Simple pleasures!

Yesterday was a big day for us.  i drove to the ups store extremely excited, actually almost giddy.  As i walked to the counter and cradled my belongings, i am sure the women believed me to hold a million bucks in my hand or at least something close to that.  When i placed them on the counter she was certainly not excited or amused at all.  But i was!!!  She didn't even want to hear about the item, but i told her anyway!

i was giggling inside as she rung me up and i paid my bill.  See what was nothing to her was huge to me.  I had laid on the counter 2 photo albums for the boys.  Each a total labor of love.  Bundled inside those albums were the faces of thier new family members eagerly awaiting thier arrival.  Also they will find pictures of their rooms carefully and wonderfully put together with a "hands of love".  And a personal message from us that we are waiting for them as they find thier way home!

See i believe there are simple pleasures that the Creator intends for us everyday that we miss by being "busy" with the overwhelming immediate needs around us.  So as i stood there i refused to miss the beauty of the moment.  It was a simple pleasure but an amazing one!  God is so good!

So we have sent a personal message to them and our paperwork is heading the South American way, so we hope to have some news soon!!  Go God!!

Loving Him and you!  LeAnn

Well there seems to be movement :)

I think God is absolutly the "coolest".  He can make me heart soar like no other.  I was spending time with Him (the Lord) this morning when i was compelled to flip on the tv to what has become one of my fav shows, Life Today.  And Craig Groeschel and his wife Amy were on there discussing his new book "Wierd".  Which i am in the middle of reading.  And during the broadcast i got tickled.  Not just a little snicker tickled, but an all out belly laugh tickled.  Laughter is SOOOO good for the soul!

I was going over the course of our previous day and thinking through our schedules and the decisions Scott and I had made and the things our family had been involved in and i thought we are so wierd.  I was thinking of the outlandish conversations the girls and i had on our way home from serving at a local mission last night and i thought we are so wierd.  I was thinking through the conversation my hubbie and I sat up and had about not only our boys that we will soon be bringing home, but also about the other orphans and what our call from the Lord is where they are concerned and my thoughts went quickly to wierdness.  I was thinking through our decisions as a family to put aside some stuff we all love and jump in with both feet missionally, and honestly wierd was stamped all over it. 

As i sat in my chair this morning recovering from my fit of laughter, and listened to the words spoken on the screen... i decided that this is it, the jury is in, the Newsoms have lost it, they are completly goners and its great.  We have crossed the line, we have finally crawled out from under the pressure of looking like anyone else.  We are just a little bit freakish and it is "FREEING" to say the least.  There is a sense of liberation and excitment to move on as a family to where God would have us be. 

Now what is really interesting in all this is God's timing... as i had these thoughts and accepted it all in my heart, i got up and turned on my computer only to find movement in our adoption process.  Honestly i have to tell you i began to laugh again (i'm thinking i might have to be medicated before this is all over).  I have had some of my greatest highs through this process.  I have come to believe with every piece of my being that going ANYWHERE with the Lord is greater than any of the finest vacations i have been on. 

So this week will usher in some answers to some questions we've been asking.  So as we find out info, i will pass it on to you.  The journey is long but worth it.  Thanks for sticking it out with us!

Enjoy a good laugh today for me!  I love you all, LeAnn

I wish i knew!

I wish i could tell you i have it all together today, but i cannot.  It has been a long day.  A day of struggling to not allow my wants to over power the truth. I wish i could say today was a really successful day in allowing God to stretch me and mold me into something different, but i cannot.  It has been a day of struggling to keep my thoughts on what God would have me do instead of filling in the blanks my way.  I moved forward 3 steps today, only to be pushed back 2.  I wish i knew how to ALWAYS keep things in perspective but sometimes i stumble, and today seems to be one of those days. 

Life on earth is short and all i am guaranteed is this moment, so i need to make the most of it.  This moment regardless of what is going on i must choose to "Praise Him".  As we continue to wander thru a silent season, i am guaranteed God is holding us all in the palm of His hands.   As we pine for the boys we have to keep our minds focused on the truth we know: God is working out the situation for our boys best!  We can't just quit while we wait we must keep doing what we know to be right.  Putting today into perspective is looking outside of my situation and being the hands and feet of Jesus to hurting friends around me.  It is putting my aching heart on the back shelf and being available to others.  A blog dated April 13 from a young lady that i believe has it in perspective at  http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ has helped me tremendously today.  I hope you'll consider reading it.

I wish i knew why a young lady buried her child today.  I wish i knew why people are getting devastating diagnosis', i wish i knew why marriages are falling apart, i even wish i knew what to say, i don't.  But Jesus knows!  He knows how to comfort the hurting because He feels thier pain.  As i am given the blessing of seeking Jesus on others behalf, He helps me put this short life back in perspective.  He helps me change my focus, He helps me move out of myself, He helps me release it all to Him.  He is BIG enough to handle it all.

There is alot of stuff i wish i knew but i don't. As a matter of fact every day i turn older i am becoming more aware of how little i know.  So although i don't know very much, this i do:  Jesus loves me and you!  And He has our back!  I'm going to lean into Him a little harder, hope you will to!   Good Night, LeAnn

God is steering the boat...

It would be easy to get anxious and begin to grasp at the control strings of the situation this morning. So before i did i had to go meet with the Lord.  God is all around me, i don't have to go searching to find Him, He is here.  He is with me, in me and beside me all the time!  I love it when God reminds me that He is absolutely in control, that He is steering the boat.  I love it when He reminds me that "providence" isn't just a cool word but a cool reality. 

I think it is easy for me to get caught up in the "doing" of life.  I think it is easy to begin to question am i forgetting something, am i doing enough...  I want to share with you a few of the verses that God used to speak clearly to me this morning that settled my heart and put things back in perspective:

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  The Lord works out everything for His own ends..."  Proverbs 16:3-4a

The plans will succeed HIS way.  He has an ending planned that will bring Him glory and i can rest in that.  I don't have to see it to believe that whatever it is will be for my families best.    

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

Praise Jesus...  What a comfort that is to know and believe.  God has my back.  My job is to surrender to Him daily and He will lead me on.

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."  Proverbs 16:33

There is no such thing as chance, God is absolutly in control. 

I don't know why it is taking so long to unite our family together.  I don't know why the silence on the phone has been prolonged, BUT... i do know that God has an amazing reason for it.  And that He is continuing to work things out behind the scenes. 

So we are going to anchor down into the boat today and enjoy the ride as we continue on towards the destination He has in mind!  Hope you enjoy the boat ride with us, I am anticipating the amazing things God's got waiting for us all at the end of the ride!  We love you, The Newsom clan

Waiting but never idle!

 As we wait, as we pray that the Lord unites us with our family members soon, we continue to praise Him for the blessings we have.  We praise Him for worship artists like Chris Tomlin who writes and sings of God's goodness!

 We praise Him for the sunshine, for the awesome outdoors, for smiles, and for family!

We praise Him for the opportunity to take part in mission projects across Huntsville.  We praise Him for such an amazing group of youth that want to be His hands and feet.  We praise Him for laughter and friendship!

We praise Him for creeks, for picnics, for "big muscles" and for bare feet!

We praise Him because He is good all the time, regardless of where we are or the circumstances that surround us, He is faithful.  We praise Him for loving us, for calling us by name and for never giving up on us.  We praise Him for never leaving us nor forsaking us, for remaining true to us no matter what.  We praise Him for paying the price for us so that we would have freedom!  We praise Him because He deserves it and is worthy of it!  We have so much to be praise Him for!

As much as we are anticipating the beginning of the next chapter, we don't want to miss a second of this one.  So we are enjoying Him as we wait!

Hope you are enjoying Him wherever you may find yourself today!

Still waiting?!

Well i'd hoped to have something new to update you with, but i don't.  We are continuing to wait.  There has been contact with the government and conversations have been had, but that is really all we know.  Everything is shut down for the weekend, so we are just back in the wait.  So... hopefully if it is God's will we will find out something new on Monday.  Thanks for standing with us in the wait!  Blessings, LeAnn

Holding me accountable!

I sure hope this doesn't offend anyone because that would not be my intention at all.  Instead i hope it spurs us on.  My birthday was this past week and some friends of mine surprised me with a get together in honor of the boys arrival.  They had compiled some things that would be helpful during and after our trip to Brazil.  But one particular gift i must share with you and that is pictured above.  My dear friend Anissa is holding my feet to the fire.  On March 25th i wrote that this is where i've found myself these days; at a place of putting my big girl, wierd, radical panties on, and her family decided they would help me stay true to that statement.  This gift has brought such a chuckle to our family, but it has also brought a warm fuzzy in my heart. 

As believers we are called to "spur one another on" to good deeds.  There have been good days and bad through this whole process.  And as you read yesterday, it was a tough one.  How cool is is it that God in His infinite wisdom, knowing how bad i would need to be reminded of my conviction on Monday, gave me a friend on Sunday that put a visual reminder in my hand.  I continue to laugh as i prepare for what lies ahead today.

There is no going back...  i choose God's path..  1000 times and more!

Oh but i can...

I woke up this morning with fresh new fears and an overwhelming sense of inadequacy.  "I can't do this, my mind screams", as i crawl to my knees to meet Him.  And He is there, 'Not you my daughter but I', i hear Him whisper to my soul.  "Thank you my Lord" my heart cries out and my soul begins to settle.  My heart slows down a beat as the memories of His faithfulness rush in and my thoughts begin to make sense again.  My mind is flooded with tender thoughts of His hand holding me up time and time again.  The enemy has now lost his grip, i relax in the Masters grasp; "Oh but i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!", i repeat again and again until the belief once again settles over me.  It is a daily battle... but with Christ on my side, it is one i will win again and again. 

Sitting in the wait...

Well we just sent in some more paperwork, so hopefully this completes everything the Brazilian government will need.  Our understanding is that once reviewed and stamped completed, then it will be Fed exed over.  Once we know it has been received i will let you know.  That will begin our countdown to arrival time!!  We are anticipating a quick movement on thier side, however, it can be up to 30 days.

So... the Newsom team is eagerly awaiting the approval to go and pick up thier newest team members. 

However, we are not sitting idle.  Due to the delays we are having to revise our action plan (i'm sure that statement gave God a chuckle, He's known the plan all along).  We have begun to research and prepare for the newest members to be homeschooled this year as we have them tutored in English.  Life as we know it is taking major turns and we are beginning to see a "new normal" slowly surfacing.  How cool is God!!

We are so excited about what lies ahead and we want to thank you for praying us through it all!
 LeAnn