Updates…

Well for those of you asking, yes…we are pursuing both adoption and hosting of Alex at the same time. Our goal is to host Alex for 5 weeks this summer and then very shortly after that to travel to Latvia to present our petition of adoption to the Latvian court.  Best case scenario, we would be traveling to Latvia only a few weeks after our hosting ends at the beginning of August. One of the wonderful things about Latvia is that once we present our petition for adoption we will get the opportunity to ask for guardianship. This means that when we go to present our petition to the court in Latvia we will also present a request for guardianship…and be able to bring Alex back home with us! He will stay with us throughout the rest of the adoption process, though I will have to take him back to Latvia with me for two more meetings with the court in Latvia. Exciting no matter how you slice it!

As of today, we have completed our third meeting for our Home Study. This process has changed significantly since the introduction of the Hague Adoption Convention but we have been blessed with a great lady who is helping us through this process. By the end of next week we hope to have the last of our needed certificates and documents so that Kelly can wrap up our Home Study report. Our next phase of paperwork will be the Dossier and our application for US CIS. (United States Citizen and Immigration Services)

For now the biggest challenge we face is raising the funds needed for both hosting and adopting Alex. ~ For those interested in donating toward the hosting of Alex, please visit: http://www.active.com/donate/2009summerorphans/LifeIsBigger  ~ For those interested in donating toward the adoption of Alex, please contact either Cindy or I directly.

To everyone…Thank You for your prayers, encouragement and support!

This is Hope..continued

www.active.com/donate/2009summerorphans/LifeIsBigger

Through 2008, God was working on our hearts leading us down a path that we were unfamiliar with. He was leading us to places we had not experienced before. Events, emotions, places in our hearts we didn’t expect to find, yet knew that it was not coincidence we found ourselves on this journey. Through it all, He was opening our hearts to reach beyond our family walls. To reach out to those who needed hope…

Aleksejs Jurcenko is an eleven year old boy from Latvia, whose mom dropped him off at an orphanage when he was just eight years old. Since then, he has lived his life in the walls of an orphanage except for the opportunity to visit America last year. Alex needed hope and willing families provided that for him as a hosted child. At the end of last year, our friends spent four weeks with Alex and we are now working toward offering him that journey once more. Our goal is to provide more than just another hosting opportunity and therefore our cost is greater. The journey we are on will be to change Alex’s life forever. God has clearly led us here and we are confident that He will continue to provide for us as we step out into a new chapter of our lives.

It is with excitement that we ask for your support on this journey. Your prayers are crucial and your financial support is appreciated more than we can express to you. We are stepping out to raise $5,500 in this first phase of our journey. This will cover the costs associated with bringing Alex to America: airfare, transportation, visa’s, insurance, other travel related expenses and hosting fees. Please know that every little bit helps…every $10 bill counts. All contributions made through this page will go to New Horizons for Children and are tax deductable. For those of you that God leads to go over and above our posted goal on this page, we ask that you contact us directly to see how you can help with the additional expenses we will incur during this process.

Please feel free to pass this link along to all you know.

Most of all we want to say Thank You for standing with us through this journey! It is exciting and we appreciate your prayers and support.

Kevin, Cindy, Kristen & Rachel

To follow our journey please visit our blogs:

Cindy’s - www.MyJourneyCollections.blogspot.com

Kevin’s - www.LifeIsBigger.blogspot.com

Let us not forget…

Today I am going to post from today's devotional that came from Ransomed Heart Ministries. This series of devotionals are all excerpts from books written by John Eldredge.

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Life at Last
02/18/2009

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Life is the offer, friends. Let us not forget that.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. (John 17:3 NLT)
There is no simpler or more beautiful way to say it than this: Act Four is the restoration of life as it was always meant to be.
It is the return of the beauty, the intimacy, and the adventure we were created to enjoy and have longed for every day of our lives. And yet, better, for it is immortal. We can never lose it again. It cannot be taken away. Sunrise and sunset tell the tale every day, remembering Eden’s glory, foretelling Eden’s return.
And what adventures shall unfold when we are given the kingdom that was always meant to be ours? Listen to this:
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come,you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34, emphasis added)
Adam and Eve, and all their sons and daughters after them, were created to reign over the earth—to explore and discover and create and do all those things you see people do when they are at their very best.
That is our destiny.
(Epic , 92–94)

“This is Hope”…

Your eight years old and your mom packs you up and takes you on a ride. The ride ends at an orphanage where she leaves you and a few of your belongings…but she leaves…no explanation…and never comes back. Your dad had died when you were younger…but you don’t remember, or don’t want to remember, how or why. You do remember your dad would sometimes hit your mom and at times you were the recipient of some of his peripheral anger. Confusion? Anger? Frustration? Depression? I would imagine all of those feelings crashing in. In the emptiness and loneliness this young boy’s grandparents were a bit of relief when they would come to visit each week…but with time…those visits became only monthly…and now they are only once or twice a year, though they only live about 15 minutes from the orphanage.

This is merely just a small clip of the life of Alex, Aleksejs Jurcenko. Last fall, a young couple in Savannah, followed God’s leading and hosted this young boy from Latvia. For four weeks they poured their life into the life of Alex. They shared Christmas in both sprit and deed with Alex. Love and Hope were shared unconditionally with Alex.

Fast forward to now…

We, the Tuttle family, are moving forward with the process to make Alex forever a part of our family. Yes, we are working through the process of adoption. Soon we will have a high energy, fun loving extremely bright eleven year old boy. A son and a brother. Meet Alex…

As we walk this road we are asking for your prayers and support. Here are specific needs:

• Finances for all of these forms, fees, applications, translations, travel….and everything else that people want to charge us for! We are working on getting a link where you can donate to help bring Alex home.
• That the paperwork would flow through the certifications smoothly. God has been incredible so far in opening doors and preparing the way. Home study starts next Tuesday!
• That both our hearts (Kevin, Cindy, Kristen and Rachel) and the heart of Alex would be prepared for one another. The girls are so excited about having a brother and for that we are glad.

The fog is lifting and the path ahead is starting to reveal itself….

Caught in the Fog…

Ever feel like your life is caught in a fog?

Sure you do…we all do at times. Whether its that “morning fog” before your first coffee, or the fog that exists when we are utterly exhausted and not quite sure where to turn. There is fog in life, plenty of it, but I really think it has a purpose.

At those times when we face the fog, it can be beautiful or just down right aggravating…this really depends upon our circumstances. For example, when at the lake on a cool spring morning and a fog rises off the lake as the sun is rising…there isn’t a more beautiful site. There is no hurry, no place to be, just time to relax and enjoy. Take that same fog but you are late for work, its aggravating because everyone seems to be “putsing” along and the fog is just slowing things down. Then comes the dense fog. WOW…you can’t see anything. It is so thick that it’s just not safe to drive. You begin to lose all sense of direction, you have no idea what is lurking just beyond your sight.

The fog we face in life is much the same, and I believe God has a purpose for it. Just as when we face the fog rolling in, we need to slow down and concentrate harder on what we are doing. We have to focus on what is in front of us. Then, when the dense fog rolls in, we need to just stop and wait. If you think back to the last time you walked outside in the dense fog…there is a stillness…a silence that envelops everything. It’s in this silence, we just listen. We may start to feel lonely in the fog…but if we stop and rest, look around there is a surreal beauty, we can sense there is something bigger around us. God wants our trust, our faith, our obedience, He is there to meet us when the fog rolls in.

When we are caught in the fog, just as in life, there are two things which will remove the fog in our life and restore clarity to the world around us. Either the sun will burn off the fog or the wind will blow it away…did you get that…either the Son will burn away the fog, or the Holy Spirit will blow it away…

Reflections of a Year Gone By…

What do you think of when you hear the word reflection? A mirror? Sun or scenery on the water? The moon?

As we reflect back on 2008 the question must be asked…what did I reflect, what did you reflect? This picture above speaks volumes about what we are to be like. The moon simply reflects the sun. The moon has no light in and of itself. The entire brilliance of the moon comes from its alignment with the sun. The more in line with the sun, the bigger and brighter it shines. The moon is a light in the darkness…a light that everyone knows when they see it. This sounds a lot like what we are called to do as believers…a light in the darkness that is a reflection of the Son.

Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Determine now what you are going to reflect in 2009…we are called to make a difference.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.