Missing You...

Lately, I have been running into to so many people from Ethiopia. Just yesterday at the dr's office, the lady that checked me in was Ethiopian and I just found myself staring at the picture of her two sons. She probably thought I was a stalker! I did ask her about her birth country and we ended up sitting there well over 15 minutes just talking. She was the 3rd Ethiopian person to confirm how you pronounce Tsehaynesh's name. Apparently it's: "z-hi-nesh" meaning "you are my sunshine". I just love the importance Ethiopian's place on the meaning of their names. We will certainly be keeping her name-most likely inserting it into her middle name slot.

At Mom's group, a friend came up to me afterwards. Their family is friends with a family from Ethiopia. Apparently their teenage daughter speaks very fluent English & Amharic and said she would be happy to translate any letters we would like to write to Tsehaynesh's birth family! I have been praying about this, and God totally opened that door in a matter of days! Soooo excited to connect with this family.

Right now we are just preparing our home & hearts for this special little girl. The 40+ pg travel packet takes my breath away at times and produces a little anxiety, but I know that once we land in Ethiopia and hold our baby girl for the first time, it will all be worth it. We're living proof that you can miss a person before you've ever even met them! Like crazy!

Thanking God for the little glimmers of hope he is giving to us along the way and the wonderful people he has put into our lives lately. Please continue to pray for the health & safety of Tsehaynesh. Please also pray   for a fast court date & MOWA letter so that we can bring this little pumpkin home!

"Children Of God" and a mix of emotions....

It is hard to believe that one week ago today we saw the face of our baby girl for the very first time. I have to admit, I can't help but stare at her picture and long to hold her in my arms, oh probably 100 times a day. The other night the kids were in bed and Luke and I were sitting here looking at her pictures and I looked up at him and said "Can you believe that this is your daughter?! We will one day watch her graduate from high school, you will walk her down the aisle, she is your daughter!" It really hasn't fully set in yet. That night we layed in bed talking about how different this is from the births of our other 3 children, yet how similar. We video taped the referral phone call just as we did all three kids births. We are preparing our home for her just as we did with the other 3 kids. Yet, it is so different. I haven't carried her in my womb for 9 months, I don't know the smell of her sweet skin, I don't know how she feels in my arms, yet she is our daughter! Luke told me that now I know how he felt when I was pregnant with the kids....that connection becomes more of a reality the second we meet her face to face in person. Until then, there is so much love building in our hearts, and while we are "trying" to love loosely because she is not yet officially ours, that's just plain impossible. Just when it starts to seem that this will be more than my heart can bear, this song pops into my head.....

I'm sure most of you have seen this amazing video circulating by Third Day. Part of the message of "Children of God" really set in for me the year we dedicated Kai to the Lord. I really struggled with it- I didn't want to turn him over, he was MINE.  The more I studied about child dedication, the more it became clear to me that he is God's child, he has just given us the incredible responsibility to raise him here on earth.  Have you ever really thought about that? Then it goes a step further- John 1:12-13 says: But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. 13 which were born, not of blood nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  We are children of God & have been adopted through his Son! This has never felt more true than it does now....Kai, Aria, Becket & Tsehaynesh are all God's children.  So when I heard this song for the first time, tears flowed.  So turn it up and take it all in....."We are the saints, we are the children, we've been redeemed, we've been forgiven, we are the sons & daughters of God" I have a feeling that I'm going to need to remind myself of this daily for the next few months....or years(-:

The call that changed our lives forever.....

The call that we have waited over 8 months for! 

Our first family photo(-: Sorry, we had to blur your face out....we can't technically share your photo until you are legally a Nieuwenhuis! Oh, but will we have photos to share when we can.....

Dear Miss Tsehaynesh,
Yesterday we received the call that God had hand-picked YOU to be a part of our family. You were born on September 27th, 2010 and we've been wracking our brains ever since to try to remember what we were doing on that day. I can't even begin to explain the excitement and pure joy that we felt hearing about you and your amazing story for a half hr. and then seeing your precious face for the very first time! Our social worker stated that she has never referred a baby from Ethiopia with rolls, and boy do you have some rolls! If our conversion calculator is correct, you weigh approx. 15lbs and are 26inches long. Your big sister weighed that much when she was ONE. Ha! We're thrilled because its so obvious you have been very well taken care of. Praise God!! You are just beautiful. You have the biggest, brightest eyes, just like your brother Becket. You two actually look similar(-: You have the most kissable lips and we cannot wait to smooch them! After we sat there in tears for a few minutes, we snagged your new siblings from a neighbors house and brought them in for the surprise. We told them that we had some very good news and they were excited to hear about what we had to tell them. I brought them into the kitchen where we had your picture pulled up. We told them we wanted to introduce them to someone very special....they couldn't believe their eyes. They were finally looking at the baby sister they had been dreaming about for over a year! Kai just stared in awe, Aria had a BIG smile on her face as she closely pointed out every detail and Becket, he probably was the most ecstatic of all! He started jumping up and down and handed me his hands full of precious goods (turtle, lovie, blankie & paci) and says "Here Mama, me. give. things. to. baby. sisser"! Oh as if this Mama wasn't already in tears! Oh, Tsehaynesh, I'm just sitting here still in complete shock that God would choose US to be your earthly Mother & Father. We have prayed for you for so long and we absolutely can't wait to meet you soon and shower you with lots of love. We love you precious baby girl! You are always in our prayers. Hugs & Kisses, Mommy, Daddy, Kai, Aria & Becket.

8 months.....

Yesterday marked 8 months since our name was placed on the waiting list....we still have no word on our baby girl, but continue to receive encouraging updates. There is a lot going on in Ethiopia right now, which has not helped our case, but we're hopeful that the Lord has our daughter hand picked already and she's just waiting in the orphanage for us. Please pray with us that we'll receive our referral soon, so that we can bypass some of the "new practices" that are going into effect and pass court prior to Ethiopian courts closing for the rainy season(which is Aug & Sept). Here is a blurp from an email that I received recently from our agency:

"We have received word of about a dozen possible infant referrals coming our way. The paper work is just taking a long time to receive and we do not have the official documents to start referring families, but hopefully these will quickly come into our hands.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel and we are excited to see what this new month has in store for you and AAI."

Food for thought

A friend posted this on her blog and I liked it so much, I thought I'd throw it on mine! Not that the majority of people are trying to be rude when they use these terms incorrectly, but through the ears of the adopted child/parent, it can seem so insensitive at times. Trust me, I've had to reprogram my own language after realizing how I've spoken prior to this whole journey. This just puts it all into perspective! 


Natural Child...any child who is not artificial. 

Real Parent...any parent who is not imaginary. 

Your Own Child...any child who is not someone else's child. 

Adopted Child...a natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own. 

~Rita Laws

Noonday Collection...a brilliant idea!

I am so in love with the concept of this company! Incorporating fashion & style, giving back to those that are oppressed by providing entrepreneurship instead of just aid, fundraising to bring an orphan child into a forever family, empowering women, & sharing the gospel.....all in ONE transaction.

So much in love, that I forwarded the link to my husband to get me an "early" birthday present(: And because paypal is under my name, I got an email confirming this was purchased:

Each piece is handcrafted. This one was made by women in Ethiopia. Here is their story:

Their Ethiopia collection is made in partnership with Beza International which is dedicated to empowering Entoto Mountain artisans. Many of these women are forced into prostitution and early marriages. Many become pregnant or contract HIV, and are ostracized by their families and society with no where to go. Their families send them to the Entoto Mountains to seek recovery by bathing in the “magical waters”. When they are unhealed, their families abandon them and they are left to fend for themselves. Beza International has trained these women and given them a skill to support themselves and their children. Not only are these women learning a skill, they are learning that their lives matter (regardless of their health status). Learning these skills helps them feel valued, which restores their dignity and self-worth. Knowing that other women around the world are wearing their creations is the most empowering gift we can offer them.

Most of this collection is made from recycled nickel, copper, and bronze, including previous war conflict weapons – that’s what we call upcycling! Genuine silver embellishments are made by a local silversmith. Each of these spectacular beads is a unique piece of art.

Needless to say, I think this girl needs to host a "trunk show"! Unique handmade pieces from different countries, helping the poor & oppressed out of the vicious cycle of poverty, sharing God's love, the ability to bring home an orphan, and look stylish all at once? That's what I'm talking about! You just might be getting an invite to a "trunk show" here in the near future! Check them out at : www.noondaycollection.com 

ONE year ago....

It's hard to believe it has been ONE year since God stirred our hearts in such a way that we no longer could be complacent about adopting. I'll never forget hearing the news that the awful earthquake had hit Haiti and there were THOUSANDS dead, leaving even more orphans behind. I was sitting on the airplane when I glanced at the man next to me that had his face buried in a newspaper article for what seemed like hours.  My heart hurt for days, for months and it still does for those left behind. I found myself doing something that is completely out of character for me....I glued myself to the TV watching the news hour after hour. Pretty sure I was an Anderson Cooper stalker. My heart was literally broke.  Little did I know that 2011 would bring about so many changes in our hearts and home by this horrible devastation. Certainly not happy for the devastation the Haitian's experienced OR are STILL experiencing, but forever grateful that the Lord used this to grab our attention and lead us to action. 


Proverbs 19:2 tells us: "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is only the Lord's purpose that prevails" 


This verse could not ring more true for us. Graciously, day after day,  He is humbling our hearts and gently inviting us to be a part of His redemptive work. We continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Our souls look to heaven for hope and healing for this beautiful country. And while OUR plans are to bring our precious daughter home this year, we want nothing more than to glorify our GREAT GOD through this experience.