Happy, Humble, Hopeful

Happy...

to have our Chinese Visas in hand!

Steve & I made that 3 hour drive (each way) again today to pick up our Visas.

And after handing the clerk $560, we have our Passports, with Visas, in our possession.

Woohoo!

That's one more thing to check off our list... x

Which means one step closer to bringing our boys home.

Humble...

to have been so blessed by so many people giving financially & encouragement too.

Before I give figures I want to share what one family wrote with their donation:

"May this little bit bless your family and Kai! We have been praying for him since around January as a family. The strange amount is due to the fact that our oldest son Mateo (he is 6 and adopted from Guatemala) wanted to share his $1.25 that he has, to help Joseph come home. :) We are in the process of bringing home a 12 year old girl from China who has cerebral palsy. (Hopefully by November- we are on day 43 of our LOA wait). Blessings on your family!"

This family is adopting a special needs child themselves, and yet they gave to help us...

Their 6 yr old child gave "his $1.25"... probably all he had...

Mark 12
⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money.⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.
⁴³ Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. ⁴⁴ They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on."

*I would like to add here, that little Mateo needs our prayers: In 3 weeks he is going to have a very complicated and rare surgery on his spinal cord. Please join me in praying for him & his family.

Next, please do NOT feel unappreciated for giving more than this child. We totally appreciate ALL the donations. For sure!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

That is not my point here.

But I cried when I read this family's note to us.

It is very overwhelming to be JOSEPH's parents.

So many people have prayed for him, donated, supporting, encouraged him... for years!

And God just brings us onto the scene when he's 13 and entrusts us with this wonderful boy.

We just do not have words...

Plus

In one week God has provided $4,260 in our hands for Kai (aka Joseph) adoption.

Wow! Praise our AMAZING Father in Heaven!

We are only $500 short of making our goal of $4760.

Note: This does not include the Paypal fees taken out of the donations thus far: $129.17

*Don't get me wrong, we are thankful for Paypal & the privilege of using their service. We just have a little more to fundraise in order to use it's service.  :)

Plus, we can't forget the cost of the Laptop: $227.31 (Thank you Steve's boss for the awesome deal!)

So we really need at least $856.48 to make our goal... But how amazing is that? Hallelujah!


Now, we had enough already, that we paid for the $360 USCIS Supp 3 fee to add Kai. Woohoo!

We have enough now that Monday we can mail the $700 2nd child application fee & $2500 of agency fees for 2nd child. Yay!

And we only need $500 more to make our goal and be able to pay the $1200 CCCWA fees that go with the I-797 & home study update to China for Kai's adoption. Hallelujah!

Reminder: We are going to DRAW a name to give the LAPTOP to on Sun 8-12-12. So there is still plenty of time to get those donations in, if you haven't had a chance yet.

I guess this would be a good time to remember the next fee due, not included in the goal above, is the $720 USCIS I-800 fee for 2nd child. Not due until after we receive Kai's LOA, so we have time. :)

Hopeful...

Many people have asked about making a donation that is tax deductible.

Well we now have an answer

Reece's Rainbow was advocating for Joseph (aka Kai) to find a family.

And thru Reece's Rainbow we now have a grant of $3,355 towards Kai Joseph's later adoption. PTL!

Thank you to all that gave! May the Lord bless you tenfold!

Nearly $1,000 of that came in after we announced our LOCKING his file & submitting LOI. :)

Well since his family has found him, and we have PA, his individual child grant thru Reece's Rainbow has ended. See his page moved to the "My Family Found Me" page http://reecesrainbow.org/category/rescued

And now the answer: Reece's Rainbow offered us a "Family Sponsorship Program" page to help raise money to bring both our boys home. http://reecesrainbow.org/42289/sponsorpatton

Thank you Jesus!

*See also the Reece's Rainbow Donate Button on the right side of our blog.

And please spread the word for any that wish to donate to help us bring our boys home

AND get a tax deduction at the same time.

The donations made to Reece's Rainbow can only be disbursed once we receive travel dates. So we still need to fundraise these couple fees due soon. (I'm checking on Orphanage Donation fee due date)

Please don't forgot Eli!

We are still accepting donations towards Eli's Orphanage Donation Fee

We are on day 25 of our wait for LOA for Eli & praying it comes soon. Other families have been seeing LOA's in about 53-63 days. So if Eli's comes in that time frame, we need to be prepared to pay his Orphanage Donation fee of $5,600 + his travel Visa of $300. We have about $2,900 saved & raised towards this amount.

So we started a new Chip-In to try and raise the other $3,000 in 30 days...

See Bring Eli Home http://adventure4eli.chipin.com/bring-eli-home or Chip-In on right of blog.

And you will get your name in the drawing for the Video Camera on THIS Sun 8/5

*Note: Please use Eli's Chip-In Button, not Kai's

$5 donation for name in drawing once or $20 Donation for 5 x's. If you share link & email me at adventure4eli@gmail.com we will also put your name in the drawing. We need everyone's support!

 

Or you can sponsor a Puzzle Piece for only a $5 donation & we will put your name on back.

Also, for anyone wanting to DOUBLE their donation

AND get a tax deduction

Eli was awarded a Brittany's Hope Seedling Grant of $2,000

What that means is when Brittany's Hope receives $1,000 in donations for our adoption

https://www.brittanyshope.org/seedling/patton/  (See also on right side of blog)

They will match it and send $2,000 to our adoption agency upon us receiving travel approval.

That is exciting!

And proves how every dollar & cent helps.

So if you want to double your gift towards bringing our boys home, please donate to our Brittany's Hope Seedling Grant.

Thank you again to everyone!!!

We continue to pray blessings on you all tenfold for your prayers and gifts.

Finally, I'd like to invite you all to meet Kai Joseph Patton

This is a MUST SEE!

Melissa, who write his blog & is currently at Shepherd's Field in China, posted this today:

http://hejustwantsafamily.blogspot.com/

Well on that note, it has been a LONG exciting BLESSED week

And I am one very thankful momma

Who needs sleep...

Good night all,

Sherry