TRUST and OBEY

....for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus is to TRUST and OBEY.

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."

Our trip was delayed by one week due to delays in obtaining Nahom's official court decree and birth certificate. We leave for Ethiopia at 3pm tomorrow, Friday, July 3. We will celebrate our very first GOTCHA DAY with Joshua Nahom Newsom on Saturday night in Addis Ababa! YEA!!

Can you believe ALL that God has done? I am so humbled by His presence and hand in the very details of our lives. In ALL that He has taught me and shown me. Amazing. We have stepped out in faith and are travelling tomorrow. There are still some pieces of the paperwork puzzle that must come together before we can bring Nahom home with us--- but we are TRUSTING in our Lord with all our hearts. It is so very exciting to already KNOW that HE has worked out all the details to serve HIS purposes and HIS will--- all we have to do is TRUST AND OBEY. Please do join us in praying that God continues to bless on our adoption of Nahom and that HE works out the tiniest of tiny details that need to happen. HE KNOWS THEM ALL and we know that HE can MOVE MOUNTAINS! We are not leaning on our own understanding
--- we are trusing and acknowledging HIM. Thank you Lord, in advance-- for all that you have and are going to do to bring home Nahom.

I do want to share our latest "CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US" story......
my sweet husband takes care of the finances in our family. Months ago, we calculated the costs of Joshua Nahom's "ransom" and we were going to be emptying out God's savings account for our family in obedience to this calling to adopt and still be short several thousand dollars. It's God's money and it took a big step of faith, some lessons in trust and obedience but we have gladly given it back to GOD. We applied for some grants but received letters back that we were not the chosen recipients. Well-- when it was time to buy tickets last week.....Joel checked our bank account and you are right, GOD did it!! The EXACT amount we needed, PLUS a few hundred dollars was there--- the several thousand dollars we were short was deposited in our account! CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT GOD HAS DONE?? Amazing. The deposited money was legitimate.... it was from our employer and it was an allowance for our Army move in July. We had totally forgotten that we would be receiving this allotment and we got it right before we needed it. God knows. We were so blessed.

God is good. All the time. Please do pray for us as we travel and face many unknowns!! We are super excited!

Blessings,
Amy

Packing Up

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

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!! :)

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

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!

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

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