I'm Going To Haiti In August

I am officially leading my second team to Haiti the last week in August. This will be my third time to Haiti and my second time to Port-au- Prince. We will be teaching/ equipping orphanage workers in Port-au-prince on topics ranging from basic hygiene and infant care to Malachi 4:5,6 and God's destiny for children. This ministry to the orphans is near and dear to my heart and after being in this particular orphanage last year, it is very needed. We are sowing seeds of love, destiny, and practical safety into the next generation and praying for a harvest of revival in Haiti. Haiti is a land filled with beauty and devastation. A land of island culture and African voodoo. There is a long history of Satan worship in the form of voodoo and even child sacrifice. But in all of this we have been seeing seeds turn into blossoms in the hearts of some of the pastors and leaders there and it is very encouraging. On my last trip there we held a conference where we say major healing and repentance and the birth of a small weekend house of prayer. This is huge!!!!
Now as we continue to pray and labor for the fullness of God to be manifest, we are also encouraging those involved with us in Haiti to reach out and put James 1:27 into action in there own country. To sow into the orphans and even to adopt them, to raise them in an environment of loving Jesus and seeking Him with their whole hearts.

I along with a couple of nurses will be focused on training the nannies in the orphanage on basic care of the infants and try to undo some very bad and dangerous habits. We will intermingle all of our teaching with principals of loving like Jesus and speaking life and destiny over these little ones. The others will be focused on praying over each child, holding them, and prophesying. It is going to be awesome and I know that this is heavy on God's heart.

Please join me in praying for my remaining finances ($700) to come in by July 25th. This is for airfare, food and lodging. Also pray for a spirit of revelation, as I am writing curriculum to be taught in other orphanages near by in Port- au- Prince . Pray for my team that we would have God's heart and for health and safety.

If you want to donate please email me at kristicooper@ihop.org

Thanks!

I wanted to die faster so He gave me opportunity

My last post I was ranting about how I wanted to surrender faster and in the perfect heavenly humor, God helped me out a little. Shiloh has had a cold this week and with her snotty nose, coughing and crying in the middle of the night I haven't gotten much sleep. That compounded with having to work till 11pm and getting up at 7am to feed her, I needed a lot of humility and meekness to get through it. (gentleness to, pretty much Matthew 5,6,7) I was begging Steven to get up with her and he had to be at IHOP at 5 :30 and was begging me to let him sleep a little longer. It was a sad sight. Needless to say that where I lack in the grace and humility Benadryl and Delsym made up. Everyone needed sleep in my house by Thursday and I believe God gave the wisdom for these medications for a reason, if not for my personal sanity.
So lesson learned...be careful what you ask for!

On A More Serious Note

This is random so just be warned.

I haven't really written anything serious, other than the post of Shiloh that are seriously cute. But in all "seriousness"... I have much on my mind and was wondering if anyone else was thinking that same things. I read other blogs here and there and sometimes I read things that stir me and I think in my head "yeah me too." Like the other day as I was reading a fellow mother's post about how motherhood is a death to self. Man alive that is an understatement and I only have one child. Motherhood is death101 and continues into master degree level with every child. Areas that you thought you had grasp on only resurface in the most surprising ways when you child start waking up at ungodly hours of the night or morning. Ideas of how your life will be like quickly whisk out the window when you bring in baby schedules and your so called spontaneous lifestyle dies like tulips in late spring. All that is left are the unattractive stalks that later are cut away. Don't misread me here for the death is a sweet surrender as you come into the realization that this death is unto new life. Not only are you breathing in the Sermon on the Mount (for sanity and for saintliness) but you are also preparing the soil of your children for your greatest sermon called "everyday life in God" by Me,Your Mom. We are the ones that will teach them to pray, to read the Word, to listen to God's voice and how to handle situations. That will take all of God in us and therefore He has to rid us of all that is not Him. So when I read her blog I was so stirred that I resolved myself to die faster. Now having said that... dying faster is not as easy as I thought, since I thought I was more surrendered than I am. :-)

Then I read a post by a brilliant friend about the pro life movement and thought that I would share it with you. It is by Randy Bohlender (randybohlender.com) and it made me want to call tomorrow the get our home study updated and immediately adopt again.
How did we become a group of people collectively professing one thing while denying it with our behavior? I think it is because we’ve grown past traditional pro life approaches to activism. We have our convictions, but we’re probably not the sign carrying sort. We’re angry about the issue of abortion, but we’re not angry at people. We’re dead serious about ending abortion, but we’re not the shootin’-people kind. We’re too convinced to stop voicing our disagreements, but we’re too intellectually honest to do so without providing some proactive response of our own.
If the pro-life movement doesn’t start providing it’s new-found constituency with some proactive responses to abortion, it will squander it’s toe-hold on the wall of debate. We may be a few points up on the Gallup Poll, but if we try and convince our new slim majority to join us in the same old song and dance, we will have squandered what could only be considered divine momentum.
We spent most of 2005 working with what I now understand to be a vanguard of the much-needed New Life movement.
Bound4Life had began a few months earlier as a prayer meeting in front of the Supreme Court and has continued as such. It’s so counter intuitive to normal rational that both pro-life and pro-abortion types have a tendency to misunderstand it. This movement of prayer meetings – not protests – has spread across the nation via hundreds of chapters in nearly every state in the union. Their ‘Think Fast’ campaign challenges high school kids to skip lunch on Fridays to fast and pray for the ending of abortion. Through this movement and other prayer movements, the American church is discovering how proactive prayer really can be.
The New Life Movement must go even further – to answer the legitimate challenges of our critics.
Something we heard a lot while in DC was “If these babies are not aborted….what happens to them? They’re still unwanted!’
Our recent endeavor, The Zoe Foundation, is another example of the sort of movement that is necessary to engage these newcomers to the Life Tribe. Pledging to adopt children who might otherwise be aborted is a step towards providing an answer to the legitimate question ‘what about unwanted kids?’.
Until the church can pledge to be pro-child, it’s really not pro-life. We’re not challenging people to adopt so they can fill their soccer team out or find another child that completes their set. We want people to adopt as a prophetic declaration to God, Satan, and all those who serve either side that there will be no unwanted children on our watch.
I’m elated that we’ve managed to develop a slim majority in one of the most visceral discussions of our time. I only hope we can turn the tide of newly converted pro-lifers to a life of pro-activism that goes far beyond signs and shouting. This may be our only chance.
Did you read that? I mean come on... I want to rush out and buy a huge house so that I can take them all in. It may be pretty or it may be pretty ugly, but no matter it is God's heart. If I truly want His will to be my food and air than this is it. Is. 58 says it all, James 1:27...really the whole bible. How can we not be active when every child is an image bearer, a dream of His heart....?
So these are two things that I was thinking on and that stirred me. Maybe you are thinking the same thing?

Just thought that I would share a few newer pictures and also pay a tribute to my dad since Father's Day is right around the corner. This year is very special for my dad, as he will be spending Father's Day with not just his only daughter (me), but his first and only granddaughter. He adores Shiloh and she likes him to, though I wished she could see him more. I recently went home for a wedding and got to have breakfast with my parents before they went out of town. It was awesome to see Shiloh with my dad. She even gave him a little love as we were leaving the restaurant. He was holding her and she put her head on his shoulder. It was very sweet for my dad since he doesn't get to hold her very often. When they come up this coming weekend we are planning on hanging out, the boys might shoot some guns, and then my parents are treating us to a pro baseball game her in KC. It is the Royals vs. the Cardinals. I am not much of a sports fan, but it is a fun experience to have with my family. It will be great to spend this Father's day with my two favorite guys and their "first" on Father's Day.

Please Pray for My Friends

I just received the call that my friend Misty in St. Louis has gone to be with Jesus. She will not suffering anymore. Please pray for her teenage children Carter and Alyssa, and for her family to be comforted in this. It has been a very difficult 7 yrs for them. Though the pain of illness is no more, the pain of loss is still very near.

Jesus you have our dear friend Misty. Thank you that you are perfect in Your leadership over our lives. That we can trust in You. Let Misty's family now trust in you. Let them find comfort in Your mercy over Misty and over their lives. Let her children feel your presence in a real way tonight. Let all the unfinished business be settled in love and kindness and Father be with all who mourn tonight. Amen~

Wow!

Sorry that I seem to have left my post for a while. So much has happened in a week I can hardly catch my breath to tell you. Here goes though....
Shiloh came down with fevers starting last weekend and by Wed. evening they were at 103/ 104 and holding. They had gotten that high, but I was able to get them back down. This worried me and though I am a nurse my brain went dead and my heart was in a panic. I called the urgent care nurse line and thank the Lord that as the nurse was talking I realized again that I indeed have a degree and was doing that right stuff. The next morning seemed to be a turning point and Shiloh perked up and started eating again. Great, since I was leaving Friday morning for a wedding in Arkansas. Friday morning came and as I was getting Shiloh ready I noticed this lovely rash taking over Shiloh's chest. I text a picture to my doctor and the P.A called back to tell me what she thought I should do. So I proceeded to AR. with my little rash unhappily strapped in. At the wedding she was fussy and as all my attempts to keep her entertained we failing I resigned myself to the entry of the church till the wedding was over. Yup I drove 4. 5 hours to stand in the entry way and miss the wedding. Oh well! Mothers you understand.
While I was talking once the wedding was over I realized that I had a voicemail. I listened and it was my doctor telling me that I needed to have Shiloh seen right away for strep. He had seen the picture and was worried. She was more fussy and the rash had spread so I got a little nervous. Thankfully my mother is a microbiologist at a local hospital in AR and ran the test for me to see if Shiloh has strep. It was negative so my mom being the get it done type, took Shiloh in her arms and headed down to the E.R. to have her looked at by a Dr. That was great since we were out of state and any Dr. would be really expensive. He looked at her "off the books" and said it was fifths disease a viral illness that would need to run its course. PTL!!
So after I left the hospital around 9pm I went to my in-laws and put the little lamb to bed. The next afternoon we headed for KC again. I was tired and irritated at the whole weekend and couldn't wait to get home. Half way home I received a phone call that a friend in St. Louis who has had a terminal illness for several years was dying and could we come and say good bye. She has been waiting for a transplant and now her kidney's and liver are shutting down so she was taken off the transplant list for good. Having that diagnosis she decided to stop the life sustaining drugs and go in peace. So I got home around 11pm on Sat. and on Sun we left for St. Louis around 10am. Needless to say that Shiloh wasn't happy to be going in the car seat again, but her rash had faded and she is a good sport, so little to no fussing occurred. PTL!! We got to the hospital in St. Louis around 3pm and stayed till 8pm visiting with our friend. To say the least it was sad and weird to being telling your friend good bye even though she didn't appear to be dying. She looked very ill, but not more than usual. Her family was there along with her children and friends. I am very sad for Misty, but she feels peace about this. She has suffered greatly the last 7 yrs with this illness and I have seen a beautiful woman shrivel. That is more painful that the thought of her at peace with Jesus. It seems a better way.
Though I was glad to be there,trying to keep Shiloh happy and off the floor was a task to be sure. I was relieved when we headed to the place we were staying for a well needed night of rest. This morning we woke up at 6:30am to be at the hospital by 8:30am when she was scheduled to stop all the life support measures. Well as hospitals go things we delayed and when we left at 10 am nothing had changed. Honestly we were glad that we didn't have to watch her dying. I never liked the oncology ward during nursing school because I can't stand to see people die, much less a friend.
So we got back into KC this afternoon at 3pm and I had to be at work at 3:30pm. I cannot wait to touch my head to my pillow tonight. I promised Shiloh that I wouldn't put her in the car seat tomorrow no matter what. I am sure that if she could understand me, she would be breathing a sigh of relief. :-)
SO in a nutshell that is what I have been up to. To be sure a boring week is welcomed in our home and a restful coming weekend is on our prayer list.

Man O Man

This weekend was a VERY busy weekend. I was a mommy and a nanny and I am really tired now. My friends went to Chicago for the weekend and I kept their two kids. I have done this several times for them over the last couple of years and have enjoyed watching them grow up. Nicole is 4yrs and Zach is 6yrs. The only difference this time was that my friends are selling their house and the kids had to stay with Steven and I instead of in their huge house. This was a glitch but not a disaster. I just kept them outside as much as possible and we went to the pool a lot. There were a few instances where they woke up Shiloh from her nap or where I had to constantly remind them to keep their inside voices active but over all it was a great weekend. We camped out in the back yard, roasted marsh mellows, went to the park, went swimming till we were prune and all in all just kept busy and happy. Now all I have is a few pictures of sidewalk chalk and a wee messy house to show for my hard work. It was fun but I learned a few things.
~When you have three kids, what's one more? We took the neighbor girl with us to the pool because I thought what would it hurt I already have a herd.
~Small houses lend to creative play outside! GO OUTSIDE!!
~Small houses and big families don't last long together. We will need to upgrade or remodel after number three.
~You grow into having three, not just three over night. Unless of course you adopt and them you literally grow in number overnight. That is why I need the prayer room and Benadryl! :-)
~Routines are our friend!! Just keep the machine going.
~ I love the time that we are having right now with our little Shiloh. Just us and her living life and adoring each other. Oh the time we are having!