“There’s a third baby.” 

My sister’s text had me frozen. I immediately exited the virtual meeting I was attending and called her. 

She relayed – with not a little unsteady breath – that the two foster babies she had had since infancy (only one year apart) had just had a little brother. And he needed a home. 

My sister is a single woman who simply answered what seemed like an impossible call from God a couple years ago. She decided to foster. 

She never intended to adopt, but the little girl she took in was only seven months old, and before long it became apparent she would need a permanent home. 

My sister said yes. 

When less than a year later they called about a little brother born, she said yes again. 

And when she sent me the text of a third baby, it had been just under a year since the birth of her foster son. And she was about to say yes again. 

That’s three. Three babies. A two-year-old. A not even one-year-old. And a newborn. 

Jesus, help us. 

Honestly, I didn’t know what to tell her. Single mom life is hard. Caring for one baby on your own is hard. Caring for three babies under the age of three on your own is somewhere near insane. 

Did I mention she works full time?

I knew her struggle. She wanted her babies to have their siblings. She didn’t want to chance what would happen to the third baby if she didn’t take him. She didn’t want to have to live with regret if she said no. She wanted her babies to have each other in a world where they were already torn apart from their origin story and biological family. 

Fostering is HARD. And when you’re clearly on a path to adopt those foster babies, accepting another baby becomes a much more permanent decision. 

I didn’t think I could do it on my own, but I knew if she set out to do it, she could. She’s just determined like that.

God calls us to love widows and orphans. All of us. It’s His heart, and I know we all have a part to play in that. But for some reason, he specifically chose my sister to do this very difficult task all while she is single. It doesn’t seem fair sometimes. It always seems miraculous. 

He could have called a hundred married couples to take on the task, but he chose her. It’s one of those times when I find His call to be outside of what’s realistic or rational. And yet who am I to discourage the ones He’s chosen? Who am I to question God? 

Many single mothers got there a different way. Maybe a spouse passed. Maybe they found themselves pregnant and single and chose to give their baby life anyway. Maybe they thought they had the perfect mate only to go through a brutal divorce. 

But God called my sister to single motherhood – at least for a season. And that is a tough call. 

My family and I told her we’d support her decision, and of course, we’d love the third baby just like we did the first two. 

I thought it would take her a day or two to confirm her decision, though I knew the decision was already confirmed in her heart. She agreed to take him within an hour or two of hearing that he existed. She went from almost getting a small piece of her freedom back (i.e., an almost one-year-old finally sleeping well and no more formula!) to starting over from ground zero with all the challenges a newborn brings to the fold. 

It was discouraging. It was breathtaking. It was miraculous. It was magical. 

All I could think was the call God placed on Moses to lead His people. At one point in that role, Moses told Joshua to lead the army into battle while Moses stood at the top of the hill “with the staff of God in [his] hands” (Ex. 17:9). It was as if it was Moses’ physical expression of surrendering the battle to God.

This wasn’t realistic or rational, and I wonder if Joshua ever hesitated at hearing this plan. But he forged ahead, and the people fought the Amalekites. Yet, every time Moses’ arms lowered the Israelites began to lose. 

Can you imagine that burden? Utterly exhausting and physically incapable of keeping his arms up and yet when he dared to let them relax even a little, he watched men die. 

Die. 

This is when his support system had to step up in the form of Aaron and Hur.

“When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under, him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset” (Ex. 17:12, NIV).

I don’t know why God chose that call. It seems kind of strange to me that the solution to battle would be for Moses to keep his arms raised. But that was the answer. So, Aaron and Hur did what they needed to do to make sure Moses didn’t fail and that the people didn’t lose to the enemy.

And it really does show us something about God. He’s the one with all authority and power, and all we need to do is obey. We don’t have to come up with a massive fighting strategy to ensure our victory – we just need to trust him. To stand with our arms raised to heaven and watch him win the battle. And sometimes, we have to rely on the people of God to come alongside of us and hold us up.

God doesn’t always do what seems rational or realistic. Some days He just does the incredible and leaves us speechless. And in the midst of the impossible, He calls forth a tribe and a community to stand on each side of us and hold up our arms. And that’s a pretty important role too. 

My call that day wasn’t to adopt a baby – or three. It was to hold up an arm. My family and the numerous friends in her life, were called to hold up an arm. We didn’t understand it. Our hearts both grieved for the difficulties she would face and rejoiced at the new life God had blessed the world with. 

We stood by mostly helpless at her struggle, but we could hold her up. Many didn’t understand the call on her life, and some watched from a distance – in horror maybe? But others that didn’t understand (dare I say most), chose to hold her up anyway. 

The number of miracles and blessings we’ve seen filter through her life since taking on the load of three small babies, is a testimony she will be sharing for years. The support of her community has been breathtaking. 

Meals delivered. Baby supplies given. House projects completed. Childcare offered. Gift cards purchased. Prayers lifted. 

And did I mention they are three amazing, beautiful kids?

Sometimes God doesn’t call us to the big thing (i.e., adoption). Sometimes he calls us to take a meal to a family. To buy some diapers. To send an encouraging message or to simply pray. Sometimes he just calls us to hold up an arm. 

I know a lot of moms go through a season – especially when chasing little ones – of feeling the mundane. Their lives feel unexciting and with little purpose. They sometimes feel forgotten or that they don’t have a purpose beyond feeding and clothing babies. 

If you’re in that boat, take a quick look around. Whose arms can you hold up? How can you support the greater purpose someone else is carrying? 

Because the truth is we are all called to greatness, but sometimes our seasons don’t look great. Sometimes we are in a quiet or slow or less exciting season. In those moments, we can support those around us in the midst of the extreme. 

I’m partial to mothers, and with it being both foster care awareness month and almost Mother’s Day, I encourage you to support a mom. Know a foster mom you can support? By all means, do it. 

Take a pause in your busy life, and consider whose arm you can support today. You’ll get a pretty awesome sideline view of some miraculous moments. 

Written by: Anna Wetherington. Anna lives with her husband and daughter in Valdosta, GA.