Wie Viel? | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Wie Viel? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Arlene Baker
10/23/19
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“How many kids do you have?”

Not an easy question. Not for me. My mind races back three decades. Soon after marriage, I learned I would never be a mother the natural way. Although devastated, I always trusted that God possessed the power to somehow fulfill that longing.

God is never boring. Or predictable. Six years later, my teenage nephew came for two years. He opened the world of high school activities to us by joining the choir, taking a small role in a school play, running track. The best, however, was his playing the humongous drum during his senior year.

We attended every football game and competition. Our small school’s band was so good, they competed against those of much larger schools — and often swept the field of trophies. Band taught my nephew the value of teamwork and the joy of winning together.

A cousin lived with us for a year, then we trained for foster care. After three, we gave it up. Too hard to learn to love and then lose them.

Years crawled by, my dream of motherhood yet unfulfilled. One day, our pastor approached me with a flyer.

“You’re the only couple I can think of here that might be able to do this.”

I scanned the page and laughed.

“My husband would never agree but feel free to ask him.”

God’s sense of humor kicked in. Hubby said ‘yes’. God smiled.

I dialed the number on the flyer and soon a coordinator visited our home. We filled out a lot of paperwork. She then checked out the house and declared us fit to host a foreign high school exchange student for a year. Lastly, she produced a 3-inch binder packed with profiles. We pored over them.

How does one choose among hundreds? We decided to narrow the search to a girl as she would spend most of her time with me. We also needed someone who loved lots of animals as several cats and dogs ran our home.

Finally, we settled on a German girl who helped her vet on the weekends. The organization sent us a thick packet of information, pictures and letters from our new ‘daughter’, her parents and teachers.

I carried it everywhere, like pregnant mamas carry their first sonogram image of the coming baby.

“Look!” This is our daughter. She can feed herself and she’s already housebroken!”

In the next years, we hosted nine more students, four boys and six girls, mostly Germans. I would ask God why he sent so many Germans. He finally told me it was because they were stubborn — like me.

I stopped asking questions.

I discovered Isaiah 54 during that time. It quickly became my most favorite chapter, opening with, “Sing with joy, you childless women who never gave birth to children.”

At the end of each host year, I always laughed and said, “The Bible says, ‘ALL my children are disciples of the Lord’ (verse 13), so I need to collect more!”

I love it when someone asks me, “How many children do you have?” I always scrunch up my face, grin and reply,

“I forget.”

Note: Wie viel — How Many in German

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