Drum Roll Please!!!!

It is official....


....We are having a......



..........Little baby.......




........GIRL!!!!......

We Have PayPal

Just wanted to let you know that if you would like to make a donation to our adoption or to us as intercessory missionaries we are now paypal equipped on this blog site. Go down below our profile and you will see a yellow button that says donate. Then fill it out and let us know what you would like it designated to. You can also sign up for our newsletter just above that as well.

Blessings

Thank You So Much!

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has labored in prayer, given encouragement, and sown financially towards our adoption. This journey has proven to be such a learning process and such a soul searching ordeal. I would have never expected it to be so rigorous and emotional. At the beginning it seemed so smothered in paper work and meetings that I felt like it was a detached process and I was worried about attachment to our child. Now in the final stretches I am so attached to this little person that I have never met. Boy or girl I don't care, because my heart is already overloaded with affection. Praying for this little one, preparing for this little one; I am expectant and excited and nervous all at the same time. I have carried this baby in my heart as much as any women has carried a child in the womb.

Thank you for sowing into that. Adoption is not just a way to grow a family, but a ransoming of a life. No matter the circumstances when you bring a little one from nothing into something it is a ransom. I have no doubt that if the situation of our birth mother was different she would parent this child and be amazing. Unfortunately life does not always look like the "Truman Show" and people get hurt. Birth mothers that choose to give up their unborn babies to abortion are taking the easy way out that leads to pain and devastation later in life. Birth mother who choose life through adoption are taking a harder road that usually leads to healing for them and the children. It is a ransom for both parties and a life long journey full of possibilities. You are a part of our child's possibilities. You are sowing into a little one with a prophetic destiny and a heart after the Lord. One who will be devoted to God at an early age and a child that will be raised in the house of prayer and going to the nations declaring Jesus name. You are a part of that and I want to thank you. This is not just an orphan being moved into a forever home, but a destined child with a prophetic history and a bright future.

Thank you!

Update on Our Adoption # 30

Wanted to post where we are with our adoption journey for all of our fans.:-) I had finally contacted our agency and they emailed us the contract and a picture of our birth mother. I cried when I got it, because it came with a post from her internet site and talked about her relief to have been connected with us. It meant so much to me. Steven is out of town so we will fill out the contract and all that jazz when he gets back in a couple of days. Our birth mother is having a few issues with her new medicaid card and the sono that was scheduled for the 5Th of July will now have to be rescheduled. So we are waiting anxiously for that, because we will find out a due date and the sex of our baby.

My heart is good. I have been so busy lately that I have not had any time for real soul searching. I feel that God and I really worked out some details that had been holding me back for so long. I feel that I have woke from a long sleep and I can feel everything. Words mean so much more to me, touch seems to sink in deeper, and more now than ever I am ready to be a mom. My body is crazy, but it is slowing down. For the fourth straight month I have had regular cycles for the first time in about 10 years. I don't know what to do with myself. I can regulate myself for the first time in a long time. I can anticipate and expect what my body is going to do. Now that is not to say that all my symptoms are gone, however it is a major breakthrough because of prayer. God is healing me inside and out and I know that day is coming that it will be complete. I don't mean that I will be pregnant (though that is an obvious sign) I mean no more pain when I drink caffeine or eat sugar. No more pain with exercise or stress. No more massive amounts of blood and tissue at the most inconvenient time and no more intense, almost labor like cycles. Oh come on Lord!!!! Can I get an AMEN!!!

SOOOOOOO. Here we are in the waiting room of life. Not sure exactly what the next step is. Well we know a few. 1) would be that we still need about $5,000 dollars by the end of August. If you want to give to that contact me via email at :kristicooper@ihop.org. 2) We need to get a crib and have a shower. (I really want to know the sex first), and 3) start to plan all the travel details.(i.e. where to stay, how long, pto for work, subs for Steven at IHOP, etc..) Those are things we know. I am working on grant applications and talking to a gal about another fundraiser. We will get our income tax check and put that towards it as well. If all else fails we can get a loan and pay it a little at a time. I want to believe that God will do this thing debt free. Thanks a million for your love and support.
Blessings!

Urgent Prayer Request

Many of you don't know that I have a brother and fewer of you know that he is in prison. He signed a plea bargain of 2yrs for minor crimes that are considered preludes to major crimes. In saying that I am not negating the seriousness of his actions or his guilt, only that he is not a hardened criminal. In fact he is more like a little kid than a man, though his is over 30 yrs. Upon his move from jail to prison he was to be evaluated and then put into "permanent housing" or a prison unit. He was moved to the evaluation site only we are not sure that he has had an evaluation, but has ended up in the worst unit in one of the hardest prisons in Arkansas.
This is bad but take into consideration that my brother is bipolar, as a slight form of autism, and little to no social skills makes for a very, very bad combination in an extremely volatile prison cell. We needed him to have the evaluation for them to see his level of functionality so that he could hopefully get into a "safer" environment and maybe a vocational training program. Now it seems that they threw him into whatever open bed that was available. This unit has already had fights today and does not offer vocational training, which Michael is desperately seeking. Three other men from the jail where he had been held for the last 9 months are also in his unit with him. We hope this is a good thing and that since knowing him, they will help keep him out of trouble and safe.

Please join me in praying for my brother that God would break in with divine intervention for safety and angelic protection:
Father God, thank you for your sovereign hand on my brother thus far. You have guided this process and we have seen your faithfulness in many ways. I have no doubt that even now you are working in ways unseen and making plans to be yet revealed. I ask you my Father to send your angelic host to my brothers unit right now. Would you push back the evil intents of men and wicked schemes far from him. Give him a supernatural hedge of protection minute by minute, second by second. Father look down on him and have mercy. I am pleading the cause of the one that I love...have mercy God. I ask that you would move my brother to a safer unit where he can take vocational classes. Jesus encounter my brother tonight. Give him a dream, a vision of your hand upon him. Please Abba, be near, be Immanuel tonight and every night for my brother. In Jesus precious name...Amen.

Thank you friend, please pray for my brother Michael if you remember and get a chance.
Blessings

A Good Treat for a Good Cause

On Father's Day Wendy's is giving proceeds from their frosty sales to help kids in the foster care system get adopted through grant money and special programs. Check it out and go buy a frosty...or two...or three...or heck buy as many as you can and pass them out in your neighborhoods, or at Church. Go nuts for a great cause!!!

Still Tracking?

I hope that for those of you who are tracking with our story haven't quit praying. We are still contending for this situation and I am still in the process of weeding my heart from years of self hatred and repressed emotions about my health and infertility. It is a hard thing, this journey through a barren wilderness with the faintest glimpses of His presence sustaining me. I am confident that we are on this journey together and that He is the one on whom I will be leaning when we are through.

Today in the prayer room as the 10am-12pm set began I was thinking about the question that I have been asked everyday, five times a day since being matched to our baby. "Are you excited?" Well let me answer that question in the best and most honest way possible for all my readers that love my transparency. Yes!! I am very excited about the fact that we were chosen above many others and our birth mother felt a connection in her heart that led her to choose us. God is doing so much in our hearts as well as hers and though she wants no contact I am hoping for a supernatural thing to take place. I am thrilled at the opportunity to be mother, to raise a child before the Lord in the place of night and day prayer. I am amazed at how one day I was without child and today I am an expectant mother. It is thrilling and surreal all at the same time. I have been overwhelmed with love in my heart for my unborn baby even though I am not carrying my baby in my womb. I am connected heart, mind, and soul...it is truly a miracle.

However, I am still waiting on the Lord in bitter anguish in my soul for Him to come and make this personal. One on One in the place of prayer and contending. Though my heart has a hope in the expectancy, I am still standing in the pool of barrenness awaiting my Savior to rescue me. I cannot fully explain what I feel because it is a mixed bag of emotions. I have been non-stop thinking of baby names and colors, and fun things to do with our nursery. I have been anticipating the look on my dads face as he holds his first grand baby. But my heart is still locked into seeing my God do what He promised. I have been filled with the fear of not being able to take care of my infant in the times of intense pain as my physical body goes through cycles of debilitating unrest. It makes me furious to think that I will continue on in my physical torment, the only difference being that I will have a child to tend to as well. My emotions are raw and hard to swallow but real and painful.

As the 10am-12pm continued a lovely sense of joy came over the worship and we celebrated God. As we sang and did the charismatic hop scotch the meeting took a shift from celebrating to contending for the sick in the room. A natural shift to be sure, however I remained sitting not really wanting to be congregated around and prayed for. I did raise my hand for prayer almost hoping no one would see me. A young lady did and as she was praying I thought of my friend Jack Hill sitting behind me in his wheel chair. The young girl prayed for healing and then said that she had a word for me. It resemble a word that has been spoken over me before in other places and is dear to my heart. She said that I had been in a season of drought but not just for a few months but for several years. {So far so good, she's tracking with me}. Then she said that the Lord knows that place and that there is coming a season of joy for me unparalleled. That I would be one who carried joy around and gave it out. I was encouraged because that is something time and time again that is spoken over me and I am eagerly waiting to see it revealed. My middle name is Joy so in a sense I carry around joy everyday. A partial fulfillment if you will. But the day when my drought on the inside is over and joy would abound not only in my own heart but also to others....that is a day I anticipate and long for.

So as she left I sat there enjoying the tangible sense of the nearness of God. To bask in the presence of Holy Spirit as He moves through the room is refreshing. I turned around to see many gathered around my friend Jack. I went over and joined in the prayers for him. I have been in many settings praying for his restoration over the years since being here in K.C. Like me Jack is longing for the day when God comes down and makes His word personal in Jack's body. As a young man he was injured in an accident involving a 4 wheeler. A genius with computers and indispensable to the IHOP missions base Jack is the subject of many platform prayers for healing. You would think that would be wonderful, and it is but it also can lead to disappointment and anguish. Time and time again, year after year of being prayed for and never seeing breakthrough. Oh God when will you come and make your name know and your power manifest in our bodies. People going to Lakeland and other revival centers hoping for a miracle are desperate for that very thing. It is up to God's mercy and timing whether they come back with their prayers answered. I know two people who went to Lakeland. One was radically healed of a painful chronic condition and the other came home as she left.("Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy"Proverbs 14:10)

So when is the time for the restoration of bodies long tormented by sickness and the hounds of hell to come??? "No one knows what is coming— who can tell him what will happen after him?" Eccl. 10:14 ; "In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Cor.2:11 I do not know when, I do not pretend to know whether in this life or only in the age to come, however I know that I find comfort in the arms of Jesus and I lean on Him to be made perfect in my weakness. For Jack and I we wait, longing, holding back despair with faith and contending for the impossible to come.

Arkansas Shower

I thought that I would share some pics. of our family shower that we had this last weekend in Arkansas. My mom and best friend arranged for a shower at our local coffee shop. I thought that is was a great venue and later that proved to be true. We got a few canisters of coffee and the mood was set for a laid back afternoon for catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. It was a fun time & we got to see family and friends We were blessed with presents for the baby and by everyone who came to celebrate. We got a lot of wipes, some diapers, and bath stuff. A few outfits that are darling, but since we don't know that sex of our baby yet it was hard for people to shop. There was a crazy storm that took out power to surrounding towns so many of our confirmed guest couldn't show which was sad. However I feel that it was a great afternoon all together. So here are a few pictures.

Here is our cute cake that my mom picked out. It was yummy!

Opening Presents

Our Awesome gift table and decor!

Great job Robin!!

I loved it!!!!

Mom & Dad To Be

So here is the skinny version of our placement. As many of you know we have been looking at several situations over the last couple of weeks. Some in Oklahoma and Utah. As we were getting our profiles and home studies into these places the Memorial Day weekend crept in and most offices close around that time. So we hoped that we would hear something on Tues. or Wed of the next week. I was in the prayer room on Monday grading the last of my Biology finals and writing comments on report cards when my cell rang. I saw that it was an agency in Kansas that Steven and I had secretly hoped would call. This agency though small really takes care of its birth mothers and is a very low cost agency. So I answered quickly and held my breath to see why Joanna (our case worker) was calling. She said that our profile had been picked by a birth mother and would I like to hear about the situation. My heart just about lept out of my chest. I said yes but then realized that I could barely hear her and immediately went to try to find a quiet place at IHOP to talk. Yeah right... that is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I found a corner cuby in the back administration area and asked Joanna to continue. She briefed me on the birth mothers family, marital history, physical description, and the babies due date. She gave me a very detailed explanation of the situation that has brought us together and wanted to know if Steven and I were interested. I wanted to leap across the phone and hug her, because I just felt that this was the one. My heart connected with the young mother and the fact that she picked us and knew in her heart that we were the family to raise this little jewel was touching. I told Joanna that I would have to talk to Steven and I would let her know.

Well, Monday's can be pretty busy for Steven at IHOP and the first opportunity that we would have to sit down and chat would be at 4pm that day. It was only noon on Monday. Oh my goodness...could I wait till 4pm or was I going to explode? I called Steven and told him that we had a situation and that we should talk about it as soon as possible.

Well to keep this skinny...We talked and he immediately said yes. It sounds like what we have been hoping for and lets see what the next step is. So I called Joanna and we scheduled a phone call with the birth mother, Joanna and us for Thursday at 1pm. I was expectant the whole week and could hardly think of anything else. Thursday came and 1pm was our appointment time. 1:20pm rolled by on our clock and I was worried. I called Joanna and as usually she had about three birth mothers in her car taking them to the store. She apologized about the delay and assured us that we were still having the phone call. She dropped them off and we began our call with our birth mother.

As awkward as a call like that could be Joanna was a great help. I of course said the two main things not to say..where we lived and our last names. I was so nervous I was sweating and shaking a little. Fortunately for us this situation is a low risk situation and our birth mother is fabulous. So after about 30 min. we said our thank yous and goodbye for now. It was amazing, nerve racking, surreal, and a little awkward but I will cherish it always.

So now we are ready to sign a contract which is basically saying that we are in this to the end and we agree to pay all the required fees as long as the adoption goes through. Our birth mother emphasized her surety on this decision to adopt, however nothing in life is certain and I want to guard my heart as well. I do not doubt her word, but the human heart is a lion that cannot be tamed. I trust this situation to fulfill all of God's purposed for both parties however that looks. We are happy and excited, yet it is odd to think that in 2 1/2 months we will be instant parents. I cannot describe the odd sensation and thoughts that run through me on a daily basis since talking to our birth mother. I am very proud of her for her maturity and how she is handling her situation. Someday when our child is older we will talk about her and I will be able to say all pleasant things...that makes me happy.

So for all of you that have prayed, hoped, sowed financially, and stood with us open up some bubbly something and have a drink. A toast to our little dream coming into reality. Please continue to pray for our birth mother as she is coming to the moment when she will make the hardest decision of her life thus far. In giving us this gift of life, a little piece of hers will be lost forever. A woman cannot bare a child, loose that child and not suffer loss. Please pray for a strengthening of her heart, mind, and emotions. Pray for her physical strength as she cares for two small children and carries our child till August. Pray for everything to go smoothly for us and for her at the birth.

Thank You!!!

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen.....After much anticipation, prayer, anguish, and hope...Mini Cooper is on the way! We have been matched and our baby is due in August!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!