Counting down to Court!!!!

John 14:27 ^"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Friday we have our court hearing to finalize Ruthie's adoption! Her legal name is already Ruth Joy Kroeker (a very special gift from her wonderful birthmother), but this will mean that legally the state recognizes us as her parents! She's been our daughter from the moment that S placed her in our arms, but this means no figurative looking over the shoulder! 

Before Friday can take place, our lawyer needs to receive a couple certificates & affidavits to verify that we've exhausted all avenues of contacting birth father.  The certificates have all been received, but we're still waiting the affidavit from the independent counsel who's verifying it all.  If it's received by Thursday we are all set for our hearing! 

Prayer requests:

* Please pray that all necessary documents are received by Thursday so we don't have to postpone our court hearing.

* Please continue to pray for S (birthmother) as she has started a new chapter in her life. She's decided it's best for her to have some space for a while, and we're supportive of her in that. Please pray for her as her heart still is going through different emotions at different moments. She's an amazingly strong woman.


Thank you!!! We're so blessed to have you all praying for us!!!

Love,
The Kroekers!

Our girl is all smiles!!! She started grinning at us at 6 weeks old! We love it!

Sister love!! Karis just adores being a big sister!

Family time at our favorite type of venue! The zoo!!!

Mother's Day with my girls!

She's here!!!!!

We are proud to announce that our daughter Ruth Joy Kroeker is here!  Ruthie was born Thursday March 27th at 8:08PM!! Labor and delivery went well and birthmom did amazingly!! After 24 hours in the hospital we were able to bring our precious baby girl home! Karis is such a proud big sister & we are thrilled to be parents of two beautiful, happy girls!! We are home and settling into life as a family of 4. Thank you all for all your prayers and encouragement during the past year and half we've been praying for this baby!

Love,
Cheyenne, Alison, Karis & Ruthie

Waiting Still

So, with all the anticipation of an upcoming due date and anticipated baby arrival, we now have to wait again! :)

This week our birthmom had her weekly doctor appointment.  Her OB went over all her sonograms and charts and determined that we've still got a couple more weeks to wait for this baby girl to arrive! Good news is that both S and baby girl are healthy and baby is growing just as she should!

The good news is, birthmom is much less anxious about when this baby is going to be born! She was so worried about going too far past her due date, but now her perspective is that of peace! That in itself is a big praise!!

Please continue to pray for S and baby!!! :)

Good things are worth the wait!!!!

And still we wait!

Here we are, just a few days away from our perspective due date and we are daily practicing patience!!! :)

I'm still in daily contact with S and she is about as anxious and ready for this baby girl to be born as we are! She's very uncomfortable and baby is running out of room as she continues to grow!

Much prayer has been covering this entire adoption and all involved. We are so thankful for your prayers. Thank YOU! Some days we are so filled with peace, and other days we NEED your prayers to feel that peace. 

Any day now

Our precious little girl is due in 10 days and has already gotten us jumping at a moments notice! :)
We are remaining excited and hopeful that this is the baby that God has picked out for us!

Last weekend we through she was getting ready so we made the drive down to where S lives so we were close! There was a big storm heading our way and we didn't want to get snowed in and not make it just in case!!! Turns out we got a good practice run in and still have to wait!!

But continue waiting we must because baby girl is taking her sweet time!! She's growing and healthy and content in the womb for now!

We're ready and anxious, but trusting that as we wait, God is continuing to prepare our hearts to bring home this precious baby girl and working in our birthmother's heart as she prepares to make a very difficult, brave decisions.

All is going great! I (Alison) am talking and texting with S daily and getting to know more about her. Sharing stories about our kids (she has a couple already), talking about favorite foods, and learning a bit about each other. S says daily that she's confident in her choice of an adoption plan. She wants us super involved and has asked that we be at the hospital when baby is born and care for baby while at the hospital! We are excited! And aren't taking any of this for granted.

Please continue praying for S and baby as time for delivery gets close!

The BIG Announcement!!!! ....before the biggest one! :)

GOD is SOOOOOO Good!!!!!!!!!!! But of course we knew that already! :) He always is. Always good, always faithful, always knowing exactly what we need & when we need it.

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

This is TRUE! We've always known this to be true, and today we revel in it!!!!


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An amazing praise came this week through some very very special people in our lives! We've received a grant from a foundation that will cover our finalization costs!!!!!! This means that unless any surprise costs arise we have raised/saved every penny we need for our adoption costs!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD who provides all things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have reached our fundraising goal!!!!!!! We've raise all of the $28,000 that we need for our adoption!!!

It's the strangest feeling knowing that we've reached our goal. No more working extra for my hubby, no more grant writing or petitioning for, no more garage sales, no more creative fundraisers! God has provided ALL we need!!!

Psalm 23:1 is one of my favorite verses: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

Another way to say it is: The Lord is my shepherd; I have all I need". Everything we need God provides.

We can never ever in a million years thank each of you who've partnered with us enough for how grateful we are to you! We know many of you sacrificed in order to help us and we don't take that lightly. Our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

5 weeks, 3 days....

We are counting down again. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but then I decided that if God is on this roller coaster with us, then I need to have faith and jump in! :) Easier said than done.

The last time I wrote a count down post was days before my heart was shattered into a million pieces. I've been reflecting a LOT over the past week.  1 week ago last night we spoke with S on the phone for the first time and became officially matched; committed to each other throughout this adoption process.  Over the past week she and I have gotten to know each other a bit better through phone calls and texts. She is a sweet young woman. A woman our daughter will be proud to call her birthmother.

My head has been a mix of emotions and thoughts the past few days. What if S can't go through with this? What if we get our hearts broken again? What if ___? What if? What if?  I've cried out to God asking Him all my what if's, not expecting to hear a response, though at the same time desperately wishing for an audible voice responding to my cries.  This morning Karis and I were having our morning Bible time and through the verses I read I knew I was receiving my answer.  Even if my "what if" happened, or any of them did for that matter, what then? Would God leave me alone to figure it out? Would He abandon me? No way!!! He never will! This is all part of HIS plan! The good and the bad, the joy and the sorrow.

A sweet friend humbled me to my knees this morning when she told me I was a godly example to her and if any good has come out of our failed adoption in November, is that it's taught her so much about trusting God and having faith. Who am I to be a godly example? I fail daily. But what has stuck with me all day as I jumble her words over and over in my head and heart, GOOD has come out of that pain. Already! Only 3 months later. And yes, I know other good has come out of it, but to tangibly feel it this morning was humbling, because who am I that God would choose to use me to glorify himself?

How does what happened in November effect how we respond to this new possibility? Do we hold back to protect our hearts just in case? Do we embrace the excitement, planning and joy sharing of preparing for a new baby? Is there a middle? I've been trying to figure this out since last week, and all I can come up with is this: if this is God's plan for growing our family, if this is the baby girl God has picked out for us, then holding back would diminish the Glory due to God. And if this doesn't work out, then God will be there to help us pick up the pieces again, and we will be surrounded with the best support system in those around us ever created!

Reading back over what I've written, I think it's more of a 'writing to process the craziness in my head' journalling than anything. ;) So pardon me if I'm not making sense! :)

And here we go again.....holding on tight!!!

Dear family and friends,

Remember that roller coaster ride we all decided to get on to many months ago?
Would you please come aboard with us again?
 
Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
 
On Wednesday night, we were blessed to have a heartfelt conversation with a birth mom (S) residing in the KC area. She is due on March 16^th! And it's a girl!

As our time with S over the phone progressed, we began to see a heart, not only concerned for her unborn baby, but also for our family’s heart. She intimated that she knew of the pain we had just experienced and assured us that this would not result in that. Though it was music to our ears, we know full well where our assurance rests.

We traveled to KC to stay at Alison’s brother’s place this past weekend. Then Saturday morning, where we introduced ourselves to the birth mom and began a journey of connection that will be lifted palms up to the Lord. We are committed to expressing our devotion to Christ.

Our time with S and her mother L was wonderful! They both have wonderful faith in our Lord and know that He is in the midst of all of these plans.  She is living on the bare minimum and isn't asking for much assistance at all. We are making sure that her needs are met. She is living with her mother currently and will until she finds a job in a couple months. It's a blessing for her to have her mom, who is so proud of her and the strength neither of them knew was in S! L is super supportive of S's decision to choose adoption & is wanting to help the process in any way she can.  At one point in the conversation Cheyenne felt the Spirit strongly impressing upon him to express our commitment to this baby and her in this adoption process.  The relief that was visible on S & L's faces nearly brought us to tears. They were so afraid we might be the ones to change our minds. S wants us to start talking about "our baby". She said her perspective is that God chose this baby for us the moment she was conceived! What a gift!!! Her wish is that our relationship with her progress naturally and that we can all enjoy the excitement of our daughter's nearing birth!

We are staying in close touch, and even since Saturday's visit, S has been texting and calling Alison frequently, getting to know each other & getting comfortable with each other. S has a beautiful heart! She's been through so much and sees God redeeming so much in her life through this adoption! 

There is so much that would be so exciting to share, and as the Lord leads we might, but for now we hold the rest closely to our hearts as it is our daughter's story to one day tell! I would never want to steal that from her! 


As we progress through the next few weeks please be living us all up in prayer!

Pray for opportunities to share the power of His truth in love.
Pray that we will be sensitive to her needs.
Pray that there are opportunities to point her to scripture that assures us of our eternal position through our spiritual adoption in Christ.
Pray for our hearts and emotions.


Psalm 125:2

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people
    both now and forevermore.

Thank you for your love and support through this! We are blessed beyond measure!
Cheyenne, Alison and Karis

Continuing in HOPE and FAITH

We are starting this new year in full faith that no matter what the future holds God will provide. And so as we step out in that we trust His promise to always be with us. We pick up the pieces, heal and keep going. Yes our hearts have been hurt, yes we've lost a large chuck of funds that had gone to pay for the precious birthmothers living expenses, but we will not be discouraged or give up. As we say in our house "Kroekers don't Quit"! :)

Out of what we had already raised ($25,000) we STILL HAVE the $10,000 we've raised through church/Lifesong, our $8,000 matching fee DOES roll over through our matching agency, and we have lost the $7,000 was already paid to our birthmother for travel to Kansas & living expenses for 4 months. So out of the $25,000 raised, we only need to re-raise $7,000, which in the adoption world is part of the risk of domestic adoption.

And so we continue fundraising and trusting that in God's timing He will bring us together with the right birthmom.

Lifesong for Orphans is still continuing to commit to helping us raise the funds we need and providing tax deductible receipts. We've currently raised $7000, through Lifesong, $2500 of which is our matching grant! You can still use the paypal button on the top right of our blog, or mail a check directly to Lifesong (info is along the side of the blog).

Amazon is still providing ways to fundraise, currently offering a great payout for each free Prime trial if you use our link (there's a specific code embeded in the link for our account to get credit), as well as if you use our link to order from Amazon we will get 6%-10% of all purchases!

Huge Praises:

*Every piece of our 1,000 piece puzzle has a name on it! Thank you to each person who helped us reach our goal!

*We reached our goal of $2500 in order to receive our full matching grant!! Thank you for each of you who gave so generously!!!!

Please pray for us to not loose hope and to persevere on! We are continuing to live frugally in order to save up as much as possible too and looking at any other creative, mutually beneficial, fundraising ideas that might be out there! :) We know we've already asked so much of our friends and family and don't want to wear out our friendships!!!

Most of all we crave your prayers! Adoption is not for the faint of heart! There still continue to be ups and downs. Hopes of having a birthmom look at our profile, to the disappointment of finding out she chose someone else. We know that no matter how long we wait, our child will be waiting for us at the end of this journey.

Continuing in HOPE,
The Kroekers

Amazon.com helps us fundraise!!! And at NO cost to you!!!

We are still continuing to fundraise in FAITH that God will provide again for a baby HE has picked out for us!

If you haven't signed up for a FREE 30 day Prime trial with Amazon through our fundraising link, now you have the opportunity to and instead of just $2 we will receive $10 for each free trial!!! How's that for starting the new year right!? Costs you NOTHING and helps raise $10 towards our adoption!!!!!

To sign up for the free trial click: Prime HERE  for Prime Video click:  VIDEO HERE

Note: in order for us to get credit you have to use these links that have our code embedded in them!

What an easy way to help us out!!!! And if you only want the free trial then just remember to cancel before your 30 days is up! You don't even have to use the prime trial for the full time if you choose not to. Once you sign up, you may cancel right away or anytime within the 30 days and we still get the $10 promotion for you signing up!

If you already have a prime account, we'd love it if you could pass this on to anyone you know who might enjoy trying it out! Remember there's soooooo many movies, shows and lots of kids shows too, that you can stream for FREE when you have amazon prime!!


What does Amazon's Prime program do:
* Instantly watch over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with titles for everyone
* Borrow books from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library
* Get unlimited FREE two-day shipping with no minimum order size