Many of you know and love Lisa Smith. Sheâs the young woman with Down syndrome who has blessed us with her gift of signing at a number of Women of Faith conferences. A resident of Aubrey, Texas, Lisa has signed with Christian song artists Larnelle Harris, Kathy Troccoli, Avalon, the Women of Faith Worship Team, and last but not least, with her all time hero, Sandi Patty.
Well, we finished 2009 blessed to be able to serve the Lord and be apart an awesome group of young women, the Journey of Sisters. The last six months of 2009 was a tough year for all as we struggled to understand why our sweet friend and leader, Amy, was taken from us. Thankfully, we can find comfort in knowing and believing she was in God’s hands from the start and ready to be with Him according to His plan for her. So we move on trusting God to direct and guide us wherever He would have us to go... doing whatever He would have us to do.
As we look back over the year, Lisa had several opportunities to be with some pretty awesome people. Our cruise with Kathy Troccoli was just incredible. Meeting and performing with Mark Harris, Mark Lowery was so fun…seeing and laughing with old friends from WOF (Chonda Pierce)…and time with Avalon and of course, Kathy couldn’t be beat…. Meeting and making new friends was just a gift on top of it all!!
A special highlight of the year was getting to meet and perform with Charice, YouTube singing sensation discovered by David Foster. Charice and Lisa performed at the Best Buddies Gala in Dallas. When David Foster saw a video of the two, he asked Lisa to join them at three of his ten David Foster & Friends concert tour stops. We went to Chicago, Ft Lauderdale and Los Angeles. What a blast!! Charice and Lisa claimed to be the diva-sisters and were arm and arm the whole time. They did autographs, photos, and TV interviews together. We were blessed to meet new friends Deborah Cox, Kathy Sledge, Ruben Studdard (American Idol), the Four Canadian Tenors, and Peter Cetera….not to mention David Foster himself…the legend…the “hit-man”. In LA, we were able to see and talk with Dr. Phil and wife Robin again who were sitting on the front row as Lisa and Charice performed. We caught up with them later at David Foster’s party. It was an awesome experience and one we’ll never forget. Many thanks go to Jan Miller and American Airlines for making it all possible.
So much has happened since my last update on Lisa and the journey she is on. Some of you may have noticed how light Lisa’s schedule has been. Lisa has had to face one of the biggest challenges in her life…. the death of her best friend, Amy Jones… the founder, leader, and mentor of Journey of Sisters. Amy and Lisa met at a Women of Faith Conference and remained the best of friends ever since. Amy saw the potential in Lisa to be an inspiration to those hurting and those with family members who were intellectually challenged. However, Amy would never place Lisa in that category as she always said it was the rest of the world who were intellectually challenged… NOT Lisa!
I can’t believe nearly half this year has gone by!! What a year this has been for Lisa! In January she joined Sandi Patty while Sandi was doing a concert in Lancaster, TX. That couldn’t have been a better way to start off the new year for Lisa! She was in her glory performing with Sandi again. One of the 4 numbers they did was Operator. Lisa loves to tell people how they “hammed” it up! And they really did!! Lisa’s Mom sat in the audience just shaking her head in disbelief…with Mama T (Thelma Wells) telling her “it’s OK”! Lisa loves performing with Sandi!!!
Well, my goodness…where has the first part of this year gone!!! Between Lisa’s teeth project, her signing, and my job…this year is zooming by like no other….but we’re totally blessed by the Lord through it all! The update on Lisa’s teeth is fabulous and a HUGE praise to our Lord! After some delays and then waiting for our dedicated and loyal oral surgeon, Dr. Michael Ellis, to return from his tour in
