More are the Children.....

We went home to Kandi and waited. The following week heard from the foster mom that the family had decided Ruutu could be adopted. We were ecstatic. We had planned a trip down to Parakou so that I could attend a woman's conference so we arranged that we could pick her up after the conference. So many things were going through my mind. Could I have her at the conference or would that be too awkward for the foster mom? What did I need to do to prepare for her arrival? We didn't have a crib, car seat, stroller, nothing! We were starting from zero! Not even any cloth diapers.

Little did we know that all our friends would pitch in and provide many of these needed items. When we arrived in Parakou, I went directly to the women's retreat at Dassa. The Lord used that retreat in a very special way. We stayed at the Auberge there. The retreat speaker was an adoptive mom, and she was my roommate. Can you imagine how my mouth must have dropped open when I found out that bit of info? I do not remember anything that we talked about but I am sure that I peppered her with questions about her experience!

Then during the prayer time the next morning a lady stood up and said that she had a whole chapter for me! The Lord had used Isaiah 54: 4-8 in my life before and here it was again. This time it was the first three verses!

"Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child;

burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor;

because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the LORD.

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back;

lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

The lady who gave me those verses did not know me and did not know my story, but I had shared that we were in the beginning process of adopting and planned to pick up our baby after the retreat. Several people prayed for me and it was the best way I know to prepare for what lay ahead of us!