My older sister, Jaynet, married Firmin Baye when I was still a toddler. Their lives were full and eventful, with their first year together in Japan, where Firmin was serving in the U.S. Army. But after ten years of marriage, there were no children. 

One day Jaynet had completed Catherine Marshall’s book, which included her testimony of relinquishment. Catherin had TB and had not been healed even after much prayer. Finally, Catherine’s prayer became, “Lord, what would you have me do anyway, even in this situation?” Soon after she was healed.

Jaynet was sewing that Tuesday in February 1958 in Alabama where Firmin was a helicopter flight instructor. Although their desire for a child had not been a topic of open conversation, Jaynet had often asked the Lord for a child. On this day, however, her prayer became, like Catherin Marshall’s, “Lord, if I am not to be a mother, what would you have me do, even in this situation?”

She doesn’t remember how long she sat at the sewing machine that day in prayer but, after a while she went to get the mail where she found a letter from our mother, asking if they would be interested in adopting a baby.

It is marvelous how our Creator intervenes to prepare our hearts.

That evening she and Firmin called Mom and Dad who would call the doctor who knew the very special mother of the expected baby. But it was too late, another doctor had signed the papers for a different  couple to get the baby.

The end of March, Jaynet and Firmin went to visit friends in Virginia, who had two adopted children. My sister didn’t have a jealous bone in her body, but that would’ve gotten to me. She and her friend were coming back to the house from shopping, when Jaynet told her about the almost adopted baby. Upon arriving back to the house in the state of Virginia, there was an urgent message to call a telephone operator (remember those?) in Beaumont, Texas.

Apparently, God has angels that can cut the red tape and even break the barriers that the then Southwestern Bell Telephone had created.

You see, when our parents got the message that a precious mother of her child had chosen Jaynet and Firmin to be the parents, Mom didn’t know where they were or how to locate them. There was limited amount of time for their reply, since the birth was expected soon. Somehow, Mother managed to gain the interest of the telephone operators – who just happened to know Jaynet and Firmin’s next door neighbors – who just happened to know the town where they had gone.  So, Mother with the help of the operator began to call people in  Ft. Eustis, Virginia, guessing at last names. This went on all day.

To be continued . . .

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The next entry will post in two weeks.

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I raised three children as a single mother before I remarried. In 2007 I founded SMORE for Women, a nonprofit whose goal is Single Moms, Overjoyed, Rejuvenated, and Empowered. I’m also a Certified Professional Coach and my stories have been published in several Christian books and magazines. My book, Living Learning Loving is available on Amazon.  My Website.