FNE and family life update

Some of you eagle-eyed web-peeps have noticed that my pictures of my plants and hummingbirds lately have trees in them that, uhm, don’t look like Texas. =)

And, you’re right! I wanted to give you all a bit of a personal and professional update on the Smith fam.

We have moved to North Carolina where I begin (today!!) a faculty position at Duke University.

I will be starting a dual faculty appointment with the Duke University School of Medicine and the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) - and, to say I’m thankful, thrilled, and excited is an understatement. After getting my PhD at UNC (otherwise known as the other blue - if you’re a North Carolinian you know the ‘two blues’), I began working at DGHI on issues related to children’s health, poverty, and surgery in low-income countries and continued to do this same line of research/advocacy work while at Baylor. So, it’s a bit like “coming home” to return to Duke full-time.

My hubs has started a PhD program in Systematic Theology at Fuller Seminary. This has always been something he has wanted to do and if you know my hubs personally, this doesn’t surprise you. Y’all, he’s super smart and thinks very deeply about complex, theological issues that matter in real-time and we’ve written about during this pandemic. (Our son is the spittin’ image of him - he asked about the Trinity when he was 7 on the way home from church one time. My response? Uhm, ask your father.) With this move and all that happened in 2020, this was a great time to get that degree and he will be working with some top theologians whose books we have had on our bookshelves.

As for the kids, they are in a new school and are thriving (as a mom, y’all, I’m really thankful that the transition has been good for them). The new school has strong COVID precautions of masking, distancing, etc, so it’s a bit of “normalcy” again for them. And, the school is a case study that masks work since the cases have been extremely low. It’s a different world here in Durham regarding COVID cases, masking, vaccines, etc. That’s a different post for a different time. But, it is refreshing to an epidemiologist.

And, guess what another major perk (and decision maker) is? We are 4.3 minutes away from my parents! Not that I’ve timed it or anything. Ok, I timed it on day one that we moved. Y’all, I could tear up just writing that sentence. For a lot of us, the pandemic really solidified and boiled down what we want to be about and what we don’t want to be about. For me, part of that was focusing in on family. (Maybe that’s also part of turning 40 too?!) So, the move to North Carolina and being a hop-skip-and-a-jump to my parents is just icing on a really big and yummy cake. We moved to NC in the summer and I’ve enjoyed just showing up at my parent’s house - “oh hi, Dad! Want to go to Lowes again and look at mums?” “Oh hey, Mom! Whatcha doing for supper?” “Hey you guys! Want to hang out?”. After being away for so long and going through 2020 with fears of COVID and their age (full of wisdom…wink, wink), I’m just thankful for the simple things like buying mums. (BTW, Dad, I need another one for my back porch. I’ll pick you up at 2:30 before school pickup.)

To add to that perk, we just celebrated my mom’s 50thish birthday (you’re welcome, mom, for sharing your age as 50ish with a few thousand people) with matching purple t-shirts (her favorite color) that said “We love Neena” (what the grandkids call her). All the grandkids and family came down to celebrate (after rapid testing and we are all vaccinated). It was one of the best weekends I’ve had with loads of grandkid squeals, hugs, tons of food, and more hugs. Happy birthday, mom! FNE community, meet my parents. If you know them in real-life, had pictures taken by my mom (she’s a photographer), or had my dad as an elementary school teacher, you know they are just gems.

Other huge perks that you might get tired of me talking about (I’ll try to tone it down) are the trees and weather here. My goodness, I had forgotten how beautiful NC trees are and the fall weather. Before we left Waco, I gave one of my best friends (miss you!) my houseplants since we share a love for them. #plantladies. I keep sending her Marco Polos of the trees on my morning walks. “Hey look at this leaf that just changed colors!” Thanks, plantlady-bestie, for indulging me in this. I’ll send you a leaf in the mail soon.

New jobs, new schools, new professions, new life directions, selling and buying a house, moving during a pandemic - you know, the small life transitions - we tackled them in one big ole’ swoop. But, the cascade of events that happened to get us here with my new job at a dream university and the hubs new PhD program at a top school were serendipitous (or highly providential depending on how you see it) and seamless in some comical (or grace-filled depending on how you see it) ways (like selling your house before it even went on the market). I see it both ways. And, am grateful. That cascade story could take up several posts and maybe I’ll share it one day. We certainly miss our dear friends in Waco and our church family who took us in when we left our other church. And, the decision to leave a job at a great university was not easy - thank you, Baylor, for what you gave me. I will always treasure my time there. Sic’ em, Bears.

That’s it for today, friends. I just wanted to give you all an update of why the trees are so big in the background of my hummingbird pictures. They are not Texas trees. =) If you’re in NC, maybe I’ll meet you in-real-life here. When you receive these newsletters to your inbox, you’re probably receiving them from the bedswing we lugged from Texas and my hubs built smack-dab in the middle of our trees (thanks, hubs).

Have a great weekend everyone! I’m off to work.

-Emily