So God Made a Mother by Leslie Means

Author:Leslie Means [Means, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Living / Family & Relationships, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Parenting / Motherhood
ISBN: 9781496464705
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2023-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

When God Whispers

DEBBIE PRATHER

It had never happened before, and it hasn’t happened since: God smacked me over the head with a fat, heavy, rolled-up newspaper. At least, that’s exactly how it felt.

And believe me, He had my full attention, because immediately afterward, I heard with complete clarity the word adoption.

My jaw dropped and apparently I looked stunned, because the women sitting around me asked, “What?”

I didn’t have words.

We were at a women’s retreat and had just listened to a dynamic speaker talk about how God often whispers in our ears, prompting us to some kind of action, but we tend to brush Him off, not entirely convinced or convicted. The speaker ended her talk with a poignant question, directed at the women packed in the large ballroom, a question that hung in the air for a moment before I felt the life-changing, undeniable thump. The question was, “What is God leading you to do?”

My husband and I had thought about adoption a handful of times throughout our then-twelve-year marriage. He’d been adopted into his loving family as a newborn, and even though at times we thought God was calling us to expand our family in the same way, our lives were already crazy with two active little boys.

But that day, God commanded my focus—and He continued to do so, because when I arrived home and told my husband the story, my wise, never-impulsive better half didn’t flinch for one second.

Instead, he said, “Let’s do it!”

Now it was my turn to say, “Wait . . . what?”

“We’re not getting any younger,” he added. “If this is how God wants us to have another child, we’d better get going.”

My heart pounded in fear but also excitement, and somehow I knew God’s plan was already in motion.

We had no idea where to start, but we soon met a couple at our kids’ swim meet who had adopted their son and daughter from Russia. They said they couldn’t have been happier with their adoption agency and gave us the information.

We took it as a sign and made contact the next day. We learned that to adopt from that country, we’d have to make two separate week-long trips, flying more than twelve hours each way, and we wouldn’t be allowed to bring our sons. With my fear of flying and knowing we’d have to leave our children home, I quickly ruled out the idea.

God needed to grab my attention again.

The day after talking to the agency and deciding we’d look elsewhere, a repairman arrived at our home to install a new light fixture. His name was Vladimir, and he told me he was from Moscow.

The following day, I was trying on clothes and an employee asked if she could take some extras out of the dressing room. After hearing her accent, I asked where she was from. I knew the answer before she said it.

The third day, I met a young mom at an auto repair shop who was reading a book to her daughter. The little girl smiled and played peekaboo from behind the pages.

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