Unfulfilled expectations
Feb 16, 2020
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With Valentine’s Day filling all media sites with all kinds of posts about love and marriage ,one article particularly caught my eye. It said that the number one cause of marriage conflict and divorce is NOT money or intimacy related problems. It’s “ unfulfilled expectations”. That really made me think!!  I know I often have unrealistic expectations of others ( and myself!) 

This was a week where expectations were shattered in several painful situations. 

Thursday we all stood by in total all consumed grief and sorrow watching a young bride become widow sing a heart breaking , tear pouring song of mourning as she waved and sang goodbye to her precious new husbands body being buried under the ground. Her dream of a family. Her dream of ministry. All her life dreams were buried there that day at a grave. Many cried and wailed out of the hopelessness of the lost. Thankfully she cried with the tears of “ see you later”as her hope is strong in the Lord. The grave where her dreams were buried WILL GLORIOUSLY OPEN one day soon. Until that day may we cover the heart of our mourning sister Fibi as only God can give her broken heart comfort. Jesus holds her every tear. 

Yesterday after a long hard  labor, God once again blessed our pleas of prayer and tricks  and medicine allowing a difficult high risk delivery to result in the birth of a healthy baby boy. After three girls a boy was great news. Baby and mom were healthy......... BUT...... the baby had abnormalities.  It was one of those moments where I wished I did not have a great education from Pensacola Christian College. I have never seen a Downs Syndrome new born. But immediately upon the first look at this sweet little boy’s head and neck.... before even the rest of his body was born, the text book studies of “Trisomy 21” from 30 plus years ago flooded my brain. All the signs I did NOT want to see were there. 

It’s NOT that Downs Syndrome kids or adults are of less value. Quite to the contrary. When we were pregnant Bill and I told the Lord a Downs baby or challenged baby in any way would be cherished in our home!!  They are specially blessed!!  

But here in our culture I’ve seen abuse...even murder... of Downs babies. My hearted aches for him. I agonized over how to tell his parents, not believers, that their LONG AWAITED SON was not “ normal”!  Pray for Elis and her family. I will try to help them see a pediatrician to verify what my heart knows is true. Praying they will love and accept him. Difference is not weird it’s special 💕 Their expectations in this baby are not going to be fulfilled as they’d hoped. 

Disappointments. Disillusionment.  Discouragement. All a part of life. Yet as we fix our gaze upon the Author and Finisher of our faith, we know He has a plan. A good plan at that...we just see the underside of His eternal tapestry ❤️


Please keep praying: 
-Please hold Fibi ( Late Gimix’s bride/ widow) in prayer. Because of the untimely (humanly) death everything she did not carry away with her is destroyed or stolen by his family. All their banana plants chopped. Their garden destroyed. Pets and animals murdered. Death here has many levels of hard. 

-GBBC has Started!. A couple of additional students may join us this week but otherwise it’s our best enrollment for a ling time!!  Lots of kids need work scholarship jobs. Would you like to partner with our Png young people to help them learn hard work and faithfulness as they prepare to serve God in ministry?  Our work scholarship program is in great need of donations to keep it going. All gifts not only help needed work on campus get done but they also pay school fees!!  Win win😄

-pray for Elis’s new baby. That his family accepts him and cherishes him. Pray for Safa and Graces families to know Jesus. Baby Rose is still hospitalized so pray she can have a living family to care for her. Pray she remains protected from her HIV exposure 

- Amo's school ( a preschool through high school boarding and day school run by Ethnos 360 ( formerly New Tribes Mission) is desperate for teachers for elementary or high school willing to commit for a year to help cover furloughs. If they don’t get help they plan to close doors to all outside their mission. Many of their own kids may be without school as well. Many missionary families depend on this help to educate their kids so they can stay and do ministry. If the school shuts down many workers in the ripe Png harvest field will be lost. Pray. Send . Come. This school has been such a blessing to Bill all our older kids and Amo too!

-Continue to pray for our clinic ministry. The cost of medicine and supplies is just really increasing quickly. We have seen God expand and grown our boarders of influence. We are seeing people trust in Christ and  new visitors coming to churches each week from clinic contacts but we need more partners to hold our hands financially in this vital outreach of compassion. Will you join us? 


We are so thankful as we trust in God we can have confidence that He will meet and provide for each need. We can fully realize all potential in expectations as He never fails us!!

No restraint. No retreat. No regret. 

Bill, Lori The boys. The babies and Dad. 

To Help the Clinic:  https://www.abwe.org/work/projects/william-lori-smith-medical-clinic

To Help GBBC:    https://www.abwe.org/work/projects/goroka-baptist-bible-college-scholarships


To HELP AT  NUMONOHI Christian Academy:  (Amo's school)

More information about:

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Video- Want to be part of something that lasts forever? (1:28)