It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! It is my honor to introduce you all to our son, our Bonus Boy:
Brayden Coppinger
If you’re crying over that sweet face right now, you can be guaranteed that I am too.
Yesterday was a very, very big day!
We all wore flamingo apparel to the courthouse. Why, you ask? Why would we all wear flamingos for our special day in court?
Because we are a flamingo family. See, our oldest son Asa started a flamingo-wearing tradition a few years ago at the beginning of his freshman year of college. He started wearing some sort of flamingo apparel every Friday, dubbing it “Flamingo Friday.” It was so much fun that slowly we all started picking up flamingo socks and shirts also. Last year I even decorated my re-constructed bathroom with flamingos (because how else can a mom living in a household full of males have a PINK bathroom, am I right?!?!).
Anyway, flamingos. We love them. It’s a Coppinger thing.
So it only made sense that on this special day when we were adding a precious new one to our flock – we should all wear flamingos to celebrate.
So now it’s official! He is Brayden, our Bonus Boy. He made our youngest child become a middle child. He made all six of us reevaluate our priorities. He made us dig down and examine what it means to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus daily. He made us let go of the idea of soon having an empty nest, and helped us embrace the beauty of a home that starts over and embraces God’s better plan.
He made us the Coppinger7.
I stand in awe of this and of all the unknowns that God has yet to reveal.
While the adoption is now final, we realize that the journey is really just beginning. Yes, we are incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. But there’s no such thing as a “happily ever after.” We find that we need to constantly be in prayer over each day, asking for wisdom and guidance as we navigate roads we haven’t traveled before.
More than anything, we’ve learned that having an open heart to “whatever it is God wants to do in our lives” means that He’ll likely take us to a place we didn’t expect. But what better place is there than one that God leads you to Himself? Guaranteed, through it He will always provide for every need.
We praise God that our open hearts led us to this challenging and beautiful new life. Welcome to our world, Brayden Coppinger. You are dearly loved.
Congratulations! We are in the process of home study for an adoption of our own making us a family of 8!
Oh, rejoicing with you all! What a blessing and grace! So excited for you and your newly, divinely, extended family!
Yes, I teared up at the sight of that precious “new Coppinger” face. What a blessing God has added to your family!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!! God is good!!!
Woo hoo!! Congratulations Laura and family. How wonderful to finally meet Brayden.
Congratulations and Praise the Lord! Fighting back happy tears! :)
Blessings to all of you, Laura!! What a Godsend Brayden is to you all and you all are to him. Thank you for sharing this precious news with your fans!
Hello, Laura, It is truly a journey when the Lord surprises us with that child that stretches us out of our comfort zone and what a wonderful thing!!! We finally adopted our 4th daughter on Valentine’s Day after waiting for 4 1/2 years. We had custody since she was 3 days old. Blessings abound for all of you!! Brayden is precious and cute!!
Honestly it is such a JOY to get to see his little face and hear his name. Congratulations on your “gotcha day” & your bonus boy!
Congratulations to you all; what a blessing!
My heart is so full for you all. To God be the glory!
YES, weeping with you in JOY! God also extended our family with two Bonus Boys years ago, bringing us to five sons and a daughter. They are all grown now and we have Grands. I echo your thoughts that is is not always easy but surrendering to God grants blessings otherwise unclaimed! CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations, and God bless you! “See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and so we are.”
Congratulations to all on this blessed event! So happy for you!
Mary Therese Slota
Yay!!! Congratulations to all of you!
Amazing…beautiful! What a picture of the Gospel??
He is so precious! May God bless your big boy loving family!!! :)
Congratulations! What a beautiful flock you have yourself.
Wow! I’ve just spent all day at work reviewing documents concerning a very ugly custody battle between two bitterly divorced parents. Your happy news was such a welcome break in my work day. Just the reminder I need that there are adults out there who put the needs of the child first over their own wants. I wish every adult with a child in their life would do the same. You and your family are a shining example of being Good Shepherds to a child! Congratulations on your happy addition!
Congratulations! We adopted our Grandson when he was in 2d grade, now he’s a senior and I pray to God every day to give me strength. We are 70 and 76 year old parents, so our son has had his own struggles too.
God bless you and your family!
Congratulations! What a beautiful blessing!
Congratulations! He’s precious!
Congratulations!
On a side note, you may want to rethink flamingos. For some reason, it is the symbol used to let the world know you’re a “swinger.”
Oh, congratulations, what an awesome milestone !! Thank you for sharing your journeys with us; your posts are always fun and funny and most importantly, point us directly toward our Heavenly Father. Excuse me while I go put on my flamingo socks to celebrate!
: )
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! I’m so happy that you shared this journey with us. :-) God bless you as you continue to seek and serve Him!
Congratulations all!!
LOVE this so much!!! Congratulations!! I’m crying happy tears again seeing this post. God BLESS you all!!
Congratulations! What an exciting announcement!!
Congratulations!! I am so happy to finally get to see that sweet face!! God is amazing! You and your family are such inspirations in saying yes to Him. God Bless you on this journey. You many never know who you will inspire down the road to adopt or foster. A precious couple at our church just completed the adoption of 2 grandbabies. It has been a long and difficult road beginning with the first little girl. Many hurdles and court dates. In the midst of it comes along another surprise baby girl. Both with health challenges. A health crisis for one of the grandparents also. On top of all of that the mother is special needs. The story is unbelievable. But Sunday we got to hear the good news that it was all complete. The judge that had been overseeing the case since the beginning was so inspired by this family that she decided to adopt her niece that had went in to foster care. I am in tears almost just typing this and thinking about how amazing and faithful God can be. Lots of love and prayers for all of you!!
He is precious! Congratulations from one mom of boys to another! I know God will bless you in this service to him.
CONGRATULATIONS! Master Brayden looks very happy that he has joined the Coppinger Clan. So do you all!
Congratulations!! So happy for your family!
I teared up as well! Praise God for His steadfast love!!! Congratulations ?
Congratulations. That is so exciting. Brayden is blessed to be in a home where they love Jesus and teach him about Jesus. Thank you for following God’s leading and stepping out of your comfort zone.
Congratulations! It’s so good to finally see his face! He’s adorable and he looks like he fits right in with the rest of your crew. :) Can’t wait to someday “meet” your bonus baby too. :) I’m right there with you being “older” and starting over. My youngest is now 17, but for the last 5 years, I’ve been almost full-time Grammy/mommy to my 5 1/2 year old granddaughter. She’s a blast and a sweetheart! I do get to send her home at night and now I only have her a couple of days a week, but those are precious times. :) Blessings to all of you! You are an encouragement to everyone!
Yay!!!!! So excited for all that’s in store for you and your beautiful family ??
Congratulations! We are so happy for your family!! I was so excited to see a while back that y’all were foster parents. We were also for 6 years and we’re blessed with 2 adoptions! God is so good and His plans are far better than our own! You all and Brayden are surely blessed!
Congratulations to your family!
Congratulations!! I’ve been looking forward to seeing his sweet face and learning his name. God is good!
God Makes All Things Good!!! :)
Blessings to you all,
The Kiessling Family
Congratulations to your beautiful family!
So exciting! Congrats from one adoptive mom to another!
Congratulations!! All 3 of our kids were adopted. It wasn’t in our original plans, but are eternally thankful God knows better than us. You have a beautiful family!
Beautiful! I’m so glad to finally get to see his face! May God continue to bless you as you serve him.
Congratulations! How exciting! <3
Congratulations!!
We too have adopted through Foster Care and can’t imagine our lives without our beautiful daughter!! So, we have kids that are 27, 24, and 8!
God is SO SO good to us!!??????
What a precious blessing from the Lord!
Congrats to your family! What a sweet little face :)
Congratulations. I have been waiting for the day to see his sweet face. He is precious and I am so happy for your family. God Bless you all :)
My sincerest congratulations to your family!
He is gorgeous and could not have been any luckier getting an amazing family. Cherish every minute because before you know it you will be sending him off to college .
Welcome, precious one!
Congratulations on your adorable new son! How awesome!
What a darling!!! Congratulations on your new son. I’d love for you to share more of your journey of adopting him into your family (and maybe the baby soon too???).
Congratulations and many blessings!
Beautiful testimony! Rejoicing! He’s adorable!
Congrats to all of you!! :)
How wonderful for you all. That little boy is blessed to be a part of such a great family
Congratulations! How exciting for your family!
Everything about Brayden and your family’s story is so beautiful! What a testament to God’s love and care for each one of us! Thank you for sharing this joy with the rest of us.
Congratulations! Praying for you all as you go through the joys and challenges still ahead.
Congratulations!
Congratulations on your sweet little addition to your family! He is sure to be blessed being in your family.
MANY happy Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lord Bless you all!!!!!! <3
Oh congratulations!!!! He is a cutie. May God bless you and your family. Brayden couldn’t have been adopted into a more special family than yours.
Oh Coppingers!! I am so thrilled and excited to walk this journey with y’all!! What a blessed day…and I’m not crying but rejoicing. Thank you so much for your great example of opening your hearts and home to God’s plan! You are all an inspiration to so many….
Praise God. His blessings on you all!!!
As someone who has been reading your blog since the beginning, or close to, this brought me to tears.
I’m so happy that your Bonus Boy is now officially a Coppinger. He is going to grow up surrounded by so much love and joy, and delicious food!
As someone who is struggling with infertility and has always felt the call to foster/adopt, this also had me sobbing happy tears because it is the happy ending I pray I have one day soon.
I can’t wait to see where God takes you in the future.
Congratulations to you all! <3
Thank you for sharing Brayden and your journey with us. God’s blessings to you all.
God bless all of you—glad the wait is over for y’all!!!!^
Congratulations on your new precious son!! I love the flamingo thing, that’s too cute. I was just looking for a new scarf on amazon and came across this, and thought of you. ?
https://www.amazon.com/Women-Lightweight-Infinity-Scarf-Loop/dp/B01JUJTWX2/ref=alp_dpwidget_a_m_?th=1&psc=1&smid=A2S68FZ3ELRMVM
Congratulations and blessings!
So very, very happy for you all!!!!! So true, God does have bigger plans than we could ever imagine:) Thank you for sharing this journey with us, my heart is encouraged ??
That is so awesome and it’s so wonderful to finally “see” him!! He is absolutely adorable!! Congratulations to you all. Will continue praying for you all. It’s amazing how God works!
Adoption Day at its finest! We have never forgotten that special day!
Congratulations! I am very happy for all of you and will continue to keep you and your precious family in our prayers.
hi hi mom
hi hi hi hi this is brayden coppinger at school.