WOW--- this week has been a whirlwind but oh, what a wonderful one!!! We are doing well--- packing things up and driving to Texas tomorrow to take our little ones to my parents. We'll spend the weekend visiting our families (YEA!!) and hopefully, (please do say some more BIG PRAYERS) leave for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday. BFAS has our official court decree in their possession now so we're praying for electricity and normal office hours so that the rest of Nahom's paperwork can be completed for his travel home with us!! I've been amazed (and also perplexed at times!) by the massive amounts of legalities and paperwork that has to come together to complete an adoption. I've learned so much but we are super blessed that Agitu and the BFAS staff have been so knowledgable about the complex paperwork puzzle and we are blessed that we get to bring Nahom HOME next week!! We are all very excited and just wanted to give you bloggy friends an update on our adoption of Nahom.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow........
Oh, by the way-- I have ANOTHER amazing testimony of how God has richly blessed us above and beyond what we could have ever imagined this week but unfortunately for you, it is nearly 1am and I have to be up at 6am and also be able to drive 9 hours tomorrow so I'm going to do the prudent thing and go get some sleep!! Don't worry--- I will share it later!!! :)
Blessed,
Amy
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
JOSHUA NAHOM NEWSOM
YEAYEAYEA!!! We passed court! We are legally the parents of Nahom Newsom as of today, Thursday - June 18, 2009!!!! Thanks to BFAS for all the hard work, for our friends and families for your prayers and support, and most of all, we are singing praises to the Creator and Lord of our lives-- Jesus Christ. God is good, all the time!
Blessings,
Amy
PS-- there are still some paperwork trails that must happen for us to have an embassy date of July 2...... we are praying for more miracles!! :)
Blessings,
Amy
PS-- there are still some paperwork trails that must happen for us to have an embassy date of July 2...... we are praying for more miracles!! :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
James chapter 1
Another day of waiting folks. BFAS says it WILL happen tomorrow, Thursday at 1000am, Ethiopian time. That is tonight at 0200am for us so... please keep praying. I mentioned before that our family is spending this week at a Christian retreat center in the Rocky Mountains with tons of great speakers and family time every day. Yesterday after I spoke to BFAS about our case being delayed, again--- we went to our morning session. The scripture focus was James chapter 1. God is soooooo good. "Consider it ALL joy....." I was very moved and inspired and encouraged that God calls us to overcome trials, persevere through troubles, and through these he produces patience, endurance, and completes a work in us through them all!! Thank you Lord for YOUR words to me yesterday. If you haven't read James chapter 1 recently--- take some time today. I was so encouraged in the midst of this trial! Please pray for God's will to be done in our family! He IS completing a work in our family and we are so thankful to be in the midst of His will for us, even if it is HARD! Guess what the last verse in James chapter 1 is???
"Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the things of the world."
Isn't God amazing??
Blessings during the WAIT,
AMY
"Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the things of the world."
Isn't God amazing??
Blessings during the WAIT,
AMY
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Still Waiting...
The call came early this morning that the courts in Ethiopia saw no cases today due to a lack of electricity. :( Bummer. Yesterday,Monday, the BFAS staff went back to court and the courts record clerk had pulled the wrong case file for the judge and when our case was called- the wrong file was in front of the judge and we were again rescheduled for today. They apologized but rescheduled. Today, there is no electricity-- so the BFAS staff will try again tomorrow. sigh. We are bummed that this court decree is not finalized but........WE HAVE NOT LOST FAITH in our Mountain MOVING, Awe Inspiring, Loving, Kind, Big, All Powerful, All Knowing, Omnipresent GOD. He is mighty to save. We pray that HIS will is done through this adoption of Nahom into our family. We want HIS will for us, in HIS time. So, please PRAY for God's will to be done. Thanks for hanging in there with us......
Blessings,
AMY
PS-- We are having an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING time at Spring Canyon. It has been such a time of refreshing rest and fun. We are so thankful for this time in the Lord as a family!
Blessings,
AMY
PS-- We are having an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING time at Spring Canyon. It has been such a time of refreshing rest and fun. We are so thankful for this time in the Lord as a family!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Monday, Monday
Our court hearing did happen on Friday and we are thankful that it went well. I was hoping to officially introduce Joshua NAHOM Newsom to you all but I won't be able to do that until Monday. The Ministry of Women's Affairs gave a favorable and positive determination for the adoption of Nahom into the Newsom family but, due to a missing power of attorney in the files, we don't have the official decree yet. That will happen on Monday when the missing POA is taken to the courts. I can't imagine the amount of time and paperwork involved on the Ethiopian side of this adoption and am thankful for the hard work and effort that BFAS team has put into our case on behalf of Nahom. After I received the call from BFAS, my flesh wanted to be angry that the paperwork wasn't totally in order....but, after some prayer time and reflection-- I accept the fact that WE are ALL human and make human errors......who am I to throw a stone or pluck the splinter out of someone else's eye when I have my own logs and stones to take care of??? :) God has a plan. His timing is perfect and He will work out the plans for this adoption according to His will. He has blessed us, Nahom, and BFAS. So today, I have chosen to have a thankful, grateful, and understanding perspective here....Monday is only 36 hours away!!! :) I'll officially introduce our new son then!!!
We are currently in Colorado and will spend the next week at a Christian Retreat Center in the Rocky Mountains called Spring Canyon. We are beyond excited about our family camp this week and will post some pictures of our week when we get home! Looking forward to lots of family fun! We'll keep you posted as we are able to about Monday!!!
Blessings to you all--
AMY
We are currently in Colorado and will spend the next week at a Christian Retreat Center in the Rocky Mountains called Spring Canyon. We are beyond excited about our family camp this week and will post some pictures of our week when we get home! Looking forward to lots of family fun! We'll keep you posted as we are able to about Monday!!!
Blessings to you all--
AMY
Friday, June 12, 2009
Waiting for news....
Hello everyone!!! We are still waiting to hear the outcome of our court hearing!! It was delayed on Thursday because Nahom's birthmother was caught in traffic during her long journey to Addis Ababa on Thursday and made it to court, but she was late. We are so thankful for this beautiful woman who has already gone through so much--- her gift to us is amazing and we are so thankful that she made such a long and emotional journey for Nahom's court hearing. We are also blessed that the judge and court was gracious and rescheduled our hearing for this morning.....FRIDAY, June 12. We haven't heard from BFAS yet but are clinging to God's promises and praying big!! Keep sending those prayers up! We'll keep you posted!!
Blessings--
AMY
Blessings--
AMY
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
PRAY BIG
Please PRAY BIG for our court date which will be happening in Ethiopia tonight. We hope to find out tomorrow-- June 11, the outcome of our court hearing!!! Thanks all!
Here are the scriptures I am pondering today as I pray.......
Exodus 19:5 "If you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me."
James 2:8 " Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's royal command found in the scriptures: "Love you neighbor as yourself."
1 John 5:14 "We can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will."
Blessings---
AMY
Here are the scriptures I am pondering today as I pray.......
Exodus 19:5 "If you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me."
James 2:8 " Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's royal command found in the scriptures: "Love you neighbor as yourself."
1 John 5:14 "We can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will."
Blessings---
AMY
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Delayed Flights and Divine Appointments
I am home from El Paso Texas. It has taken me a few days to recover from my sleep deprivation but I came home from my trip with an amazing testimony. I have already shared my testimony with MANY of my friends and last night Joel said--- "Amy--- you have to blog that story.....it's amazing!" So here I am and here I go.
I have never fasted much. Over the last several months the Lord has been teaching me about fasting and praying and there have been several times that I've fasted through a meal to pray over our children or certain situations, but never longer than one meal time. Well-- God impressed upon my heart that I should fast and pray over our upcoming housing at Ft. Bliss. So I began fasting on Monday night and had committed to fasting and praying through Tuesday and until Wednesday when I met with the housing office at Ft. Bliss to determine our upcoming housing plan. BTW--- self denial does not come easily to me and it is even harder in an airport with tons of time to kill and lots of restaurants right there! I struggled and prayed and really struggled and really prayed and God was so good to me!!
I woke at 600am on Tuesday to go to the airport. I got a call from the airline at 700 that my flight had been cancelled and I was being re-scheduled! I was grumpy about it but also thankful they had called me before I arrived to the airport! So I spent the morning with my family :) and then went to catch my flight. I ended up having a 4 hour lay-over b/c of the airline issues. Again-- I was a little grumpy about this (and also hungry because I am fasting) but I spent this time praying and reading scripture and seeking God in the USO at the Denver airport!! I got on my second flight and was seated next to a young black man who looked of Ethiopian descent to me. Now- I didn't want to ask-- "Are you an Ethiopian?" As that might have been offensive to some but I did want to know!! After initial pleasantries, I did ask him if he lived in El Paso or was just visiting. He said that he did live there but only for the last year. "Oh--- well, where did you live before that?" Las Vegas for two years. "Oh--- well, where are you from?" He said, "CHINA" with a big smile on his face. I laughed and said, "No really-- where are you from?" He said, "Ethiopia."
Wow.
WOW!
Can you believe this was a DIVINE APPOINTMENT? Isn't it just AMAZING that God placed me on a delayed flight so that I could have a seat next to an Ethiopian man on a flight going to El Paso, Texas? And can you believe that I had been grumpy in spirit about it but God loves me and blessed me anyway???
Well--- this man was so kind and my entire flight was filled with heart-wrenching, amazing and inspiring life stories from this 26 year old Ethiopian named Israel. IT WAS A DIVINE APPOINTMENT. For privacy sake, I won't go into all the details of Israel's life story on this blog--- but I will share that Israel was an orphan since he was 9 years old. He lived with extended family for awhile, but ran away after a year of abuse. He travelled and worked and travelled and worked for 11 years trying to make his way to America. After his parents died, his destination had always been America because he had met one American woman in Ethiopia who had shown him kindness and told him the God loved him and had a purpose for his life! Isn't it amazing to see how ONE person's kindness gave this little orphan boy HOPE and a dream??
Israel shared the intimate details of his life story with me on a very crowded plane. A lone tear ran down his strong cheek and his voice quivered when he spoke of the loss of his parents and that memory of being alone in the world. I was given the opportunity to share our faith and love in Jesus Christ and our adoption story of Nahom with him. I told him of my vision from God of Nahom in my hallway and how God had opened doors and miraculously worked to care for and love this orphan and give him a home and a family. I told him that God had spoken to us and shown us that HE loves the orphan and that as a family we were called to love orphans also. I shared that throughout the Bible, God shows his love for the poor, oppressed, and lonely and that God had used those scriptures to bring us to Nahom. His voice cracked as he said, "I am that orphan boy you are adopting. That was me, 17 years ago. Nahom is a blessed child and I hope to get to meet him and also adopt him as my Ethiopian brother. Your God is good." During our visit, Israel offered to help with translations for Nahom when we get moved to El Paso and is excited to introduce his son, Gideon, to another Ethiopian child.
I was also very blessed to meet Israel's family at the baggage claim area of the airport and after many hugs and exchanging of phone numbers and emails, they invited me to come to their home for dinner. Unfortunately, I already had made arrangements for each of my evenings in El Paso, so we parted ways with plans to introduce our families to one another and have an Ethiopian dinner together at our new home when we get settled in middle July. Israel did have one special request for our Ethiopian meal together....he asked if I would teach his wife to make injera bread! YEA!! God is so good- I'm so thankful that I've learned to cook Ethiopian and hope to learn more during our trip to Ethiopia!! What a neat thing to be able to share with this family! :)
I am soooo thankful that I met this wonderful Ethiopian man and his family. Some people may say that it was just a coincidence, but not me.....friends, I was seeking God, fasting and praying on that very day and HE WAS THERE in a mighty way! God blessed me in a way I could have NEVER imagined or thought of! The 3 days I was in El Paso were ALL blessed. Amazing. There are more stories of God's faithfulness, his provisions, his goodness....but I'll save them for another post- this one is already quite lengthy!! I will tell you though that my house hunting was successful and we found a place to rent after we get home with Joshua Nahom and do our Army move in July. It was the very last house I looked at and is absolutely perfect for our family! :) Thank you Lord!! YEAYEAYEA! Here's a snapshot of the house we'll be renting in about a month or so from now!!!
Joshua 1:9 "I command you be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Psalms 32:8 "The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."
Blessings to you,
Amy
PS--- OUR COURT HEARING IN ETHIOPIA WILL HAPPEN this THURSDAY- JUNE 11, 2009. Please pray for us during the night, WEDNESDAY NIGHT our time(CST) when they'll actually be hearing the case in Ethiopia! Please PRAY for us!
I have never fasted much. Over the last several months the Lord has been teaching me about fasting and praying and there have been several times that I've fasted through a meal to pray over our children or certain situations, but never longer than one meal time. Well-- God impressed upon my heart that I should fast and pray over our upcoming housing at Ft. Bliss. So I began fasting on Monday night and had committed to fasting and praying through Tuesday and until Wednesday when I met with the housing office at Ft. Bliss to determine our upcoming housing plan. BTW--- self denial does not come easily to me and it is even harder in an airport with tons of time to kill and lots of restaurants right there! I struggled and prayed and really struggled and really prayed and God was so good to me!!
I woke at 600am on Tuesday to go to the airport. I got a call from the airline at 700 that my flight had been cancelled and I was being re-scheduled! I was grumpy about it but also thankful they had called me before I arrived to the airport! So I spent the morning with my family :) and then went to catch my flight. I ended up having a 4 hour lay-over b/c of the airline issues. Again-- I was a little grumpy about this (and also hungry because I am fasting) but I spent this time praying and reading scripture and seeking God in the USO at the Denver airport!! I got on my second flight and was seated next to a young black man who looked of Ethiopian descent to me. Now- I didn't want to ask-- "Are you an Ethiopian?" As that might have been offensive to some but I did want to know!! After initial pleasantries, I did ask him if he lived in El Paso or was just visiting. He said that he did live there but only for the last year. "Oh--- well, where did you live before that?" Las Vegas for two years. "Oh--- well, where are you from?" He said, "CHINA" with a big smile on his face. I laughed and said, "No really-- where are you from?" He said, "Ethiopia."
Wow.
WOW!
Can you believe this was a DIVINE APPOINTMENT? Isn't it just AMAZING that God placed me on a delayed flight so that I could have a seat next to an Ethiopian man on a flight going to El Paso, Texas? And can you believe that I had been grumpy in spirit about it but God loves me and blessed me anyway???
Well--- this man was so kind and my entire flight was filled with heart-wrenching, amazing and inspiring life stories from this 26 year old Ethiopian named Israel. IT WAS A DIVINE APPOINTMENT. For privacy sake, I won't go into all the details of Israel's life story on this blog--- but I will share that Israel was an orphan since he was 9 years old. He lived with extended family for awhile, but ran away after a year of abuse. He travelled and worked and travelled and worked for 11 years trying to make his way to America. After his parents died, his destination had always been America because he had met one American woman in Ethiopia who had shown him kindness and told him the God loved him and had a purpose for his life! Isn't it amazing to see how ONE person's kindness gave this little orphan boy HOPE and a dream??
Israel shared the intimate details of his life story with me on a very crowded plane. A lone tear ran down his strong cheek and his voice quivered when he spoke of the loss of his parents and that memory of being alone in the world. I was given the opportunity to share our faith and love in Jesus Christ and our adoption story of Nahom with him. I told him of my vision from God of Nahom in my hallway and how God had opened doors and miraculously worked to care for and love this orphan and give him a home and a family. I told him that God had spoken to us and shown us that HE loves the orphan and that as a family we were called to love orphans also. I shared that throughout the Bible, God shows his love for the poor, oppressed, and lonely and that God had used those scriptures to bring us to Nahom. His voice cracked as he said, "I am that orphan boy you are adopting. That was me, 17 years ago. Nahom is a blessed child and I hope to get to meet him and also adopt him as my Ethiopian brother. Your God is good." During our visit, Israel offered to help with translations for Nahom when we get moved to El Paso and is excited to introduce his son, Gideon, to another Ethiopian child.
I was also very blessed to meet Israel's family at the baggage claim area of the airport and after many hugs and exchanging of phone numbers and emails, they invited me to come to their home for dinner. Unfortunately, I already had made arrangements for each of my evenings in El Paso, so we parted ways with plans to introduce our families to one another and have an Ethiopian dinner together at our new home when we get settled in middle July. Israel did have one special request for our Ethiopian meal together....he asked if I would teach his wife to make injera bread! YEA!! God is so good- I'm so thankful that I've learned to cook Ethiopian and hope to learn more during our trip to Ethiopia!! What a neat thing to be able to share with this family! :)
I am soooo thankful that I met this wonderful Ethiopian man and his family. Some people may say that it was just a coincidence, but not me.....friends, I was seeking God, fasting and praying on that very day and HE WAS THERE in a mighty way! God blessed me in a way I could have NEVER imagined or thought of! The 3 days I was in El Paso were ALL blessed. Amazing. There are more stories of God's faithfulness, his provisions, his goodness....but I'll save them for another post- this one is already quite lengthy!! I will tell you though that my house hunting was successful and we found a place to rent after we get home with Joshua Nahom and do our Army move in July. It was the very last house I looked at and is absolutely perfect for our family! :) Thank you Lord!! YEAYEAYEA! Here's a snapshot of the house we'll be renting in about a month or so from now!!!
Joshua 1:9 "I command you be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Psalms 32:8 "The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."
Blessings to you,
Amy
PS--- OUR COURT HEARING IN ETHIOPIA WILL HAPPEN this THURSDAY- JUNE 11, 2009. Please pray for us during the night, WEDNESDAY NIGHT our time(CST) when they'll actually be hearing the case in Ethiopia! Please PRAY for us!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Finding a house for all my TREASURES
I'm on my way (very early!) in the morning to go to El Paso, Texas to check out the area and try to locate some housing for us to move to in July when we return home from Ethiopia. Please pray BIG for us folks.....please pray BIG. Our hearts' desire is to live on-post there and we are praying the MOUNTAINS MOVE and hearts are softened, and that we can live on Ft. Bliss. Please pray that God puts us EXACTLY where he wants us to live. My specific prayer tonight is that God would OPEN and SHUT doors for us and show me exactly WHERE the home is that we should bring our family to live in when we move in July. Please pray for me during the next few days as I travel and search!! Pray for our transition with Nahom in a few weeks and pray for our Army MOVE that will happen RIGHT AFTER we return home with him!! Pray for mercy and peace and GRACE!
We're over the top excited about our adoption of Nahom and I made YUMMY Ethiopian food again tonight! My sweet neighbor and her children joined me this afternoon to cook Ethiopian and share our dinner and it was just delightful!! What a special time! Loved it!
Remember.....Only 9 more days until we pass court and Nahom is a Newsom! PRAY BIG!! PRAY BIG!!
Read this cool scripture about building our homes......
Proverbs 24:3-4 "A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables!"
Friends, God has already been filling our home with TRUE riches, valuables, and treasures....OUR CHILDREN!! They are precious riches! Madilyn, Jackson, Hannah, Joshua Nahom, and Joel Daniel! Thank you Lord for the sweet TREASURES you've given us--- please help me use wisdom and good sense to find the right house over the next few days for these amazing treasures to fill up its rooms and grow up in! :)
Blessings,
AMY
We're over the top excited about our adoption of Nahom and I made YUMMY Ethiopian food again tonight! My sweet neighbor and her children joined me this afternoon to cook Ethiopian and share our dinner and it was just delightful!! What a special time! Loved it!
Remember.....Only 9 more days until we pass court and Nahom is a Newsom! PRAY BIG!! PRAY BIG!!
Read this cool scripture about building our homes......
Proverbs 24:3-4 "A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables!"
Friends, God has already been filling our home with TRUE riches, valuables, and treasures....OUR CHILDREN!! They are precious riches! Madilyn, Jackson, Hannah, Joshua Nahom, and Joel Daniel! Thank you Lord for the sweet TREASURES you've given us--- please help me use wisdom and good sense to find the right house over the next few days for these amazing treasures to fill up its rooms and grow up in! :)
Blessings,
AMY
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