Women of Faith

Meanwhile, Jodi had invited me to a women’s retreat weekend she was organizing. It was small, just 10 or so women, and I thought it was just to seek God and pray. I was looking forward to a relaxing, restful, worship-filled weekend in the mountains. I only knew a few of the women going, but it didn’t really matter to me.

Well, I got to the place we were meeting to divide up into cars for the drive up, and it turns out the three of the women had adopted children from Africa, and one was starting the process! By this point, it didn’t surprise me. :) I knew it was God taking me by the hand and leading me where he wanted me to go.

I rode up in the car with Karen, my good friend, and Eileen, who has adopted 2 Mexican children and 3 Ethiopian children. All the way up there (including a long time stuck in traffic), Eileen shared with us her story, how God led them to adopt, how he provided the money they needed, everything. It was such an incredible story, and so faith-building to me.

Eileen is a homeschool mom, in her mid-forties when she first adopted - both like me, which was very encouraging. (Did I say mid-forties? I meant mid-thirties...:)). She and her husband were $60,000 in debt when they were led to adopt, with no money even to apply, but God provided the money they need every step of the way, just in time. She shared one amazing miracle after another, stories about how God would speak to her to do something, and she would just do it, and God would do something amazing because of her obedience. Afterwards, as I told Karen, I felt like I had had faith injected directly into my veins! (You can check out Eileen’s blog at http://jobsdaughters.blogspot.com/).

I met another mom, Carolyn, at the retreat; she is also a homeschool mom about my age, with 7 biological children; she has adopted 4 children from Ethiopia in the last few years, and is in the process of adopting 2 more. Two of the children she has adopted have HIV/AIDS, and God has used her to raise up a ministry to support and encourage families to adopt HIV+ children. Her vision now is to build a home in Ethiopia for women and children with HIV/AIDS; she has the land, and has just raised the first funds to start the project (this is Carolyn’s website -http://www.projecthopeful.org).

These women are just ordinary homeschool moms like me, but they have a passion and fire that challenged me so much! There were so many more amazing women there too, that encouraged me and challenged me, especially to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and be obedient with what he tells me to do, because he wants to speak to me and use me too.

(to be continued…)