Lorie Newman

Another Message from Ethiopia

We got another letter in the mail last week from our sponsored child, Abush, in Ethiopia.  He will be 12 years old in just a few weeks.  I considered calling Compassion International two weeks ago when Duane lost his job to tell them that we could not continue to sponsor Abush.  But, I just couldn't do it. 

As I looked at Abush's sweet picture on the fridge, God whispered in my spirit, You have so much more than he does.  How true that is.  It's all God's money anyway-- I'm just called to be a good steward of what He's given me.  I'd rather store up treasures in Heaven by giving to the poor than take my chances on Wall Street any day.

Enjoy Abush's heart-felt words from his letter.  The letter was translated into English for us and I wish I could share the picture he drew with you also.  It's a colorful picture of a manger scene.

Dear Duane and Lorie-

How are you my dear family?  I am fine, Praise God.  I celebrated Christmas at church with Sunday School students and teachers.  We learned from Isaiah 9:1-7.  There was singing and I got a post-card with Obama on it.  It was great.

With my Christmas money from Compassion International I bought a blanket, postcard, sweets, bread and a Coke.  Thanks for it.

How did you celebrate Christmas?  What's new with your family?  What's your country's season?

Please pray for me, my family, and my country.

Your child in Christ, Abush.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring a child in an impoverished nation, there are several good ministries that can connect you with a child.  Two that I highly recommend are Compassion International and Children's HopeChest.  Click on either to go to their websites for more information.

Looking Back at a Miracle

Last night at church, Duane and I and our friends, Jill and Carl, spoke to the 'Wednesday night crowd' about the church's mandate to care for the orphaned and the poor.  

Duane and I specifically spoke about our first adoption of Grace and how the church, (we were in GA then), played such a vital part in that adoption.  It took us two years to bring Grace home from Haiti, and by the time that little Haitian Sensation entered our family, it felt as if the entire church had adopted her because so many of them had labored with us in prayer for two years.

Last night I spoke about the night we brought her to church for the first time... how the church rose to their feet and gave us a standing ovation.  As God had planned it, it just happened to be Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  Of course we had no idea the service was planned with that event in mind, and the congregation had no idea we were coming to church that night right in the middle of that service!

What a night!  I'll never forget it!  Speaking about it all last night brought back so many memories for me.  Grace is so healthy and well-adjusted... it's so hard to think that she once was an abandoned little baby with nothing of earthly value.  God has restored everything to her that the world had taken-- parents, siblings, a home, a church family, an extended family, daily food, friends... the list goes on and on. 

It was on that trip to Haiti that I first heard God's call on my life to become an advocate for orphans.  The crisp, cool morning we left the orphanage to finally bring our new daughter home, we were BEYOND excited.  But I'll never forget loading Grace into the car to start the journey to the airport... she climbed to the very back of the car and waved good-bye to all of her friends who were left standing on the porch.  My heart melted.  She was leaving the only family she had ever known.  The faces of those orphans as they waved good-bye to Grace on that porch will forever be etched on my spirit.  They remained as their "sister" left with her forever family and I'm sure they had to wonder, "When will my momma and daddy come to get me?"  Their little faces are the reason I advocate for orphans.   Their faces that are etched in my spirit forever, represent 143 million orphans around the world who live each day without a family.

Sometimes, it's worth looking back and remembering the miracle of adoption.  God really is the Father to the Fatherless!  Enjoy the pics of our trip to get our little miracle back in Jan. '04. 

We KNOW You Are Real!

So many of you have sent me "well wishes" as Duane looks for a job.  He did have an interview last week in the northeast, although we haven't heard anything further as of yet.  The thought of moving again and having to get re-adjusted to a new state makes my head spin, but yet, we will go anywhere God leads us.

Everytime I get anxious, I look at those birds at my feeders!  They don't toil or worry about anything!  And how much more does God love me?! 

Last week, as we were praying as a family, Daniel said the most precious prayer.  From the mouth of that sweet little Liberian cutie came these words of great wisdom-- "God, you are the Lord of Lords and some people don't think you are even real....  but we do, God!  We KNOW you are real!!" 

Oh, yes, our God is real!  As I've told my children in the midst of this storm-- What you have read about our God... What you have heard about our God... you are about to now SEE with your eyes as He takes care of our family and works in this situation for our good!  He is Jehovah-Jireh!

No Weapon Formed Against Us Will Prosper

 I realize I've left so many of you hanging since my last posting.... I've had lots of emails asking me what is going on.  Well, much is "going on!"  Buckle your seat belts, friends, this might be a long one!

 

Are you buckled?  Duane lost his job last Tuesday.  But, my sweet friends, my God is SO at work in all this! 

 

Duane had the "corner office" (literally) at a company here in Western NC.  In fact, he knew a huge lay-off was coming so he was working serious hours to try to find any and every bit of money that the company was spending in vain in the hopes that he might have been able to save a few jobs here and there for the company.  Little did he know that at the corporate level, they were also re-structuring his company to save money any where they could..... they re-structured and eliminated Duane's position.  We NEVER saw this coming.  

 

I cannot even explain with words the feeling of having six kids (+2 on the way from Africa), and hearing that you have no job.... no insurance... it's just gone.  Gone.

 

That's the horrible part...  still strapped in???  Here's the AMAZING part--

 

Remember my posting from a few weeks ago about the birds as they played in the snow at my bird feeder?  If not, you can read that posting by clicking here.  It was while I watched those birds that the Lord reminded me of the verse in Matthew 10 that says, ^"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."  If you'll remember, I even started singing that old hymn, His Eye is on the Sparrow as I watched those birds. 

 

For several days after that, every time I looked at our bird feeder outside, God whispered, "I love you so much more than them." 

 

When Duane called me in shock Monday afternoon to tell me about his job loss, I just happened to be looking out the window at the feeders while he was talking to me. As he spoke, two birds flew to the feeder and God spoke SO clearly. He told me once again that His eye was on us, that He loved us dearly and He would get the glory in this situation. 

 

Sweet friends, something happened in my husband last Monday night when we first heard about this job loss.... neither of us could sleep, so at 3am, we were having pillow talk. Serious pillow talk.  Duane wept like I have never seen him weep.  Not over the job loss.... not over the money loss.... he wept because he knew God had just torn down his idol.  You see, my husband was a work-aholic.  Just last week, and for every week since I can remember, Duane has worked long, hard hours.  He is almost 40 years old and for all of his career, even before we moved here, Duane went to work before anyone here at the house was up, and he got home when the kids were in the their pajamas.  I had just gotten used to it.  I hated it, but I learned long ago that complaining just made it worse.  I had learned to live with the fact that my husband's job was very important to him... after being married to him for 17+ years, I just learned to live with getting his left-overs.... the kids have never known any other way.

 

But that all changed Monday night.  As Duane wept, I saw his idol come crashing down.  Duane KNOWS now that God took his job away because it had become his god.  And friends, when our God says, "I will have no other gods before me" He means it!!  God loves my husband SO much and wants his love in return SO much, that He got Duane to his knees and tore down his idol to get to his heart.  GLORY!  I will forever praise Him for what he has done in my family in the past several days!!!  Through Duane's tears, he has begged for my forgiveness.... he has gotten back in God's Word.... has made a TOTAL change.... and he means it.  His entire countenance has changed.  Oh, how it makes me love him even more.

 

Duane is a deacon... a Sunday School teacher.... a church lay-leader..... a caring father.... a loving husband.....an orphan advocate.... but he had an idol that came before all of this.  Slowly, ever so slowly, his idol had taken over every part of his life.  Over years and years of working so long and so hard in order to "provide" for us, he had carved an idol with every day that went by when he put his job above everything else.  And it came crashing down Monday night.  And it hit the ground with a HUGE noise!  Friend, I'm sure all of Hell shook when it fell!  GLORY!  

 

We all went to the park on Tuesday as a family.  I cried as I watched my husband play baseball with our children for the first time in over three years.  Our newest adopted son, Daniel, is five years old.  We have had him now from Liberia for almost 3 years.  Before Tuesday at the park, he had never held a baseball bat before.  I am weeping as I type this because I have my husband back.  I am devastated about the job loss, but it is worth it all!  God is not concerned about our happiness nor our comfort levels... He is concerned about our hearts.  So we are all praising Him in the midst of this job loss!

 

Last Friday, Duane was asked to give this "fresh testimony" to a group of church leaders who were attending a large prayer conference at our church.  Henry Blackaby's son was even among the leaders!  I beamed as my husband, in perfect humility, gave God the glory through this situation and poured his heart out before those leaders.  God is honoring his humility!  God's Word says, a contrite spirit He will not deny.  I am so proud of my husband!  God looks SO good in Duane!!!

 

We are claiming so many promises from God's Word like never before! The two main scriptures we are clinging to are Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper," and Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have have been called according to His purpose."

 

I stand amazed.  Already, God is getting the glory from this!  We may be eating peanut butter for dinner for the next few months until God provides another job, but my friends, we don't care!  It's worth it!  God's hand is all over this!!  Praise Him!

 

OK, you can unbuckle your seat-belt now.....  sorry this was SO long, but I love to tell you all what God is doing in my life, and right now, He is AMAZING me with every moment that goes by!

So Much To Tell You...

Hi my sweet friends,

I have so much to tell you about what is going on in my life right now.  But for today, I have so many emotions flooding my spirit at once, that I will wait a couple of days to blog about it all.  For now, I want you to meet Molly.....

  Molly is one of the beautiful young ladies who took care of our little Gracie when she lived in the orphanage in Haiti.  She also took great care of us while we were in Haiti to get Grace.  Molly has a blog that I just love to read.  She is pictured here with Joyce who also works at the orphanage.  Molly is on the left-- Joyce on the right.

I wanted to share it with you all so you can see the day to day life of living in the poorest nation in our hemisphere.  Molly posts lots of pictures of the orphans who live there at the orphanage and tells stories of how precious they are.

Her blog is called Kidz Korner.  Click here to read it.

Life With No Regrets

My friend, Janey, sent this little story to me and it really nailed me between the eyes about how I spend my time.  Enjoy...

Too many people put off something that brings joy just because they
haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it
was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up
dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to 'cut back the
calories'. >From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible!!


How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you
watched 'Name that Show' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to
lunch in a half hour?' She would reply, 'I can't. I have
clothes to wash. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a
late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's
Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have that special lunch
together.

Because we cram so much into our lives, we tend to even schedule our
headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when
all the conditions are perfect!

We'll visit the grandparents when we get the baby potty-trained.
We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second
honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and
the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and
all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan
on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and
available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for
life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to
trade your bad feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a
bungee cord. ( we all want to be this one don't we:)

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just
that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and
eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought
a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have
died happy.
Now, go on be ALIVE today. Do something you WANT to......not something
on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone
call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are
you waiting? Especially, if it is a call out to your Savior!




Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the
rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or
gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the
fly? When you ask 'How are you?' do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores
running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And
in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship
die? Just call to say 'Hi?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened
gift.....Thrown away. ... Life is not a race. Take it slower... Hear the
music before the song is over.  Spend time with Christ to have No regrets.

PJs, Make-up Remover, Barefeet, and Other Holy Things

This past weekend the All For HIS Glory Speaking Team officially commissioned the newest three team members- Jill, Janey, and Jackie.  They all began the process a full nine months ago by committing to pray with me each Wednesday night for a minimum of 6 months about this new All For HIS Glory expansion. 

Last June, I began meeting weekly with them and as we all sought the Lord's guidance in what He was leading AFHG into, He honored our prayers and began to reveal to us just what this expansion was to look like and how it was to operate. 

At the careful invitation of the AFHG ministry team, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, the 3 girls began the application process just a few weeks ago.  This was after six months of prayer with the AFHG team-- a requirement for any and all AFHG prospects.

After panel interviews, phone interviews, an application nearly an inch thick- REALLY!--, DVD's of speaking, speaking training sessions, ministry work, and finally speaking before an audience as we watched (can you imagine the stress???), we asked the 3 applicants to join us at our latest women's retreat this past weekend.  They tirelessly helped where ever needed as they ministered to the women who were attending.  Each of them gave a 50 minute breakout session and were a vital part of our team.

Finally, on Saturday we asked them to meet the entire team in the small conference room of the hotel after the evening session was over.  We expected the session to end around 9:30 or so.  But, there was such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit after the evening session that some of us did not get to leave the auditorium until almost midnight. 

By then the 3 applicants were in their PJs, had taken off their make-up and were barefooted as they made their way to the small conference room of the hotel.  They just thought they were attending a 'little meeting.'  And it was a little meeting... a little meeting with a big purpose!  

There in that small room, we invited them to join the team... officially!  We were thrilled when they accepted.  And then we all knelt in the floor, laid hands on the 3 precious women that God had chosen to join us, and commissioned them to the Lord...IN THEIR PAJAMAS!!!  I LOVE it!  

AFHG is not the typical speaking ministry based on money and numbers.  It's lowly, meek, humble, broken, and full of servanthood-- Servanthood that is the same for one woman or for an auditorium full of women.  As I think about other speakers it seems sometimes- not always- that it is about a climb to the top, but with us it is all about kneeling at the bottom....  

And that's just why I am so thrilled that God allowed our newest team members, Jill, Janey, and Jackie, to be commissioned in their PJs!  I told them, "Never forget that when you joined us you were without a fancy suit, without make-up, without shoes..... you were bare of any 'frills' and anything on the outside that would cause you to feel any pride at all.  And that's just the type of speaker God wants you to always be on the inside."

Welcome to the team, girls!  God had it planned all along!  It was a grueling process, but we don't take this ministry lightly.  It is ALL FOR HIS GLORY, and He alone has knit our hearts together for this greater purpose. 

Here's to PJs, make-up remover, barefeet, and other Holy things!  All For HIS Glory!

Put Your Garbage on the Table- Reflections from the Retreat

This past weekend's retreat was so amazing.  There was a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit that was mind-boggling.  But, I'm noticing with every session of speaking that I am asked to give, God always asks me to do the same thing-- "Lorie, put your garbage on the table."

It's true.  God wants my garbage!  He takes great delight in making something so intricately beautiful from it.  How is that? 

When I'm asked to speak on being a living sacrifice, or on loving God with my mind, or on being humble, I could easily give scripture after scripture about each subject.  I could even easily give women a bulleted list of spiritual 'how to's.'  But the "how-to's" are not always what changes people.  Hearing my garbage.... it somehow attracts them to Christ.   And I'll never fully understand how it works.

It never fails, as I put a 'talk' together, God always says, "Put your garbage on the table, Lorie."  Yeah, my garbage.  Whatever it is I'm to speak or teach about, God takes MY struggles and MY challenges with that subject and asks me to include it in my words as I speak to the women.

Everytime I've obeyed the Lord and 'put my garbage on the table' He delicately shows me just where to plug in each heartache, each pain, each sin, each area of brokeness into my session.  With each heartache, each pain, each sin, and each area of brokeness I share, I also share how God has healed the heartache, soothed the pain, covered the sin, and repaired the brokeness... and what happens next always astounds me.

As I speak, the women listening somehow don't see my garbage--  Instead they see Jesus!  They see Him and Him alone as the One who heals heartache, the One who soothes the pain, the One who covers the sin, and the One who binds up brokeness.   He gets all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise!  Glory!  How is that?

For so long I was afraid to be transparent-- afraid to let those I speak to see the 'real' Lorie.  I guess I was afraid that if they knew my garbage, they would judge me or see me differently.  What a lie...   what a lie. 

You see, when I put my garbage on the table for God to use, somehow the women get a blessing, and I get SET FREE!!  Amazing!  And it happened again this past weekend.  That miracle of how God changes my garbage into something beautiful never ceases to amaze me.