Hello friends.....

Good Morning Bloggy Friends!! I hope you haven’t given up on me and decided that I must have totally abandoned this blog due to the recent inactivity! HAHA! It’s been crazy busy but more than anything- I’ve been so overwhelmed by all the lessons that God is teaching me that sitting down and sharing has seemed like an impossibly big task for my short times on the computer! There are so many things going on that Ill back-track a little and try to catch you up on the happenings of Team Newsom!

I’ll start with Orphan Sunday on November 8……the kiddos and I made the 12 hour drive to East Texas again a few weeks ago to visit family. The Lord had lots more in mind for our time there and He worked out all the details so that Agitu, the director of Better Future Adoption Services was able to come visit our family and also speak to our church congregation about the orphan crisis in Ethiopia-- on Orphan Sunday! We were very blessed by her visit and look forward to watching God unite BFAS and Fruitful Harvest efforts to take a medical mission team to share the love of Christ to Ethiopia in the coming months!! AMAZING!!!

Joel flew there for the special weekend and I was also able to share our adoption testimony at our church on Orphan Sunday! I was very nervous about speaking in front of a crowd, but the Lord was good to me and HE provided the words. My prayer was that our testimony planted a seed for just ONE family to sponsor, pray for, or adopt just ONE child in obedience to God’s calling for the body of Christ to care for orphans! If only ONE orphan would find another family to show some of Christ’s love to them--- it was worth it all! I was reminded by scripture in the days before Orphan Sunday that it is important for believers to SHARE what God has done for us with one another! God can use the smallest testimony for HIS GLORY and to fulfill His purposes! I'm thankful for God's grace.....

While we were in East TX, we also attended a dinner with the folks who are working hard to raise support and awareness for orphans in our home community through a new adoption ministry called Compassion for the Fatherless…….check out their website at www.compassionforthefatherless.org . God is so good and is doing such good stuff here!! It was an amazing time of fellowship and time with truly inspiring and REAL people that have a passion to do God’s work for orphans!! We were so blessed that night! I was inspired to DO MORE. GIVE MORE. SHARE MORE. LOVE MORE.

Our little Halleuleia Halloween Project was a huge success!! A big shout out to my kiddos, the Pearce kiddos, Aunt Vickie, and also KATY and ALL the 3rd graders at Como-Pickton Elementary School for an awesome collection of CANDY! Over 60 pounds of candy was collected in the days following Halloween and is now on its way to soldiers in rural Afghanistan to share with the children living in primitive villages on the borders of some very volatile countries. WOW!! What a SWEET joy it will be for our soldiers to GIVE this candy out! What a SWEET message to these children in Afghanistan to RECEIVE this candy!! Very cool!! Thanks guys for the sweet support to our soldiers!!

More recently, we were blessed to meet and visit with a sweet missionary family here in El Paso! What a treasure they are to God’s kingdom! Team Newsom has teamed up with the VH Homeschool Ministry to help support this missionary family ( and 3 others!) that are here sharing the Gospel to orphans and poverty stricken families living in Juarez, Mexico. We’ll be collecting donations of blankets, clothing, shoes, food, and Christmas goodies for the needy children in Juarez in my garage!! Yes, IN MY GARAGE!! Then we’ll give it all to these missionaries so that they can SERVE MORE, DO MORE, SHARE MORE, LOVE MORE!

Now, for those of you who know me well know that this donation collecting thing is a pretty big deal for me since I am such an OCD-kind-of-girl and being disorganized makes me crazy! Well folks, here is the good news-- God is not done working on me yet and and those 8 trash bags full of donations sitting in the middle of my now disheveled garage have actually made me CRAZY EXCITED to be helping orphans across the border! What a joy it is to GIVE!! God is good!!

Please pray for us this weekend as we are travelling....we’re really excited about going to visit Joel’s family and spending some special time together in Lubbock, TX! It will be a treat for us all to have some quality time with everyone!!

This trip and my sweet kiddos reminded me a few days ago that dealing with LIFE has so much to do with our perspective and a gratiful attitude!! This conversation made me laugh but also was a good reminder that I need to count EVERY blessing.....here's how it went: ”Mom, how long is the drive to Lubbock going to be?” I replied, ”It is a 6 hour drive.” Hannah then said, “Wow—this is going to be a great trip. That’s a really short drive.” HAHA!! I guess if you are used to doing long 12 hour drives and all the sudden, it’s only a 6 hour drive—that does seem like a SHORT trip and yes, Hannah is right---it will be a GREAT trip too!

Super thankful for the small things today.

Many Blessings to You and Yours,
AMY

PS—Nahome is doing GREAT!!! What a blessing and a real sweetheart!! He is so fluent now that most people that meet us don’t even know or realize that English is his second language!! Wow!! AMAZING!

Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, "Take my yolk upon you , and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls."

Hard Answers......

There have been several times over the past few weeks that I've been driving down the road or working in the kitchen preparing dinner when all of the sudden, big tears well up in my eyes and I can only pray for God's grace in sharing love and giving hard answers to difficult questions. Today was another one of those days.

Joshua Nahome is doing very well. His language skills are really amazing me and he is communicating well. He has been home nearly 4 months now. He is actually communicating so well now that he has many questions for me and he's caught me un-prepared to answer many of them, but somehow, thankfully, the Lord PROVIDES and out of my mouth comes words that have been kind and were able to soothe and love a confused little boy.

Nahome asked me today, "Is Tigist coming?"

What a hard moment for me to truthfully tell this little boy, "No, Tigist is not coming." I'm so thankful that I was also able to say... "Tigist is in Ethiopia and she loves you very much and wants you to be happy and live in America." Thank you Lord for giving me eyes to see and understand WHY you had us adopt Nahome while we were in Ethiopia. I did and could not understand before I saw it for myself, now I've seen and I know WHY and I also know Tigist LOVED Nahome very much.

These were hard moments. I realize that it is normal for all adoptive children to dream of their birthparents coming for them, looking for them, searching for them.....but I didn't think it would happen this early. I thought those were teenage adoptive issues, not 4year old issues! I didn't realize that he has been waiting for her to come here. I had to tell him the truth because I don't want him to have false hopes or be more confused by vague answers so I felt that even though the truth hurts--- we have to tell him the truth about these questions.....Tigist is not coming. I wish she could, but she is not.

The harder conversation for me was this one......

Nahome then said, "No food Tigist have. Nahome hungry Tigist. No cereal, no pizza, no water, no candy. Nahome hungry Tigist Ethiopia. Nahome no hungry Mommy.
Why Tigist no food, no stores Ethiopia? Why Mommy food, store?"

I really wish I could change those facts in his life. I'm so sad that they endured so much pain. I am so thankful that this little boy has enough to eat now in our home, but it burdens me that he and his birthmother were HUNGRY enough for this little boy to remember that and tell me.

I'm really thankful that we adopted an older child. Questions like the ones above are difficult to answer without being moved to tears, but what a blessing it is to know the WHY behind his adoption and be able to share Tigist's love for him. It is very neat that he remembers and I am thankful. I also love to listen to him tell stories about his memories of Ethiopia! He tells very animated stories of wild dogs in Ethiopia, the cat that killed their only chicken, the stinky outdoor bathroom with bugs, his bed on the dirt ground, his food cooked with fire, his rest time at night, the foods he ate there. Last week, he even pulled an old blanket out of Mama Carr's closet and said that the blanket smelled like Tigist. I am thankful for these memories and I am praying that the Lord continues to give me love, grace, and mercy when Nahome asks me questions that are hard. I pray that I'll be able to tell him about the unconditional, sacrificial love that his sweet birthmother, Tigist, has for him and that he'll somehow, someday....

he will also understand.

Thankful for the blessings and the hard questions and hard answers, too-
AMY

Jeremiah 20:13 " Sing unto the Lord, praise the Lord: for He has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers."

Psalm 132:15 " I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread."

Psalm 37:3-5 "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so that you should dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your ways unto the Lord; trust in Him and He shall bring it to pass."

Amos 5:4 "For this says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek me, and you shall live."

Too funny.....

We've all been sick over the last few days and I thought I would share these pictures of my silly crew because every time they flash up on my screen saver, they make me smile and today, I need a smile!!!!! Hope you enjoy also!!

Blessings,
AMY


I asked Jackson to help me grill some meat one evening and when I walked out to check on the progress with the protein-- I nearly fell over laughing at his very clever and hysterical way to handle the smoke! Love those swim googles for grilling Jackson! HAHA!


On our trip this summer to Colorado, Madilyn got a little silly and struck this pose right when I clicked the camera!! We laughed lots because she is such a leader in our family and after she did that one silly pose, well-- I got many very interesting poses from all the kiddos for the rest of the vacation!! :) Very fun!!



The kiddos love playing horses and cowboys and on this particular day--- I caught Joshua wearing the cowboy dress-up clothes!! Too cute!! It is such a blessing to see them play together and have fun!!

Joel Daniel loves to clomp around the house wearing Daddy's boots......he doesn't realize what amazing,loving and big Daddy footprints he is blessed to follow!!

Super blessed on this Thankful Thursday.....

Life here for the Newsom TEAM is going well. We've had so many blessings and feel so unworthy, humbled and yes, very thankful. God has been so good to us.

The TEAM is healthy-- thank you Lord!! Thankful that the kids are finally settling into a school routine that works for all of us!! All the kiddos are really enjoying their sports programs and it's been fun to cheer them on each week-- we are thankful!! We have all made some neat friends and we've already been blessed by the new people in our lives. Thank you Lord!! We do, of course,miss all our special friends and neighbors from past posts-- but they are close in heart and my joy overflows at the thought of having such neat friendships with people scattered all over the world!! We are thankful for the opportunity the Army has given us to truly make an impact and share Christ with so many people from ALL OVER the world!! I miss you all!
The Newsom Team is blessed beyond measure by your friendships and thankful for each and every one!

We are also excited and thankful for the great things that God is doing in our lives. Team Newsom has several projects going.......the Lord has given us a passion to reach out and DO more, share more, serve more. It is in this place of service to others that we've found an unimaginable fountain of joy from the Lord so I'm going to share a few of the things that are happening around here......

Our adoption of Nahome was an amazing way that the Lord has used us (and continues to use us) but this adoption has also opened many neat opportunities for us to share our testimony of faith and our relationship with Jesus with others. At Walmart, at the gym, at Joel's work, at restaurants-- we get asked questions about our adoption and we are thankful that we can share what the Lord has done for Nahome and our family.
The children and I will be travelling to visit our families at "home" next week and will be there for about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm going to be giving our adoption testimony at New Beginnings Church on November 1. On November 8, Orphan Sunday, our adoption agency director is going to travel to our hometown, spend the weekend with us (we are so blessed!) and she is also going to share her testimony with our church body as well. We have been praying over these opportunities to share what GOOD things the Lord has done in our lives and we're really excited about raising adoption awareness and helping find families for orphans!

We're also praying for the start up of an adoption awareness ministry in our home church....check them out at www.compassionforthefatherless.org . We are excited to support and encourage this group of people with a heart for the 147 million orphans in the world.

We're also still praying about the medical mission trip to Ethiopia that the Lord is putting together in the coming year...we will be sitting down in mid-December and making final plans but it is has been amazing to see His hand at work in all the details!! So that's several projects that are brewing in our hearts and minds.....

Our next TEAM goal actually happens at Halloween! We're gonna be shouting Hallelujah this Halloween!! We're planning to use our TRICK OR TREATING to bless others! We're gonna Trick or Treat like crazy this year!! No, we're NOT going to EAT all of that candy but instead, we're planning to share the sweet gift of God's love thru candy with children in Afghanistan and Iraq! Earlier I mentioned our special friends all over the world, well, many of these great American heroes are serving our country right now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our plan is write a little note to these folks to say, "We love you, we are thinking of you, and we appreciate that you are serving our country," then we're going to bag up as much Halloween Candy as possible and send it to these soldiers so they can in turn, share this excess candy with the children of Iraq and Afghanistan. When Joel was deployed, this was one of his favorite things to do- he loved to give toys, candy and clothing to the street children and children in orphanages there. This is a great way for our troops to show kindness and love to these people that really NEED the LOVE of Christ!!! If you would like to join in the Team Newsom effort.....THIS IS SOOOOOO EASY but can make an impact on our troops by giving them the joy of giving and it can impact the children by receiving a rare sweet treat from a US soldier! Just send me an email and I'll coordinate and give you the address of one of our personal friends serving oversees. It would be super sweet to also write a quick note to this soldier thanking him for his service, then just gather your candy up after Halloween, put it in gallon ziploc bags and go to the US Post Office and send it!!! Our kids are really EXCITED about this and I'm excited too-- who needs 5 pounds of candy sitting in their house after Halloween! NOT TEAM NEWSOM-- we're gonna share our sweets this year!

Next TEAM goal......we've found several missionaries here in the El Paso area that serve in Juarez, Mexico. I have recently received emails from these missionaries that have requested clothing, shoes, toys, etc for the orphanages they are supporting/running in Juarez. So-- Team Newsom is now cleaning out closets, drawers, shoe shelves, and the over-abundance of winter coats, toys, and just "stuff". We're going to donate all of these things to the orphanages "next door" in Juarez. We're gonna send our things across the border to bless the orphans of Mexico. It's amazing that we live only 2 miles from the Mexican border and that just on the other side of that tall fence, there is such devastating violence, poverty, and many needy men, women and children living on the streets. My heart truly aches for these people and I'm excited about reaching across the fence in this very small way. We're praying for Juarez.

Well, until next time I can sneak away and share......

Many Blessings to you and yours,
Amy

Proverbs 28:27 "He that gives to the poor shall not lack: but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse."

I Timothy 6:17-19 "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy;
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

Update on Israel

Just wanted to post a quick update on Israel.......I received a text from him today. He still has not been able to take the language portion of the Army Linguist test but did successfully pass the physical and medical testing required. It seems that the Army is waiting to get all of his background checks back and since he is an orphan that travelled across half the world alone, without documentation, over an 11 year period of time,to finally reach his dream destination: the United States-- they are having a hard time "tracing" his background and history! Can you believe it? Wow. I am still amazed by his life story and am fervently praying on his behalf that he would be allowed to take the Language test and join the US Army as a linguist (he is brilliant and fluently speaks 8 languages!!)......He would be an amazing asset to the Army, he WANTS to serve this country, and he has so much God-given potential! Please pray that God provides for Israel. He's overcome so much in his life and really needs a blessing right now! Will you join me.....please pray for our Ethiopian friend and brother in Christ, Israel, today.

Praying for Blessings on Israel,
Amy

Newsom Bed and Breakfast

We've had a really fun few weeks...... Two and half weeks ago, Mommommy and Poppy came for a visit which was super fun and refreshing! This past weekend, Angie, Dixon and the boys also made the trip out to El Paso to meet Joshua Nahome and spend some time with us! It was super to just be together and it really made us miss all the great times we had with them while we were living up in New York....those really were 2 amazing years full of great weekends with the Pearce Crew! BTW- I'm "secretly" hoping that someday the Army will send us back there again. While it's not likely, a girl can dream, right? Here's a photo of my sister Angie and Dixon while they were here.....

While the Pearce Crew was here, we visited White Sands National Monument again--- although this time we went a little before sunset and it wasn't a blazing 101 degrees. It was actually in the lower 70's and got very chilly after sunset!! It was just BEAUTIFUL and a magnificent reminder that our GOD was and is an amazing creator and has made our world full of amazing phenomenons that ONLY GOD COULD CREATE!!

We also went hiking up into the Franklin Mountains which was super fun. We didn't find Terry, our little Tarantula friend, again but we did get to see this little creature out in the wild.....(didn't God give this lizard some neat markings?)

The kiddos absolutely LOVED having their cousins here and only wished they could have stayed longer!! It was so fun!! They enjoyed homeschooling together for Thursday and Friday and also got to spend lots of time building legos, playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline, playing games and just BEING together!! We're thankful they came!! These were some great hiking kids-- they hiked about 2.2 miles up to the Aztec Caves in record breaking time......


Don't know if any of YOU are up for a visit, family and friends- but we REALLY LOVE opening our home up and spending time with the special people in our lives! THE INVITATION IS ALWAYS OPEN AT OUR HOUSE and we would love it if you would make some plans to come to our little oasis here in the desert! The Newsom Bed and Breakfast in now officially OPEN!! Please come!!

The scriptures I've been pondering today.....

Hebrews 13:2 "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Isaiah 44:3 "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon they seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."

Blessings,
AMY

He's been home 3 months now.....

I had some quiet time a few nights ago and sat on the couch while my dear hubby watched football and wrote out the nicest little blog update only to press "publish post" and I watched as the screen went blank and it disappeared into cyberland with no trace of it anywhere on my blog!!! Uggghhhh! Sorry folks!! It was already late and I was tired so I decided to try again the next day but I'm just now getting back!! I KNOW you understand.....life is busy! :)

Last week Mommommy and Poppy came to visit us here in El Paso and we had a great time! It was a very fun visit for all of us and we're so glad they came. We went shopping, out to dinner, to the El Paso Zoo. It was really special but it just wasn't long enough!! We wish they could have been here longer but we'll take whatever we can get!!! Here's a picture of them with our 5 sweeties!




Things are going well here in the at Casa Newsom. We are beginning to feel more comfortable here and have finally met some very sweet friends! PRAISE THE LORD!! The kids are playing sports at the YMCA and also attending a homeschool PE class there so we're having fun there several days/nights a week. We've been homeschooling for over a month now and that is going better now that we've worked out the kinks and made some needed changes!! Awana's has also been fun and all the kids are doing great but it's amazing to hear Joel and Joshua reciting their memorized scriptures in Cubbies!! Can you believe it?? Joel is only 3 and can say those verses but Joshua has only been home 12 weeks and he is already able to recite God's word!! I love it and it has brought me great joy to sit with them through cubbies for the past month!!

Joshua Nahome is doing really well. He's super sweet and we're so thankful he's home with us! His English is just absolutely AMAZING and he's started telling me things about Ethiopia and Tigist, his birthmother, since he's able to communicate so much more! It's been super fascinating and I'm so thankful he's telling us little things about what he remembers so we can write it down for him! Very cool! He's eating American food really well now ( even dairy and protein) and has grown a lots in such a short time. I'll try to measure him again tomorrow so you can know the numbers. We're still working on learning his colors-- he still can't get RED and BLUE correct--- I am pretty sure that he IS colorblind because he is very smart and able to learn other concepts very easily but colors are hard for him! He loves playing with Joel Daniel and they are getting along better and better as time goes by, not fussing over toys as much- their favorite activity today was to build quilt tents in my living room and then play trains and cars inside--- they played in there for hours together today! YEA!!

Normal life is nearly "NORMAL" again for our family as we've settled into some good routines, are back to homeschooling, and have adjusted to the family addition! When I think about our challenges throughout our adoption, the struggles since we've been home, and then of the blessings of the last 3 months home with this sweet little boy--- I'm so very thankful that we adopted Joshua Nahome. I would do it all over again, exactly the same. It's been hard but it's been worth it, every smile. We're so thankful that the Lord called us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this child's life at this particular moment! What an amazing truth that we've learned--we were ALL orphans and our Father God adopted us all.

Praise the Lord! We're not orphans anymore! Praise the Lord!!

Have a great week full of BLESSINGS,
AMY


Galatians 4:1-7
“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”