I have a story that shows that your prayers were covering me. We (I and the 3 girls who spent the month with me) were going to Port au Prince with some of the translators to pick up one of the groups. We were driving a small, white van. And I still have no idea why, but the translators decided to stop at Pastor's house before getting on the road. We had to drive back through what could be considered a neighborhood. Right as we got in front of Pastor's house the brakes on the van went out. We had to drive very slowly back to the compound to pick up another vehicle to drive to Port au Prince. If we hadn't stopped at Pastor's we would have already been on the road and it would have been very dangerous. That's just one of the many times I God was looking out for me. While there, I was able to get to know one of Pastor's daughters a little better and she and I have been able to keep in contact since I've been back. It's been so much fun to talk to someone who's in Haiti right now! And she's able to help me continue to practice my Creole. I've been enjoying going to yard sales and picking out more baby clothes and gifts with which to fill my bags for next time. I was telling Mom today that it's so hard to wait for God to tell me what's next. I'm so excited to find out!!! You can continue to pray that I'll have patience and trust his timing and not get ahead of him. More soon! Thanks for your encouraging e-mails. Love, Emily If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to gottskint@hotmail.com.I also have a website now. I would love it if you would visit it and sign my guestbook! All God's Children Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3    July 29, 2009 07/29/2009
Dear Friends and Family, I'm sorry I haven't written before now...we had 13 cousins at our house this past week for our 4th annual Cousin Camp where we camped out in the backyard, did crafts and games, went swimming, and spent time together. It was a lot of fun! Anyway, I returned from Haiti on Saturday, July 18th about 11:00 pm with mixed feelings. Although I miss all of my friends in Haiti, it was good to see my family after a month of being away. My adjustment has been almost none for which I'm very thankful. I expected a difficult transition after being away for a month but God has really blessed me. As Mom wrote in her first update, the first week I was in Haiti was Convention, which was AMAZING! I really enjoyed sitting in on the services and watching everyone worship from the bottom of their hearts. It was just like what the Bible says. There was shouting and dancing in the aisles. I helped dress the brides, make boutonnieres, and decorate the arches with flowers for the mass wedding which was beautiful. The next group that came was a sports group from different colleges from around the United States that leads sports camps for about 5 weeks a year, 2 of those being internationally. They welcomed us to go with them as they interacted with the kids, playing soccer, basketball, and games like "red light; green light." The last group was a youth group from a local church here in Anderson. They held VBS for kids in different villages around Sainthard. We went with them 3 out of the 5 days. They did a couple skits explaining Creation, sin entering the world, and temptation. Then we did a craft, played some games, passed out lunch, and did a lot of singing. I love to worship with them! While I was there, God led me to some important decisions. I had planned to finish high school and then spend a year in Haiti, and THEN decide if God wanted me to go to college or what his plans for my future were. But I feel like he led me to the conclusion that because the young men who live at the orphanage are so much older than me, I'm not ready to spend extended periods of time (like a year) there alone yet. Before I went last month, I didn't want to go to college. I wanted to move to Haiti as soon as I could. But I feel like God led me to the decision to begin an online degree this fall. Mom and Dad have been introduced to an online program where you can get your degree in as little as 18-24 months by testing out of some college classes, taking others online, and some at a local university. Mom and Dad have both looked at it and really like it. And it's only about $4,000-$5,000 a year. I applied and was accepted this week. The most important thing right now is that Mom and Dad have always taught me to never take out a loan for anything but a house so I feel that if this is what God wants me to do, and I believe it is, He will provide all of the resources. So you can be in prayer with me about this. Because I would like to run an orphanage in Haiti I will likely begin with general college classes and move on to business and education classes. You can also pray that He'll show me what he wants me to study and what would most help me with what I want to do with my life. These pictures are of some of the worship and the children. I'll send more stories and pictures in following e-mails. Thank you so much for all of your prayers for me and my family the month that I was gone. None of that would have been possible for me without all of your prayers and support and I am so thankful for you. Love, Emily If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to gottskint@hotmail.com.I also have a website now. I would love it if you would visit it and sign my guestbook! All God's Children Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3    July 8, 2009 07/08/2009
Dear Friends and Family, June 30,2009 06/30/2009
I'm getting up between 4:30 and 6:30 each morning. I get ready and then I take my Reliv and eat something else if I'm still hungry. Then we go upstairs to relax for a little bit. Then we play with the kids. Update June 23, 2009 06/23/2009
I'm emailing from Pastor Jean Marie's house in Haiti. I have so many stories to tell you and not nearly enough time to tell you all of them. There are four of us sharing this computer and it is very slow. Update June 16, 2009 06/16/2009
Dear Friends and Family, Update May 30, 2009 05/31/2009
Hello Everyone!!!
If you feel like you could help me in one of the last 2 ways, it would be very helpful but number one is always the most important. By the way....if you think of something unusual that I might need and I might forget, please let me know. I'm making a list of stuff that I might forget. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week! Love, Emily If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to gottskint@hotmail.com.I also have a website now. I would love it if you would visit it and sign my guestbook! All God's Children Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 | ArchivesSeptember 2009 Categories |
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