personal // a family vacation.

We don't know how it feels for everyone else, but for us, the summer is FLYING BY... like almost gone! It seems like just yesterday that we were moving out of our apartment in Northern Virginia, and now it has been almost 3 months since that happened.. and we counted up the days, and for over half of that time we have been traveling instead of at home.

Thankfully during one week of that traveling time, we were able to take a family vacation with my (Jamey) family at the end of July to Topsail Island, NC!  It has been quite awhile since any of us has been on a vacation, so this is something that we had been looking forward to for awhile. Like before we even really planned it, just the idea of it made us so excited! For those of you that don't know, my family loves the beach, seriously LOVES!!!  Especially my mom and I. It was Lesley's first time going on a beach vacation with the Smith's and I know I can say that she had a wonderful time. I think I can even say that we might have made her into somewhat of a beach bum! Mission accomplished.

That's love right there. 

Just to emphasize my point, here is basically a snapshot of what an average day looks like for the Smith family at the beach:

7:45AM - Wake up (yes this early!).

7:50AM - Eat breakfast, check the weather report. Put on swim suits and sunscreen.

8:30 AM - On the beach! Which means we really just fall back asleep out there... then Lesley & I will go on a morning walk before the sun gets too hot.

11AM - Get in the water and depending on how hot it is, we may be in there awhile. I like to know when the tide is going to be and then get out there ride the waves.

12:30PM - Make/eat lunch inside. This is an important part of the routine now that Lesley is part of our family. A little after noon she starts to be about done with the sun and we take a break for her skin's sake and my stomach's sake.

1PM - More soaking up the sun and in the water for the Smiths! Lesley, however, retreats to the tent after lunch. She doesn't mind at all, but the tent is essential if she's going to stay out there with us. She naps or reads or just enjoys the ocean breeze safely from under there. The rest of us, well, we can't get enough of the warm sand and sun.

Lesley safely reading under the tent :)

4PM - Naptime on the beach for practically all of us. Unless Mom is entirely too interested in a book that she's gotten completely wrapped up in, which is completely normal & she'll be unable to shut her eyes for even a second until she's finished every page.

6:30PM - Dinner, which on this vacation was cooked by Lesley every night because she LOVES to be in the kitchen and to get to host for everyone.

7PM  til whenever - out to do things once it's not on-the-beach weather anymore!

So needless to say, my family loves spending time on the beach, so we are on the beach for at least 9-10 hours a day.  And this is pretty much everyday!  We're also all about some relaxing while we're there as well since every one of us doesn't take enough time to do this during our busy day to day lives. I told Lesley while we were on this trip, that I definitely wouldn't mind living on the coast one day. :) This was no surprise to her at all.

One night, Lesley and I went to this really beautiful boardwalk over the sound.  It was seriously like straight out of a movie!  And, the breeze and temperature were just right that night!

More beautiful straight-out-of-a-movie places.

Another night, we went to Sears Landing for dinner.  Another thing about the Smith family is that we love seafood!!  So obviously the beach is a great place for that. The wait was over an hour, but we had a great view from wooden rocking chairs and some great company to keep us occupied, as well as people leaving after eating their dinners that were all saying "it's certainly worth the wait."

Rockin' while we wait. :)

The whole week we have PERFECT weather! We seriously couldn't have asked for better.  Most days it was sunny and in the 80's, which to me is perfect for the beach. We only had maybe 15 minutes of rain the whole time we were there.

See? Beautiful days.

It was such a blessing for us to be able to take this trip before our lives started to get really busy again with preparing to move internationally.  I huge thank you to my parents for taking us to the beach with them!!! We had such a wonderful time!

bump into us // Blacksburg, VA

We're back to the first town we ever lived in at the same time... one of the places our hearts call "home"... the always wonderful Blacksburg, VA. It is no secret to anyone how much we love it here & how fortunate we feel to get to spend two weeks here before our move.

As most of you already know from reading our latest newsletter, we are spending these two weeks serving at our sending church, New Life Christian Fellowship, during their kickoff for the year (with students arriving to our dear Virginia Tech!). We are so excited to be of service to them and to get to reconnect with the church!

So far, we've been able to attend a day at the staff retreat and get to see all of the staff again, which was such a delight. Then, yesterday we were able to help with the special service for the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. NLCF hosted the combined "contemporary protestant" church service with two other churches in addition to us, where all three churches were able to be a part of the service as well as share their information with the Cadets that attended. The new Cadets arrived on campus on Saturday for intensive training before classes begin, and on Sunday they were permitted to pick between four different genres of services to attend. Because NLCF is located directly on campus in the student center, it's also a great location for the Cadets in relation to where their buildings are located.

We can't wait for the rest of the student body to arrive on campus and get this move-in week going!

As always, we love to let our ministry team, friends, and blog readers know where we're going to be because we would love to "bump into you!" Please let us know if you're in the area (Blacksburg tends to have a high turnover rate, understandably, so we aren't always aware of who is even here!) and if you'd like to meet up & see us! 

email: lesley.smith@gcmweb.org or jamey.smith@gcmweb.org
call/text: 540-968-1275 (Jamey) or 540-831-9528 (Lesley)

The roomies at the pumpkin patch, Fall 2010 (left) // Linda's wedding (right)

Also, we owe a HUGE shout out to our wonderful hosts, Justin and Linda Summers, who graciously offered to have us in their home for two weeks!! Linda was one of Lesley's sweet roommates during college (Lesley got really blessed in that department!) and we are so excited to get to connect with them again while we're here! Thank you so much again, Justin & Linda! 

ask anything // round 2

Thank you so much for those who sent us questions to our "Ask Anything" section. We are so excited to answer the questions that YOU, our readers, personally have! Here we go with Round 2:


1 // What are you most nervous about in moving to Honduras?

I think we would both say that we are most nervous about using a new language all the time. We have certainly been studying Spanish, but we are definitely not fluent yet. Obviously, that will come easier in full immersion!

2 // And what are you most excited about?
The experience of living in a new culture!! Not everyone gets the opportunity to move to and live in a new culture! We believe that this is a great privilege that God has called us to do, and we are so excited to do it together, especially at this point in our lives, and simply LEARN. Learn more about the world, about ourselves and how God has designed us, about serving in ministry, about God's love, and about the people of Honduras, among many other things.

3 // Does Danli have Internet service?
Yes! Thankfully, we will have internet connection in our home most of the time. We are so excited about the level of modern technology that is available to us now as missionaries that will allow us to keep in close contact with our family, friends, and ministry partners. We deeply understand how much of this was so unavailable just years ago for overseas missionaries. We say "most of the time", however, because both the internet and power may go out at times, which is to be expected.

4 // What city around Covington could you compare it to? Is there a McDonald's?
We would compare it to Lewisburg, WV because it's presence of little shops, and to Covington because of the city's size and small-town community feel. Technically, Danli has more people than Covington because the Danli "area" has unclear borders of where it cuts off. But do note that Danli is very different from both of those cities because it does not have chain stores or restaurants, so a McDonald's would not be available. Things like McDonald's, Wendy's, and Pizza Hut are available in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, which is about an hour and a half away from Danli.

5 // Can we come visit you?

Absolutely! We have been asked this question by many people, which of course makes us very excited! After we've had some time to get settled & get a bit more comfortable with the language, we would love to have visitors, as well as people who would like to see or help with the work in our ministry. Because we will be unable to travel home very often, visitors would be such a blessing to us! (And for the several who have asked, on average, a round trip flight to Honduras is about $550 per person.)

Please note: If you have a question, big or small, that you would like to ask, please follow the tabs at the top of the page to our "Ask Anything" tab. Our request is that our readers post questions in the comments section of the page, either with their name or anonymously. Or you can email your questions to  lesley.smith@gcmweb.org. 

Keep the questions coming! 

newsletter // july 2013

Our latest newsletter to share with you! We would so appreciate you taking the time to read the prayer requests included, and pray with us about them. As always, please let us know if you'd like to join the list to have these emailed to you personally. If so, you can email Jamey at jamey.smith@gcmweb.org.

(Click the photo to make it a readable size!)

friday photo dump // august 9

Jamey was so excited and blessed to be in one of his best friend's weddings before we leave! Congrats Matt & Allison!

While at the wedding, we had the opportunity of visiting some very special family friends one more time. Their dogs were attached to Jamey.... and the kids! :) 

We got to go on a family vacation to the beach before we leave, too! Family bonding time that we can't wait to blog about :)

Lesley spend a few days back in Northern Virginia at her old job, to visit the kiddos and to fill as nanny when the family had a open gap they needed filled. This was SUCH a special time for Lesley filled with snuggles, hugs, crafts, preschool, and pool time! Who could ask for anything else?! The kids have already grown and matured so much in just two months! Needless to say, she was a very proud past-nanny. They definitely retained so much of the learning we did together!

We have officially purchased our plane tickets to Colorado for our month-long training in September! After weeks of searching for flights, we are so thankful that it was possible for us to fly out of Roanoke, VA!

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary on August 4th! And we got to open our first anniversary guest book from our wedding. Sadly, our "wedding pie" (instead of cake) didn't make it to see the anniversary!

And this is a truly "behind the scenes" look at our lives right now. This is how we recorded our latest video for another youth group that is helping participate in our ministry. Can you tell that we need a tripod? Or a teleprompter? Lesley improvised for both! 

Until the next Friday Photo Dump!