Just keep walking, just keep walking; walking, walking; just keep walking!

With everything going on, Curtis and I have been in prayer with how to proceed.  We both feel in our hearts that we need to continue walking out this path like we set out on.  We know that God has all of the details worked out and we need to rest in that.

On Friday, we took an hour drive to our local immigration office to see if we could get our fingerprints done early.  Our original appointment was for October 10th, but I had already made plans for that day to volunteer at the kids school.  Knowing that our local immigration office is not usually "friendly" to walk in appointments, we took a chance.  Curtis felt we needed to try and if it didn't work out, to look at it as a date day. :)

As we parked our car, Curtis found that our parking spot had already been paid for.  COOL!  Next, we walked in and were greeted by three security officers.  They wanted to see our paperwork with our scheduled appointment listed on it.  I proceeded to tell them that we knew we were taking a chance by walking in, but explained that I had already planned to volunteer at our children's school for the day we were scheduled.  I also shared with them that I knew I had the ability to reschedule, but that would delay us by another month and I was hoping we wouldn't need to do that.  One of the security officers took our paperwork to another room and quickly returned.  He motioned for us to come back - they would see us early.  HALLELUJAH!  No begging or pleading.  We were in and out of there in 15 minutes.  God is so good!!

We spent the rest of our afternoon/evening enjoying each other's company, good food, and the sunshine.  It was an incredible day.  After the week we had, we needed it.  I needed that confirmation that we were still on the right track.

Our last piece of paperwork has now been completed and we will be submitted soon.  Once all of our paperwork is submitted to the department of adoptions in Porter's country, we will anxiously be waiting to receive our travel dates.  That can be anywhere from 2 - 8 weeks after submission.

It is happening and FAST.  Tomorrow I will post an exciting opportunity for you to help us reach our goal.

UPDATE

My previous post has caused some confusion.  So, I will attempt to clarify what I know.  The Porter listed on Reece's Rainbow is the boy pictured in the pink shirt.  From what we understand, he is the boy that has been transferred and that we have committed to.  The little boy in the grey shirt is a boy that is in an orphanage in the same country and region that Porter is in.  What happened is that a family that was adopting a daughter saw this little boy in the grey shirt at the orphanage.  They thought he looked a lot like the Porter that is listed in RR.  They took photos of him and asked others what they thought.  After a lot of examining the original RR photo of Porter and the photos of the young boy in the orphanage, it was believed that it was the same boy.  The photos of the boy in the grey shirt were taken before RR was notified that Porter had been transferred to a mental institution.  So, when RR was notified of Porter's transfer, the photos of the boy in the grey shirt were shared as being Porter.  I found information that has caused us to believe that they are in fact, two different boys.

Curtis and I are still going forward in our journey to Porter...who ever he may be. ;)  God has not brought us this far to just "drop us off and ask us to find the rest of the way".  It is all going to work out!  We are NOT upset and anyone or anything!!  Everyone involved had/has pure motives.

I shared this with others and I will share it again.....we are seeing a beautiful miracle unfold and MANY, MANY people are going to be blessed.  We have been feeling the attack of the enemy in more ways than just one.  It is a confirmation that we are on the right track.  We covet your prayers as we continue to walk down this path.  There are other families that we have come to know that are also adopting from this same area and they are feeling the attack of the enemy as well.

We are only able to change things through prayer, so PLEASE keep praying!!!

The situation is still the same...a young boy has been transferred from his orphanage to a level 4 mental institution.  He does not belong there and we are working hard to get to him as quickly as possible.  We have sent our paperwork to his country to be translated.  We are only waiting for one more document and then we will be ready to submit our request to travel to his country and meet with the department of adoptions.  We are so close!!  We still need $12k before we can travel.

We have a fun opportunity to raise money for Porter's adoption.  By entering this giveaway, you could win a NEW iPad 2, Kindle Fire HD, $100 gift card to select stores, books, and more!  Go check it out and help bring Porter home!!

Enter now the giveaway now!!

Heavy Hearts

This is an interesting and hard post for me to write.  I don't quite know where to begin.

The day that I saw Porter's face plastered all over people's blogs, I looked at him and knew he was our son.  The features of his face resembled that of our own son.  My heart was captured and yet I didn't know where to begin or how to go about making him our son become a reality.

My husband and I came together and prayed and asked for direction.  Every step we took, we knew was an act of obedience and things fell together and fast.  We have always known that God had us on a special journey and it about more than just rescuing a little boy from living in an institution.

We were given photos of Porter from a family that had traveled to the orphanage where he had been living before he was transferred.  Before the photos of Porter were released by this family, other people and volunteers had studied and compared them to the photo that Reece's Rainbow had of Porter as a young toddler.

Left-Reece's Rainbow Photo            Right - Family Photo taken at the orphanage

After a lot of studying, it was believed that the boy seen at the orphanage, was the Porter listed on RR's site.  Not only where there similarities in the facial features, the region of the country that he was listed in matched, as well as the age.  We all believed we were looking at Porter.

I was blessed with even more photo's of Porter and the more and more I studied them, I noticed even more characteristics that were that matched that of our own family.  The expressions on his face and they way his thumb was tucked in between his pointer and middle finger (my children and mother do this as well).  More reason's we knew he was our son!

If you know me, you know that I am an internet research junkie!  When I want to find out more about something, I can spend hours researching until I find it.  I have looked up the region where Porter is now living and found photos of the little town.  I love being able to visualize where he is and where we would be traveling.  I had been given the link to the national registry for orphans for his country.  I found his photo listing and it looked just like the photo listed on RR.  It was a few years old, so I still believed that the more recent photo's that we had received from the other adopting family better reflected how he currently looked.

But then, last night I went to the orphan website again.  This time to check and see if they happened to update his file or actually, to make sure he was still listed.  While looking, I recognized two boys that I had seen in photos of Porter.  As I looked again, there was Porter listed right next to these boys files!  I was excited to see that his photo had been updated!  There was the sweet boy that I had seen in all of the photos.  I clicked on his file and was shocked to see that there were multiple photos listed for him.  I clicked on each one and knew that was him.  I forwarded the link to the family that had sent me the other photos of him to confirm I was looking at the same boy.  Sure enough, she confirmed it was him.  She recognized the bench he was sitting on in front of the orphanage.  I studied his file on the website again and noticed the date of birth listed was different from what RR had.  Immediately my heart started to flip flop.

I started emailing those who could verify this information.  I attached the links to everything I had found.  I have always had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we would show up at the institution and the little boy that would be brought to us would not be the same boy we had seen.  That thought was becoming a reality.

I woke up this morning to that dreaded email....it was confirmed.  The boy that we had fallen in love with - the boy who's picture is plastered all over my blog - the boy that I have shown his picture to many people, sharing his story - is not the boy that we had committed to.

Porter's story is still the same.  A young boy that was transferred from his baby house to an awful mental institution.  A boy that needs to be rescued from this place.  A place that desperately needs our prayers so that change can happen.  People who need Jesus and to experience His love and the love of us!

Curtis and I know we were called to walk this journey and we will continue to do just that.  But now there are two boys that we love - two boys that need rescuing.  We can only rescue one.  Please pray for us.  Our hearts are broken for the one that will be left behind.

I do not want to remove the photos of "Porter" that I have.  He is my son.  But he is not the "Porter" that everyone is shouting out for.  This is a hard time for us as we try to make sense of this in our hearts and minds.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

JAVA & Co. Helps Porter!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to team up with a few businesses to fundraise for Porter.  For the next few days, I will share more about each business, what they offer, and how you can help.

 

JAVA & Co. is owned and operated by my sister and brother-in-law. They produce their artisan products in small batches, so you can be confident that you will be receiving high quality and fresh products shipped directly to you.  JAVA & Co.'s coffee infused syrups are FREE from corn syrups, fillers, and added preservatives.

JAVA & Co. has put together a special Breakfast Coffee Bundle for Porter.

Each breakfast coffee bundle includes FIVE of their signature items - presented in a natural burlap bag:

16 ounce, Signature Coffee Infused Syrup (see choices on website)

16 ounce, Hearty Oatmeal Mix (cranberries, flax and whole grain oats)

8 ounce, Granola Nibbles (cranberries, flax, whole grain oats combined with coffee infused syrup)

16 ounce, JAVA JAX (hearty pancake mix made with stone ground whole wheat flour, cinnamon, ground flax and whole grain oats)

1/2 pound, Whole Bean Coffee (see choices on website)
 

For each breakfast coffee bundle sold, 30% of the gross sales will be donated to Porter's grant fund.

Treat yourself or give as a gift.

Purchase Here

About JAVA & Co.

JAVA & Co. is brought to you by a husband and wife team with a background in the hospitality, food, and restaurant business.  Leaving New York City and Las Vegas for a change of pace, brought us to Illinois.  After a few years of 'quiet living', the hospitality and food business began calling to us. In 2008, JAVA & Co. was born.

Chef-Inspired Coffee Infused Specialties.  Handmade by Brian and Jamie - a husband and wife team - utilizing proprietary small batch recipes with fine ingredients like real vanilla and hand cracked eggs in the hand cut biscotti; locally roasted coffee beans in the syrups; freshly ground whole spices and coffee in the sweet and savory JAVA Spice; Illinois farm grown (pesticide free) habanero peppers in the spicy habanero caramels; natural Illinois soy wax infused with botanical extracts, lead FREE wicks and phthalate FREE fragrance in our hand poured candles; and key recognizable ingredients in our Wake Up! Bath & Body Collection.

Handcrafted.  Fresh.  Artisanal.  Specialties.
Made in the U.S.A.
www.javaandco.com

GIVEAWAY FUNDRAISER

Only a couple of months left until we can go and get Porter.  We still need to raise $12,334.26.

We have been given the opportunity to join in on a giveaway fundraising event.  Please visit here and read about why Porter so desperately needs to be brought home.  Then, please make a donation into our Reece's Rainbow grant fund and go back to here and leave a comment.

The giveway sponsor will put one entry beside your name for every $5 that you donate.  The more you donate, they more chances you will have to win.

Enter now for a chance to win!



BRAND NEW Apple iPad 2

BRAND NEW Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

AND MORE!

 

Sucker Punched

Yesterday was one of the hardest days I have experienced since we committed to bring Porter home.  I felt like I had been kicked in the gut and struggled all day with fear, anxiousness, and uncertainty.  The knowledge of what Porter is experiencing consumed me.  My lack of ability to do more crushed me.

I spent most of the day in my room crying, feeling hopeless.  Curtis came in and held me and he prayed over me.  After he left, I took a shower and this song came on.  It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.  "Peace be still and know that I am God."

One more step closer to Porter!

Today I picked up our finalized copies of our home study.  By this evening, our USCIS application was mailed.  I will be apostilling the rest of our dossier documents on Monday and getting them sent off to be taken to Porter's country.  Based on the current time frame, we may be traveling in November.

I shared on my last post that we are needing to fundraise and raise Porter's rescue funds quickly.  We have a few business that are contributing sales to our grant fund.  Over the next few days, I will be highlighting each of those business.  The holidays are approaching fast and this would be a great way to shop and donate all at the same time.

The time is short and the need is great.  Our desire is to have Porter home for Christmas and experience most incredible time of the year with his family. 

Porter's Christmas gift last year.

Let last year be the last time he had to spend Christmas without his family.

This is what Porter is experiencing now.


WE STILL NEED TO RAISE $13,312.96

Please help. Every penny matters.



 

Update

Well, it's that time where I need to update everyone with where we are at in our journey to Porter!  Yesterday we spent four hours with our social worker as she gathered information about our family so that she could complete our home study.  Once we have our finalized copy of our home study report, we can send our application in to USCIS for immigration approval.  Once we receive our USCIS approval, we will be sending the rest of our certified documents over to Porter's country for approval.

It is hard to believe that it has only been two months since we first saw Porter's face and fell in love.  It has been a whirlwind of a summer for sure!  I created a new tab "Adoption Costs" to show what we have been up to and the costs related to Porter's adoption.  We are nearly have way to our funding goal.  HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT?!

Now that we are nearing the end of paper chasing, we really need to raise the remaining funds quickly.  We may only have 3 months left to fundraise before we leave to rescue our little man.  Please share Porter's story and help us get him home!