Wednesday, March 17, 2010

In a heartbeat.....


UPdate time!!

Team Newsom is here and accounted for! We've had a very recent "BUSY" spell and are thankful to let you all know that we are all surviving, thriving, alive and well!! God is good and I am amazed daily at His strength in my weakness, His power to overcome bad situations, His grace during our hard moments, His unconditional love, His mercy that is given freely to me every single day, and His many blessings that I really, really, really don't deserve!

So here's a short version of the many things going on here for Team Newsom......

We've been celebrating birthdays over the last few months and I promise that I will download all the pictures from my camera SOON and post some photos of my sweet TEAM but believe me, it's been lots of FUN! Joel, Jackson, Madilyn and I all have had big fun birthdays with more birthday celebrations for Joel, Joshua and Hannah to come in the next month or two! The kiddos are truly growing up before my eyes and I am trying to soak up every moment of it! Each of them are such TREASURES!

News has finally gotten out that the Newsom Bed and Breakfast, El Paso is OPEN for business and we are all booked up for the month of March!! What an awesome month of company!! We hosted my sister, Amberly, my brother, DJ, my sweet sister-in-dating, Katy, and also the kiddos....Dawson, Crayton and Chloe this past weekend! We packed lots of really fun activities into a quick weekend and it was really INCREDIBLE! ;)

Tomorrow, Joel's parents arrive and will be here with us for a few days. Yea!! Next weekend, my parents are coming! Woohoo!! Joel's cousin Dale was also planning a family trip out west but unfortunately, the timing didn't work out but we're hoping to re-schedule a visit with them!

In the midst of all the company, Joel has been doing lots of Ar*y training and has been in and out of the field! He is really enjoying his job and I'm super proud of him. He works long hours but we have him coming home every night and we get lots of family time on the weekends so I'm NOT going to complain! I'm so very thankful he is not currently depl*yed!

The kiddos are doing great with their school work this year, they are enjoying home school PE class at the YMCA twice a week and the oldest 3are also playing basketball. Yes, 3 practices and 3 games a week keeps the taxi light on my suburban blinking! :) They have also made some very special friends here and are really liking El Paso!

I've stayed very busy homeschooling and loving on our sweet kiddos, teaching a Bible Study class on Wednesdays, loving on some new friends going through hard challenges, trying to exercise regularly, researching and looking at homes for sale here in El Paso (we're praying!), volunteering at the unit's family readiness group, working on Joshua's re-adoption paperwork, (BTW, you can PRAISE THE LORD with us in celebrating that Joshua Nahome Newsom is now legally Re-adopted in the state of Texas, as of last week! YEAYEAYEA!) I'm just running around like a chicken with my head cut off on most days but... I'm praising the Lord for every moment and every opportunity to serve Him and He has richly blessed me and given me great joy during this season of giving of my time and energy to MANY different callings. My cup truly overflows with joy and blessings.

So I'm sure you would probably also like an UPdate on the adoption and Joshua Nahome's continued transition into life as a Newsom so I'll give you a little update today and hope to focus a little more later on specifics.....

After 8 months home, Joshua is really thriving. He is happy. He is sweet. He is healthy. He is loving and kind. He is fun. He is smart. He is 99% fluent in English (at a 4 year old level) after only 8 months in America! WOW! He does struggle occasionally with all of the trauma and loss in his life but he grieves appropriately and it is really much healthier for him to grieve now than to suppress those emotions so I am happy that he talks about his feelings and lets those tears flow! We talk openly of Tigist (his birthmother), about Ethiopia, his time in the orphanage, about his brown skin color and our white skin color, etc. We believe honest and open communication lines are best! He does show some insecurities in new and unfamiliar situations and we now know that he needs lots of reassurance and explanations before we do something new. He has a few attention seeking behaviors that he does when he is nervous but they aren't show- stoppers, just small little annoyances and the time out chair usually does the trick. He has bonded with us amazingly well, he is a great sleeper, he is helpful, and he has a generous spirit. He is a true blessing.

I want to be transparent with you, though, and say that this adoption has NOT been all easy and every day is NOT always perfect......I truly don't want to sugar-coat the reality here..... Joshua Nahome is a sweet little boy and is perfect for our family but it has been a hard, but very rewarding, journey of obedience, stretching of ourselves, and it is a daily sacrifice of time, energy, love, money, and emotions. It has been hard but it has also been really, really good! I know some of you that occasionally read my blog are praying about adoption for your family and so, just in case you are wondering--here is the bottom line: if we could go back in time and start all over, WE WOULD STILL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN. IN A HEARTBEAT!! It has been worth it all and God has grown us and taught us soooo much through the experience-- We are thankful that we took the leap of faith and stepped out of our comfortable little bubble in obedience to God's calling to adopt!

Blessings to you and yours,
AMY

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks, Amy. We're waiting for word on who our new kiddos will be. We are so excited, but anticipate lots of hard work. I'm learning as you post!

Kristin Hathaway

Anonymous said...

What a great update! I love reading about your family, and am always so blessed by your transparency.

With joy - Jamie:)

Table for Six said...

Amy, its been way too long. great catching up on your blog. thanks for sharing your heart- as I know it is a blessing to many! like you said about the valleys.. they are deep but they grow me as a person and a mother (and a friend and wife) AND a servant of Christ- the hills are so much sweeter b/c of them- I wouldn't change a thing b/c I TRUST- it is healing Daniel and growing our family in profound ways.

Daniel is doing well and Andrew's adoption has been drastically different.. The girls are doing great as well.
love to all~
www.2princes2princesses.blogspot.com