Emily’s Smiles through Difficult Trials

Emily might not be quite up to par, but you need to eat your wheaties to keep up with her! Saturday morning started with “Emily’s Day in the Park”. Emily arrived at the Hampsted Kiwanis Park with a big smile on her face and ready to lead the 3K Walkathon! She led the walk via a 6-seater golf cart with her daddy driving, & mommy riding as co-pilot. Granny Mom, Nana, Grandaddy, Great Grandma ‘Rene, & cousin Shelby went along for the ride too! Paw Paw & Aunt Crystal joined the Walkathon group. Upon returning to the park, Emily enjoyed playing in the inflatable jumpers before they got too busy. You should have seen the big smile as she slid down the 18′ slide with Aunt Crystal! After visiting lots of folks in the park, she went home to rest for a while. Emily returned at 1:30 to draw the winning raffle tickets, but there were so many, she got cold on stage and let big brother Trey finish the job!

Saturday night, after resting a few more hours, Emily was able to attend the Pender County Relay for Life Survivor’s Banquet at her home church, Barlow-Vista Baptist, where she was the Belle of the Ball! All dressed up in a pretty denim jumper, matching socks, shoes & head scarf, she enjoyed eating chicken and phil peas! While others were finishing their meal, she wanted to visit her Sunday School & Mission Friends rooms, so she and I sneaked away! I can’t tell you what a blessing it was to see her little face light up when she sat at the table in these rooms and pointed out where the story books, coloring books, crayons & drawing paper were located. Needless to say, we returned to our reserved table with paper & crayons in hand where Emily proceeded to draw a beautiful picture of a rainbow and flowers.

Emily listened intently to Mr. Gary Cavenaugh share his amazing battle with oral cancer and share his testimony about how God works in mysterious ways and gives you comfort and peace just when you need them most. Emily’s mom, Dawn, was next to speak and shared Emily’s story from when she first started having headaches last summer, through her surgeries at Duke, to Emily’s current health status. For the first time speaking in public, Dawn did an awesome job!

What a fun filled day but Emily had to be exhausted! When the evening was over Emily and family returned home for a much needed night of rest!

Love,
Stephanie