Ok--- so we have the referral for Nahom and now we are really PRAYING BIG. We know that God has shown himself to us through this adoption and we are trusting that HE will guide us through to the end.
We would like for you all to PRAY BIG with us. Our specific prayer is that our court date is expedited (since we are moving out of state and lost our earlier referral) and that this happens REALLY SOON!!
The Army is planning to move our family in late June and this means crunch time for us with bringing Nahom home. If the adoption happens before the move--- it will be GREAT with no extra paperwork--- we'll be focusing on our sweet new little boy and then we'll do the standard Army move! No big deal. If the move happens before the adoption-- well, it'll just be a big headache of setting up the new house quickly, locating a homestudy agency to make an amendment to our existing homestudy and then, submitting that paperwork to USCIS and waiting for the approval. uuuggghhh! We are really optimistic.
We know we have lots of prayer warriors on our TEAM and we know that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf! Thank you Jesus! We also know that Ephesians 3:20 gives us this promise..... "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
We'll keep you all posted!! Please PRAY BIG on behalf on Nahom and our family!
Blessings on this beautiful Monday-
Amy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
REFERRAL
God moved some mountains this week. That was my prayer on Sunday and again, God showed Himself to us!! God is good, faithful and powerful. God is bigger than ANYTHING I can imagine!! God has moved some mountains for this family in a mighty way! We will give you, my LORD, all the praise and glory through Christ Jesus!!!
God revealed our child to us yesterday. We got a referral for an amazing and beautiful 3 1/2 year old little boy. He is cute! He IS the child that I saw standing in my hallway during my vision from God last Monday night. THE SAME CHILD! Isn't it so cool that God loves me enough to listen to me and answer all my prayers? Even my prayers for a vision? Can you believe that really happened to me?? It did my sweet friends! I'm NOT over it-- and hope that I NEVER forget the way that God revealed himself to me. I'm so broken and unworthy, yet HE LOVES ME THAT MUCH! :) Okay, so I'm a JESUS FREAK now and so happy about it!!!
As for our referral......our new little ones' Ethiopian name is NAHOM. It's a Biblical name that means comfort and blessing! SO COOL!!! I love his name! He will be such a blessing to our family and we hope that we can also comfort and bless him as his new family! Our agency thinks he is 3 1/2 but he looks more like a 4 or 4 1/2year old to me--- of course, this is only my mommy guessing attempt and we probably won't know for sure until we take him to a dentist here! His medicals were all great. His blood tests all good. We're SO excited to bring him home!
We have discussed his "American name" at length and have decided that many months ago, God laid it on our hearts to name our adopted children Joshua and Emma and so we're going to stick with those names. So his name after he is adopted will be JOSHUA NAHOM NEWSOM. We may still call him Nahom since he is an older little one---but we will just wait to see how things go. We still believe our EMMA is out there somewhere and we have already begun to pray that God will show us HIS will for another adoption at the right time. That HE will reveal to us HIS plan and we will be obedient to the calling to adopt children just as we have been adopted into God's great family whenever the time is right!
PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! I believe in the power of prayer! Please pray specifically for God's timing to be perfect for this adoption. That He would remove any documentation barriers before they even exist, that our adoption of Joshua Nahom would happen more swiftly than expected and that He would prepare our hearts to parent this child and prepare Joshua Nahom to receive and accept our love.
We are trusting and have faith that GOD knows all about our Army move coming up. We've been hesitant to set up moving dates with the Army because we have felt that God was going to bring this child to us while were HERE but there are so many unknowns and factors that are out of our control so WE ARE GIVING GOD OUR CALENDAR and asking HIM to fill in the blanks that have to happen for this adoption and for our Army move!!! PLEASE PRAY WITH US FOR THIS!! We need to travel to Ethiopia to pick up Joshua Nahom in mid to late June! For those of you that don't have experience in adoptions--- this is really really quick in adoption time and it will be a miracle if it happens!!! I have said all along that I knew God was going to make this adoption journey a testimony where "ONLY GOD COULD DO THAT" so I'm praying BIG!
James 1:18 "In His goodness he chose to make us all His own children."
Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as small as a mustard see, you can say to this mountain, MOVE from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Romans 8: 14-17 "because of those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children then we are heirs- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
Thank you God for Joshua Nahom Newsom.
Blessings today--
AMY
God revealed our child to us yesterday. We got a referral for an amazing and beautiful 3 1/2 year old little boy. He is cute! He IS the child that I saw standing in my hallway during my vision from God last Monday night. THE SAME CHILD! Isn't it so cool that God loves me enough to listen to me and answer all my prayers? Even my prayers for a vision? Can you believe that really happened to me?? It did my sweet friends! I'm NOT over it-- and hope that I NEVER forget the way that God revealed himself to me. I'm so broken and unworthy, yet HE LOVES ME THAT MUCH! :) Okay, so I'm a JESUS FREAK now and so happy about it!!!
As for our referral......our new little ones' Ethiopian name is NAHOM. It's a Biblical name that means comfort and blessing! SO COOL!!! I love his name! He will be such a blessing to our family and we hope that we can also comfort and bless him as his new family! Our agency thinks he is 3 1/2 but he looks more like a 4 or 4 1/2year old to me--- of course, this is only my mommy guessing attempt and we probably won't know for sure until we take him to a dentist here! His medicals were all great. His blood tests all good. We're SO excited to bring him home!
We have discussed his "American name" at length and have decided that many months ago, God laid it on our hearts to name our adopted children Joshua and Emma and so we're going to stick with those names. So his name after he is adopted will be JOSHUA NAHOM NEWSOM. We may still call him Nahom since he is an older little one---but we will just wait to see how things go. We still believe our EMMA is out there somewhere and we have already begun to pray that God will show us HIS will for another adoption at the right time. That HE will reveal to us HIS plan and we will be obedient to the calling to adopt children just as we have been adopted into God's great family whenever the time is right!
PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! I believe in the power of prayer! Please pray specifically for God's timing to be perfect for this adoption. That He would remove any documentation barriers before they even exist, that our adoption of Joshua Nahom would happen more swiftly than expected and that He would prepare our hearts to parent this child and prepare Joshua Nahom to receive and accept our love.
We are trusting and have faith that GOD knows all about our Army move coming up. We've been hesitant to set up moving dates with the Army because we have felt that God was going to bring this child to us while were HERE but there are so many unknowns and factors that are out of our control so WE ARE GIVING GOD OUR CALENDAR and asking HIM to fill in the blanks that have to happen for this adoption and for our Army move!!! PLEASE PRAY WITH US FOR THIS!! We need to travel to Ethiopia to pick up Joshua Nahom in mid to late June! For those of you that don't have experience in adoptions--- this is really really quick in adoption time and it will be a miracle if it happens!!! I have said all along that I knew God was going to make this adoption journey a testimony where "ONLY GOD COULD DO THAT" so I'm praying BIG!
James 1:18 "In His goodness he chose to make us all His own children."
Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as small as a mustard see, you can say to this mountain, MOVE from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Romans 8: 14-17 "because of those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children then we are heirs- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
Thank you God for Joshua Nahom Newsom.
Blessings today--
AMY
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Update
I don't really know where to start to catch up here in bloggy-land because it has been a while since I posted but lots of praises and prayers and changes have been happening and so I'm going to try to briefly give you an abbreviated update from the Newsom house.
After several weeks of sickness, everyone is well now (PTL) and this past week we had a mad dash to clean out the closets, dressers, and the basement for the Great American Frontier Yard Sale on Friday night and Saturday. It was great to simplify and de-clutter the house, especially since we'll be moving in about 8-10 weeks( much more on that later!)
We also BEGAN our standardized testing this week! PLEASE pray for my sanity! LOL!! I am approaching it a little differently this year--- one section/ per child/ per day until we are done- which should be about two weeks! So far so good. I'll let you know how things are going. Testing is always an anxiety producing event for me because I feel these tests are Grading the job I am doing as my children's permanent home room teacher more than they are testing my children!! :)
Our 3 big kiddos are going to perform in a play at church called the "Pirates of the I don't Care-ibbean" this weekend, so our last few weeks have also been full of extra practices, costume gathering, parent meetings, making the set, and dress rehearsals. It is going to be a SWEET and FUN show and I'm so proud of them for their hard work-- they have invested so much time and energy into their parts!! It will be wonderful to see them perform tomorrow and Saturday and it will also be wonderful to have our regular life back again next week! I'll try to video it--- I haven't learned to download video clips to the blog yet but that might be my next new technological advancement skill! It should be really great.
God has been showing himself to our family in amazing and mighty ways this past week. Many of you know that we lost our referral for Emma and Joshua in early March. We were then waiting on a referral for 2 little girls over a month or so ago and the extended family decided to parent those children so that referral did not happen (we are so happy God kept these girls in their birth family!!!) About 2 weeks ago, we were told there were 2 more siblings that were being processed and on Friday we got word that this extended family also decided to parent these children! (YEA!) Do you see a pattern here??? When we found out about the third attempt to refer siblings to us had not been meant to be-- we began to question God's will for our family concerning our adoption.
On Monday, we shared our questions, prayer requests, and concerns with some of our Christian mentors and friends at our weekly Bible Study and I was so encouraged and inspired by them! They agreed to pray for us and also gave us great advice in recommending praying and fasting, praying with our kids and also asking God for a dream/vision to help us decide whether or not to change our adoptive preferences. We appreciate these sweet ppl so much and truly value their insights, their faith, and the scriptures that they shared with us concerning our adoption! Joel and I did pray for God to give us a dream on Monday night and you won't believe this but HE DID!! Here's the Vision that God gave me on Monday night...........
I have never witnessed or experienced anything like this in my entire life-- but honest to goodness at 2:36 am I woke up to a light on in our hallway (the light was off when we went to bed!) and there, in my hallway, friends--- was a little Ethiopian boy. One little boy. His olive skin was beautiful, his big dark eyes were staring at me with a very sweet disposition, and although his smile was small and shy- he WAS smiling at me. I was awe-struck and rubbed my hands over my face to wake myself up because I thought I was dreaming and when I looked again--- HE WAS STILL STANDING THERE, completely still just looking at me! The thoughts were flying through my head.....who is this? how did he get in here?is this our baby boy from Ethiopia?is this our answer? should I wake Joel? what should I do? am I going crazy? is this a dream?
After a few seconds I decided to get out of bed and go to the hallway to see if he was really real and when my feet hit the floor and I turned back towards the hallway-just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. I thought I might be dreaming and maybe I had seen one of my children in my hallway and maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me-- so I checked. No kids in the bathroom, no one in the LR, no one moving around in the kitchen, and all 4 kids were snuggled cozy in their beds, fast asleep.
WOW.
I have never experienced anything like that before and I may never again-- but I am certain that it was a vision from God. I have chill bumps on my arms just remembering it and I want to share it with you all through this blog so that God is glorified through this testimony and our adoption.
After much prayer, discussion and the vision, Joel and I have decided that we believe that it is God's will for us to be willing to continue waiting for a sibling set, but also to be willing and available to accept a referral for a single child if that is what the Holy Spirit leads Agitu to place in our family. We contacted BFAS and let them know of our flexibility and although we are STILL WAITiNG--- I am so super excited to find out what God has in store for us. I am amazed that He gave us this vision and I feel such a sense of renewal and blessing in this very moment! I can't wait to find out what it means....... and don't worry-- I'll let you know when we know!!!
Here are some scriptures that just SPEAK to my heart today!!!
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Ephesians 1:10 "This is HIS plan; at the right time HE will bring everything together under the authority of Christ- everything in heaven and on earth."
Habakkuk 2:3 "These things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place."
I hope you are very blessed--
Amy
After several weeks of sickness, everyone is well now (PTL) and this past week we had a mad dash to clean out the closets, dressers, and the basement for the Great American Frontier Yard Sale on Friday night and Saturday. It was great to simplify and de-clutter the house, especially since we'll be moving in about 8-10 weeks( much more on that later!)
We also BEGAN our standardized testing this week! PLEASE pray for my sanity! LOL!! I am approaching it a little differently this year--- one section/ per child/ per day until we are done- which should be about two weeks! So far so good. I'll let you know how things are going. Testing is always an anxiety producing event for me because I feel these tests are Grading the job I am doing as my children's permanent home room teacher more than they are testing my children!! :)
Our 3 big kiddos are going to perform in a play at church called the "Pirates of the I don't Care-ibbean" this weekend, so our last few weeks have also been full of extra practices, costume gathering, parent meetings, making the set, and dress rehearsals. It is going to be a SWEET and FUN show and I'm so proud of them for their hard work-- they have invested so much time and energy into their parts!! It will be wonderful to see them perform tomorrow and Saturday and it will also be wonderful to have our regular life back again next week! I'll try to video it--- I haven't learned to download video clips to the blog yet but that might be my next new technological advancement skill! It should be really great.
God has been showing himself to our family in amazing and mighty ways this past week. Many of you know that we lost our referral for Emma and Joshua in early March. We were then waiting on a referral for 2 little girls over a month or so ago and the extended family decided to parent those children so that referral did not happen (we are so happy God kept these girls in their birth family!!!) About 2 weeks ago, we were told there were 2 more siblings that were being processed and on Friday we got word that this extended family also decided to parent these children! (YEA!) Do you see a pattern here??? When we found out about the third attempt to refer siblings to us had not been meant to be-- we began to question God's will for our family concerning our adoption.
On Monday, we shared our questions, prayer requests, and concerns with some of our Christian mentors and friends at our weekly Bible Study and I was so encouraged and inspired by them! They agreed to pray for us and also gave us great advice in recommending praying and fasting, praying with our kids and also asking God for a dream/vision to help us decide whether or not to change our adoptive preferences. We appreciate these sweet ppl so much and truly value their insights, their faith, and the scriptures that they shared with us concerning our adoption! Joel and I did pray for God to give us a dream on Monday night and you won't believe this but HE DID!! Here's the Vision that God gave me on Monday night...........
I have never witnessed or experienced anything like this in my entire life-- but honest to goodness at 2:36 am I woke up to a light on in our hallway (the light was off when we went to bed!) and there, in my hallway, friends--- was a little Ethiopian boy. One little boy. His olive skin was beautiful, his big dark eyes were staring at me with a very sweet disposition, and although his smile was small and shy- he WAS smiling at me. I was awe-struck and rubbed my hands over my face to wake myself up because I thought I was dreaming and when I looked again--- HE WAS STILL STANDING THERE, completely still just looking at me! The thoughts were flying through my head.....who is this? how did he get in here?is this our baby boy from Ethiopia?is this our answer? should I wake Joel? what should I do? am I going crazy? is this a dream?
After a few seconds I decided to get out of bed and go to the hallway to see if he was really real and when my feet hit the floor and I turned back towards the hallway-just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. I thought I might be dreaming and maybe I had seen one of my children in my hallway and maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me-- so I checked. No kids in the bathroom, no one in the LR, no one moving around in the kitchen, and all 4 kids were snuggled cozy in their beds, fast asleep.
WOW.
I have never experienced anything like that before and I may never again-- but I am certain that it was a vision from God. I have chill bumps on my arms just remembering it and I want to share it with you all through this blog so that God is glorified through this testimony and our adoption.
After much prayer, discussion and the vision, Joel and I have decided that we believe that it is God's will for us to be willing to continue waiting for a sibling set, but also to be willing and available to accept a referral for a single child if that is what the Holy Spirit leads Agitu to place in our family. We contacted BFAS and let them know of our flexibility and although we are STILL WAITiNG--- I am so super excited to find out what God has in store for us. I am amazed that He gave us this vision and I feel such a sense of renewal and blessing in this very moment! I can't wait to find out what it means....... and don't worry-- I'll let you know when we know!!!
Here are some scriptures that just SPEAK to my heart today!!!
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Ephesians 1:10 "This is HIS plan; at the right time HE will bring everything together under the authority of Christ- everything in heaven and on earth."
Habakkuk 2:3 "These things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place."
I hope you are very blessed--
Amy
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Humbled
Thank you for your prayers.....everyone is slowly getting better at our house and we are very thankful this morning!! It always amazes me how AWESOME it feels to be healthy after even a minor illness has ravaged through our body or of those we love! I am so thankful for all of our blessings-- for adequate housing, food, water and medicine to treat illnesses, for access to health care during an emergency, for sweet friends and neighbors who help out during the rough days, for my friends and family who have PRAYED for us, for my husband who is a superhero to me! I am soooo thankful.
In fact, this little bout of illness has made me think more and more about our mission to adopt and care for the orphans of the world! These are the thoughts that have been swarming my brain the last few days......Can you imagine living in a country with no access to a doctor and no money for medicine when your babies are sick? (the current doctor to patient ratio in Ethiopia is 1 doctor:24,000 sick people)Wow. Can you imagine not having clean water to hydrate their sick little bodies?? Can you imagine not having enough food to make it through the day and provide your babies with enough nutrients to have a healthy immune system? Can you imagine watching your sick child lay in filth and rags on a small dirt floor underneath a tin shanty shelter with no food/ water/ medicine to help them? Can you imagine knowing that your children have intestinal parasites, lice, and scabies but there is nothing you can do to fix it??
These things are NORMAL for millions of families in Ethiopia.
Ok-- now think of this--- CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING THAT SICK CHILD, ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD-- WITH NO MOM OR DAD TO COMFORT AND LOVE YOU WHILE YOU ARE SICK?
wow. This is a very humbling thought. There are 4.5 Million of these orphans in the country of Ethiopia. There are 147 million orphans worldwide.
I feel soooooo blessed that God has called our family to be the hands and feet of Jesus and welcome these children into our home to share God's provisions and His goodness with these orphans. I am so thankful for our blessings and that God would be willing to use us this way. I am so thankful that we experienced a rough sick week at our house and that during this time, God has given me a greater COMPASSION for the sick and lonely. I am praying that God opens doors and shows us how we can do even MORE, share MORE, love MORE.
Here are some more humbling statistics for you to ponder:
34% of Christian families CONSIDER adopting-- only 1% of Christian families ACTUALLY adopt.
If 1 in 5 Christian families adopted an orphan into their families--- there would be no orphans in our world.
My heart breaks for the orphan. My heart breaks for the families living in such poverty stricken countries. I am so broken and still God has blessed me so much. Please pray that God would also use you to serve the orphaned children in our world in some way! Walking in obedience to His words has changed my heart and grown my spriritual walk so much. I am so thankful and blessed beyond measure! It is a very Thankful Thursday!
Psalms 111:1-2 "Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them!"
Colossians 2:7 "Let your roots grow deep down in to him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let you lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done."
Blessings-
Amy
In fact, this little bout of illness has made me think more and more about our mission to adopt and care for the orphans of the world! These are the thoughts that have been swarming my brain the last few days......Can you imagine living in a country with no access to a doctor and no money for medicine when your babies are sick? (the current doctor to patient ratio in Ethiopia is 1 doctor:24,000 sick people)Wow. Can you imagine not having clean water to hydrate their sick little bodies?? Can you imagine not having enough food to make it through the day and provide your babies with enough nutrients to have a healthy immune system? Can you imagine watching your sick child lay in filth and rags on a small dirt floor underneath a tin shanty shelter with no food/ water/ medicine to help them? Can you imagine knowing that your children have intestinal parasites, lice, and scabies but there is nothing you can do to fix it??
These things are NORMAL for millions of families in Ethiopia.
Ok-- now think of this--- CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING THAT SICK CHILD, ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD-- WITH NO MOM OR DAD TO COMFORT AND LOVE YOU WHILE YOU ARE SICK?
wow. This is a very humbling thought. There are 4.5 Million of these orphans in the country of Ethiopia. There are 147 million orphans worldwide.
I feel soooooo blessed that God has called our family to be the hands and feet of Jesus and welcome these children into our home to share God's provisions and His goodness with these orphans. I am so thankful for our blessings and that God would be willing to use us this way. I am so thankful that we experienced a rough sick week at our house and that during this time, God has given me a greater COMPASSION for the sick and lonely. I am praying that God opens doors and shows us how we can do even MORE, share MORE, love MORE.
Here are some more humbling statistics for you to ponder:
34% of Christian families CONSIDER adopting-- only 1% of Christian families ACTUALLY adopt.
If 1 in 5 Christian families adopted an orphan into their families--- there would be no orphans in our world.
My heart breaks for the orphan. My heart breaks for the families living in such poverty stricken countries. I am so broken and still God has blessed me so much. Please pray that God would also use you to serve the orphaned children in our world in some way! Walking in obedience to His words has changed my heart and grown my spriritual walk so much. I am so thankful and blessed beyond measure! It is a very Thankful Thursday!
Psalms 111:1-2 "Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in Him should ponder them!"
Colossians 2:7 "Let your roots grow deep down in to him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let you lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done."
Blessings-
Amy
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Real Time Blogging
So I wrote my last post about Thursday of this past week and because I was pretty sick and I have also had sick little ones since then, so I didn't actually sit back down at the computer and post it until late last night. So this blog hasn't been real time for a few weeks.....but I'm blogging real-time now and there have been some substantial challenges we've faced over the last few days with illnesses in our home and I'd like to ask you to please lift us up in prayer.
We need some real-time, right now- prayer for our family. I am still sick and not feeling 100% yet. I am some better but I am still having lots of sinus congestion, sinus headache pain and a sore throat. Joel Daniel has also taken my nasty cold and is feeling very yucky today. :( The last major request for prayer is for our sweet Hannah. She has been sick and complaining of stomach pain for 4 days now. Yesterday, some other suspicious symptoms came to surface and they all indicated she might have appendicitis. (R quadrant pain, pain with walking, low grade temp, nausea) So off to the ER we went. Four hours and lots of tests later, they sent us home saying maybe she was suffering from GI issues- her WBC wasn't high enough to indicate appendicitis. Now, last night Hannah woke me up 3 more times with this pain in her R side. The low grade fever, nausea, and pain in R side persists. I'm going to take her back to the ER this afternoon if she hasn't gotten total relief from the last dose of MOM I gave her to totally rule out GI issues. Please pray for healing for Hannah and also that if we do go back to the ER, that the doctors we see would use wisdom and be able to diagnose her correctly so she won't suffer any more discomfort! Thanks for the prayers bloggy friends! I appreciate your support and prayers!
I didn't get to go to church this morning with sick little ones. But in my quiet time alone with the Lord this morning, these are the scriptures I've been pondering! I hope these scriptures bring a renewed sense of God's mission for your life today, as these scriptures really spoke to my heart and reminded me to focus on fulfilling God's purpose for my life as I walk through my every day! I especially need to remember to witness and share Christ's grace and love during the not so fun days (like my last few days) that are filled with trials and challenges!
Romans 1:5 "Through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us.... and now he is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done....so they, too, will believe and obey him."
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 "Through Christ, God has made peace between us and Himself and He gave us the work of telling everyone the peace we can have with Him. So we have been sent to speak for Christ."
Acts 20:24 "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me, to tell people the good news about His grace."
1 Corinthians 12:7 "God has given each of you some special abilities. Be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessing."
Philippians 2:5 "In your lives you must think and act like Jesus Christ."
1 John 3:18 "Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions."
Thanks for praying for our family.
Blessings to you all on this Holy Day,
Amy
We need some real-time, right now- prayer for our family. I am still sick and not feeling 100% yet. I am some better but I am still having lots of sinus congestion, sinus headache pain and a sore throat. Joel Daniel has also taken my nasty cold and is feeling very yucky today. :( The last major request for prayer is for our sweet Hannah. She has been sick and complaining of stomach pain for 4 days now. Yesterday, some other suspicious symptoms came to surface and they all indicated she might have appendicitis. (R quadrant pain, pain with walking, low grade temp, nausea) So off to the ER we went. Four hours and lots of tests later, they sent us home saying maybe she was suffering from GI issues- her WBC wasn't high enough to indicate appendicitis. Now, last night Hannah woke me up 3 more times with this pain in her R side. The low grade fever, nausea, and pain in R side persists. I'm going to take her back to the ER this afternoon if she hasn't gotten total relief from the last dose of MOM I gave her to totally rule out GI issues. Please pray for healing for Hannah and also that if we do go back to the ER, that the doctors we see would use wisdom and be able to diagnose her correctly so she won't suffer any more discomfort! Thanks for the prayers bloggy friends! I appreciate your support and prayers!
I didn't get to go to church this morning with sick little ones. But in my quiet time alone with the Lord this morning, these are the scriptures I've been pondering! I hope these scriptures bring a renewed sense of God's mission for your life today, as these scriptures really spoke to my heart and reminded me to focus on fulfilling God's purpose for my life as I walk through my every day! I especially need to remember to witness and share Christ's grace and love during the not so fun days (like my last few days) that are filled with trials and challenges!
Romans 1:5 "Through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us.... and now he is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done....so they, too, will believe and obey him."
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 "Through Christ, God has made peace between us and Himself and He gave us the work of telling everyone the peace we can have with Him. So we have been sent to speak for Christ."
Acts 20:24 "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me, to tell people the good news about His grace."
1 Corinthians 12:7 "God has given each of you some special abilities. Be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessing."
Philippians 2:5 "In your lives you must think and act like Jesus Christ."
1 John 3:18 "Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions."
Thanks for praying for our family.
Blessings to you all on this Holy Day,
Amy
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Fun Family Spring Break Week
We've been home several days from our Spring Break trip which was action packed and even though our suitcases are empty and back in the basement- I'm still in recovery mode! My allergies have kicked in since we've been back here in Kansas, and my oh my-- there are some things in the air here that just don't agree with my respiratory system! I've actually been pretty sick (actually, DOWN on the couch and for those of you who don't know me-I am not a couchy kind of person!). So the last few days we've taken things slow and I've not had the energy to be on the computer much! I've missed you all!!
(Praise note: I am starting to feel better!)
So I'm going to try to wrap up our week in TX, it was so fun.....
My Mom had a "little" fall the day after we arrived and broke both bones in her lower arm. After a 4 hour surgery and 3 days of hospitalization for antibiotics (compound fracture)- she got to be back home with us. I was super thankful that my sisters and I were there to help her through those first few days in the hospital and I also got to play some serious domino games with my Dad, Angie, and Nannie during mom's surgery. I'm getting pretty good at this game although it really hurts my mommy-brain to count faster than my Dad!! He's a pro! So, Mama Carr and Papa Carr also hosted a giant Easter Egg hunt at the farm on Saturday with over 55 aunts, uncles, cousins and friends there! The food was amazing, the eggs were delightful (over 300 candy filled eggs, I would guess!) and the weather was absolutely perfect!! For those of you who don't know my mom....you'll be surprised to know that she hosted this grand event only 6 days post-surgery, absolutely one handed!! She is a very strong woman and continues to inspire me with her unconditional love, her generosity to all, and her perseverence through trials!
A picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few to showcase our
FUN FAMILY SPRING WEEK!!
Mom after her arm surgery!! (this was a bad arm break!!)
Mom, Nannie, Angie and I at the hospital- we had lots of time to REALLY talk! Fun!
Some of the very cute eggs the kids dyed!
The kids did lots of fishing, riding four wheelers, bon-fires, marshmellow roasting, and exploring in the woods. They also each got to spend a special night one-on-one with Mommommy and Poppy and were treated and spoiled to all kinds of special stuff with them. Joel and I went on a date, and we got to see all of our grandparents over the week (YEA!)
Madilyn just a fishin'-- notice the beautiful sunset!!
Carrson, Jackson and Dawson catching some fish!!
Dawson and Hannah on a side-ways tree we found along the creek....this tree is totally alive but absolutely growing horizontal to the ground!! Very cool!
>
The Carr cousins reinacting Neanderthal life after discovering some cow bones in the woods!!
We also celebrated Joel Daniel's 3rd birthday while we were with our families!! He is such a joy and I'm so blessed to get to spend every day with him!! I can't imagine my life without this sweet spirited, fun loving, smiling, and joyfilled child! He is a true sweetheart and I'm so in love with him!! Here are some photos of his birthday celebration!!
Candles at every meal!! Pancakes with 3 birthday candles!! Look at that smile!
Joel Daniel loves trains.....here is his train bday cake!! CUTE!!
The birthday crew!!! What a fun birthday! We love you Joel Daniel!!!
Our Fun Family Spring Break Week was super busy and fun!! It was truly some memory making time! We enjoyed it immensely, but we were very exhausted by the time we drove 9 hours north to our home on Sunday night! We were very blessed during this week and loved our time with the whole family!!
Adoption News....well, there really is not much adoption news, except that we are still waiting. We have been waiting for another referral of siblings since March when we lost the referral for Joshua and Emma. We are still praying for these two sweet children even though we've never met them and probably never will on this side of eternity. These two are special to us in an amazing way and we know that God knows them personally and hears our prayers on their behalf!
God has been good over the last few weeks to see me through many tough days longing to bring home our babies from Ethiopia. God has been truly preparing our hearts for these children as we wait and I can't wait to lavish them with love and give them a family and a place to call "HOME". Please pray for God to place the perfect children He has for us in our home at the perfect, God-ordained and God-willed time!! Pray that this adoption continues to be a "ONLY GOD COULD DO THIS" testimony of mountains-moving, lives-changing, and Christ's Love being shared with the world through this journey! Our hearts desire is to honor, glorify, and serve GOD through this adoption!! Please pray that we'll be strong in this ministry!!
Hope your day is super blessed!!!
AMY
(Praise note: I am starting to feel better!)
So I'm going to try to wrap up our week in TX, it was so fun.....
My Mom had a "little" fall the day after we arrived and broke both bones in her lower arm. After a 4 hour surgery and 3 days of hospitalization for antibiotics (compound fracture)- she got to be back home with us. I was super thankful that my sisters and I were there to help her through those first few days in the hospital and I also got to play some serious domino games with my Dad, Angie, and Nannie during mom's surgery. I'm getting pretty good at this game although it really hurts my mommy-brain to count faster than my Dad!! He's a pro! So, Mama Carr and Papa Carr also hosted a giant Easter Egg hunt at the farm on Saturday with over 55 aunts, uncles, cousins and friends there! The food was amazing, the eggs were delightful (over 300 candy filled eggs, I would guess!) and the weather was absolutely perfect!! For those of you who don't know my mom....you'll be surprised to know that she hosted this grand event only 6 days post-surgery, absolutely one handed!! She is a very strong woman and continues to inspire me with her unconditional love, her generosity to all, and her perseverence through trials!
A picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few to showcase our
FUN FAMILY SPRING WEEK!!
Mom after her arm surgery!! (this was a bad arm break!!)
Mom, Nannie, Angie and I at the hospital- we had lots of time to REALLY talk! Fun!
Some of the very cute eggs the kids dyed!
The kids did lots of fishing, riding four wheelers, bon-fires, marshmellow roasting, and exploring in the woods. They also each got to spend a special night one-on-one with Mommommy and Poppy and were treated and spoiled to all kinds of special stuff with them. Joel and I went on a date, and we got to see all of our grandparents over the week (YEA!)
Madilyn just a fishin'-- notice the beautiful sunset!!
Carrson, Jackson and Dawson catching some fish!!
Dawson and Hannah on a side-ways tree we found along the creek....this tree is totally alive but absolutely growing horizontal to the ground!! Very cool!
>The Carr cousins reinacting Neanderthal life after discovering some cow bones in the woods!!
We also celebrated Joel Daniel's 3rd birthday while we were with our families!! He is such a joy and I'm so blessed to get to spend every day with him!! I can't imagine my life without this sweet spirited, fun loving, smiling, and joyfilled child! He is a true sweetheart and I'm so in love with him!! Here are some photos of his birthday celebration!!
Candles at every meal!! Pancakes with 3 birthday candles!! Look at that smile!
Joel Daniel loves trains.....here is his train bday cake!! CUTE!!
The birthday crew!!! What a fun birthday! We love you Joel Daniel!!!
Our Fun Family Spring Break Week was super busy and fun!! It was truly some memory making time! We enjoyed it immensely, but we were very exhausted by the time we drove 9 hours north to our home on Sunday night! We were very blessed during this week and loved our time with the whole family!!
Adoption News....well, there really is not much adoption news, except that we are still waiting. We have been waiting for another referral of siblings since March when we lost the referral for Joshua and Emma. We are still praying for these two sweet children even though we've never met them and probably never will on this side of eternity. These two are special to us in an amazing way and we know that God knows them personally and hears our prayers on their behalf!
God has been good over the last few weeks to see me through many tough days longing to bring home our babies from Ethiopia. God has been truly preparing our hearts for these children as we wait and I can't wait to lavish them with love and give them a family and a place to call "HOME". Please pray for God to place the perfect children He has for us in our home at the perfect, God-ordained and God-willed time!! Pray that this adoption continues to be a "ONLY GOD COULD DO THIS" testimony of mountains-moving, lives-changing, and Christ's Love being shared with the world through this journey! Our hearts desire is to honor, glorify, and serve GOD through this adoption!! Please pray that we'll be strong in this ministry!!
Hope your day is super blessed!!!
AMY
Friday, April 3, 2009
Spring Break
We're heading south to Texas in just a few short hours!! We are packed up and ready!! The kids are sooooooo excited! We're going to drive the 9 hours tonight and hope the kids sleep in the car some!! Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels.
No adoption news this week. We're still waiting for another referral. Time is ticking, ticking,ticking since the Army is moving us in late June to El Paso Texas. The move will make our adoption a little more complicated but we know this journey is one that God has ordained for us and in HIS perfect timing and glory--- all the details will work out. We are still praying that God moves mountains and we have faith that HE will make our adoption journey such an amazing "ONLY GOD COULD DO THAT" experience that we have a testimony of God's goodness, perfection, and that our lives and obedience will only glorify Him. :)
These words from the Bible spoke to me this morning during my quiet time.....
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."
1 Timothy 1:12 " How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for considering me trustworthy and appointing me to serve him."
We'll keep you posted on our news and Spring Break fun!
Thanks in advance for your prayers concerning our adoption journey--- it means so much!!
Blessings,
AMY
No adoption news this week. We're still waiting for another referral. Time is ticking, ticking,ticking since the Army is moving us in late June to El Paso Texas. The move will make our adoption a little more complicated but we know this journey is one that God has ordained for us and in HIS perfect timing and glory--- all the details will work out. We are still praying that God moves mountains and we have faith that HE will make our adoption journey such an amazing "ONLY GOD COULD DO THAT" experience that we have a testimony of God's goodness, perfection, and that our lives and obedience will only glorify Him. :)
These words from the Bible spoke to me this morning during my quiet time.....
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."
1 Timothy 1:12 " How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for considering me trustworthy and appointing me to serve him."
We'll keep you posted on our news and Spring Break fun!
Thanks in advance for your prayers concerning our adoption journey--- it means so much!!
Blessings,
AMY
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