At Your Feet

I just want to be at His feet....

Casting Crowns "At Your Feet"

Lyrics:


Here at Your feet I lay my past down
My wanderings, all my mistakes down
And I am free

Here at Your feet I lay this day down
Not in my strength but in Yours I've found
All I need, You're all I need

Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
Oh, to dwell and never leave
Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
There is nowhere else for me
There is nowhere else for me

Here at Your feet I lay my future down
All of my dreams I give to You now
And I find peace, I find peace

Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
Oh, to dwell and never leave
Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
There is nowhere else for me
There is nowhere else for me

Here at Your feet I lay my life down
For You my King, You're all I want now
And my soul sings

Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
Oh, to dwell and never leave
Jesus, Jesus, at Your feet
There is nowhere else for me
There is nowhere else for me

'Cause I am free here at Your feet
All I need is at Your feet
And I find peace, we're at Your feet
We're at Your feet

I am free here at Your feet
All I need is at Your feet
I find peace, we're at Your feet
We're at Your feet, we're at Your feet
We're at Your feet

Here at Your feet I lay my life down

Words

God is so good.  I don't know why I'm constantly amazed at His faithfulness.....maybe because sometimes I so badly lack it.  I was led to Romans 12 this morning and it was exactly what God wanted me to hear.  Someone posted verse 10 yesterday as something they are working on with their children, so I went there this morning seeking.  Verse 10 was so good, then 9, then I needed to read the whole chapter to get the context.  I was blown away.

I was torn down by words this week and it hurt.  Maybe worse because it was from a fellow Christ-follower.  My flesh wanted to defend myself and maybe do a little tearing as well.  The misty of 10 years ago wouldn't have hesitated (how sad for her).  The misty of 2 years ago probably would have only hesitated slightly :).  But the first thing I thought to do when I read those words was pray for that person.  And God met me there, first in my hurt, then my anger, then my sadness for the other person.  I sought wise counsel in my accountability partners, who do life with me daily and know me best second only to Eric, and they (separately) agreed that the words were false and I shouldn't respond, but instead continue praying for that person.  We know from Matthew 12:34 that "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."  I didn't want to sin in my hurt.

So I have been doing just that for almost 2 days.  It's funny how God works.  We keep our Christmas cards from friends and family on our table and pull a couple out each night at dinner and pray for them.  Funny how that card has been pulled out in this short period.  It's amazing at how sad I was that night, that I've been at ease and peaceful, and even more prayerful for that person.  It's hard to pray blessings for someone that has hurt you, but God calls us to do it.  With that our heart begins to change, and change it has.  Just in the time I've had to type this out, get the kids up and come back to it, God is reminding me of my words to my children as well.  The verse I memorized a few years ago rings true for them as well.  Ephesians 4:29:  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."  As I was telling Cara to get to work on her chores and Micah to hurry to get dressed, conviction.  That was not building them up, especially with my tone.  God, be near me!  Enough from me, let God's word soak over you today.  Romans Chapter 12.

Dedicated Service

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holysacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the willof God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For through the grace given to me Isay to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think ; but to thinkso as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as wehave many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we,who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we havegifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: ifprophecy, according to the proportion of his faith ; 7 if service, in his serving ; or he who teaches, in his teaching ; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation ; he who gives, with liberality ; he wholeads, with diligence ; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be without hypocrisy.Abhor what is evil ; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love ; give preference to one another in honor ; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, servingthe Lord ; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mindtoward one another ; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight ofall men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take yourown revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord. 20 "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Lifesong for Orphans Fundraising Support

As I mentioned previously, we received a grant from our church AND Lifesong for Orphans agreed to help us with Fundraising support (i.e. you can send money to them with our information, and get the tax deduction for charitable giving on your 2012 taxes).  It was right before Christmas that we received word, and we just didn't have time for awhile to get our letter together.  Now, we've been mailing them out slowly over the past month, but it's slow going.  So, I wanted to post it here, so all could read it.  If you received a letter already, I'm sorry for the double post.  And also I wanted to clarify that the date says March 1st, but they will continue receiving support for us after that.  Thank you for all who have given so far.  We are up to over $20,000 already!!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

January 16, 2012

“ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families”  Psalms 68:5-6

         Some of you know we have felt called and directed by God to adopt a “fatherless” child into our family.  We are adopting a little boy from Uganda, and will be matched with a specific child sometime in the next 3-6 months, from what we’re told.  Then we will travel to Uganda hopefully this fall or winter to bring him home!  As a family, we’ve been excitedly praying for him!

         Some of you are probably wondering what has prompted us to adopt.  Well, primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt that we want to obey Him, and we also desire to give an orphan child a family that he probably won’t otherwise have.  God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian families – ultimately so they can become saved, and be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ!  He very clearly spoke Africa to us, and we’ve felt a connection to Uganda as friends of ours have adopted there and are supporting an orphanage.  There are so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt; here are a few:

       Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world… James 1:27

      Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will – Ephesians 1:5

       I (Misty) had been praying last winter if God was calling us to adopt.  He had pricked my heart and it was like an open wound anytime I saw pictures or heard stories of orphans and of what their lives consisted.  I had asked Eric to pray as well, but we hadn’t talked much about it.  One day, it hit me.  God was most definitely calling the Newsome family to this, and it was hard to hold it in.  I prayed that day (late March 2011) that He would as quickly call Eric to this so we could begin the long journey.  Little did I know that he already had!!  Eric came home the SAME DAY saying he knew we were going to adopt!  

      The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen.  We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be $25,000 - that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him.  By God’s grace we’ve been able to fundraise and earn the first $19,000, with no debt! 

       Honestly, it’s a little difficult (because of our pride), to make our needs known to the Body of Christ around us, but we also know it’s very Biblical to do so.  We appreciate your friendship very much and would like you to pray & consider helping us in our adoption.  There are two ways you can help:

      1. Prayer – Please pray God would tenderly care for our new son in Uganda until we are able to bring him home, that God would prepare Cara, Micah and Anna for the upcoming changes to our family, and that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise all our children to know Jesus Christ.  

      2.  Financial support -   Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $7,000 in adoption expenses, to bring him home?

Lifesong  (www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously set up a fundraising account for us to raise funds to help pay the “ransom” to bring our son home.  If you would like to be a part of God bringing our new son to Himself through our family, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and March 1st to the address below (They will continue to receive support after this time).  Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on our behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

  1. Please make checks payable to:  Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Newsome  #2412 Adoption” in the memo section of your check.   (*Note:  In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.)

 2. Mail checks to: Lifesong for Orphans
Attn:  Newsome #2412 Adoption
PO Box 40 
Gridley, IL  61744

Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – it will be an investment with an eternal return!  (Matt 6:20)   We’ll give you an update with a picture of the whole family and details as we receive them.  Please pray this entire process will glorify God and fulfill His purposes!

In Christ,

Eric, Misty, Cara, Micah, Anna and prayerfully-soon-to-be-home little boy Newsome

*Note:  In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization.  This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Here is a link to the letter from Lifesong and Kingsland Baptist about us as well.

Little Cara

I just found this from 2.5 years ago.  Wow, look at those curls.  It makes my heart hurt that she's already 5.5!!! :)

So where are we?

Funny question, because I don't think I can answer it.  So MANY places at once.

But I have been asked a few times since my lack of blogging anything 'real' about where we are in our adoption process.  On Sunday we will have been on the waiting list for our referral (in adoption-ese that means getting pictures and background info on OUR son!) for 2 months.  Originally, we were told we would wait for around 6 months for that referral.  However, lots of changes have been going on in the courts and at the embassy in Uganda, and so it spurred a trip over by my agency.  My personal social worker went, along with her boss and the director.  What came out of it, is that they are very hopeful that things that the Ugandans were worried about have been cleared up, but that they are doing more investigations, and that will push our timing back to around 12 months for waiting for a referral.

So now, we continue to wait.  We have peace in the waiting.  We know we are in God's will and that is so encouraging.  I think the 3 kids at home and their busy-ness helps too :).  We thought we might be traveling as early as this spring when we started this process last spring, but we were wrong.  Now it looks like we might not even know who we are matched with until Christmastime 2012, and then we wait some more for a court date.  We of course know this is all God's perfect plan for our family, so we continue to wait.

However, I have been continually seeking God and His will for my life in the waiting.  I'll just post an email I sent to a friend so you can read:

"God and I have been having deep conversations lately about me traveling to Uganda this summer.  I've always wanted to go on an international mission trip, but the cost has held me back.  Then Eric and I figured when we go (whenever that might be) to adopt, we'd treat that time away as a mission trip and prepare for it accordingly.  But God hasn't let it go for me.  I keep feeling His pull, and specifically for this summer to go.  I had always thought a trip in 2012 would be it.  Then today at KBC (this was 2/5) Pastor Alex preached from Nehemiah again on vision.  How Nehemiah told the problem, the solution, why we should do it and then more specifically why NOW?  (Neh 2:11-20).  I felt it with my whole being.  God saying you need to go this summer.  To experience Uganda before you are there as a mother of one of the nation's orphans.  Then, in our ABF, we did something we've never done before.  We did announcements, then a member played guitar and another member sang and we had a time of worship, communion and prayer as a body.  God yanked me to my knees and the sobs just came.  Giving over to His will (just as I did last January when my heart began breaking for the orphans of Uganda) is always an emotional experience for me, but it is also amazing!  Eric felt it too and he was having some of the same revelations.  We both spoke about it on the trip home from church and so now we just have faith!

It's hard even wanting to plan this type of trip for me when we've already felt completely blessed by everyone around us for donations to our adoption.  I can hardly wrap my head around raising/earning even more money for this trip, but instead of angst I am at total peace.  I feel like God is about to (continue to) do some big things and I cannot wait to be a part of them. 

I have been praying what Jesus prayed in John 17:4 over my life:  "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do."

Don't we all want that to be the prayer at the end of our lives.  Completing with JOY the job God gave us specifically to do."


So that's it.  I spoke to my friend Tonya today who is going back to Uganda in June/July with her crew and her ministry Kirabo Seeds and I will be joining them after a short family vacation in late June.  I am SO excited.  And also nervous.  I am the saver/planner in the relationship, and as we’re fundraising thousands of dollars for our adoption, I never even considered taking a trip there before we completed the adoption.  It’s a leap for me, because the sensible part of me says “How can you earn/save even MORE money to go early?”  But God keeps whispering GO, so I will.  I trust His lead and I think He’s calling me there before our adoption to truly fall in love with the country and the people.  To break my heart for the orphan crisis there, something that’s easy to see on blogs and in photos, but will be a completely different and difficult thing in person. 


There is so much more to share.  So many things rolling around in my head and heart.  Eric got an earful this week, so please pray for him ;).  But, if you feel so called, I would definitely covet your prayers.  This is my first international mission trip.  So excited, but knowing that I have NO idea how this is going to go of course sends the planner in me back to my knees.  Thank you for your continued love of our family!