Meeting "Hope"

I am going to refer to "Faith's" birth mother as "Hope".

We went to the Prison on Saturday Afternoon.
Having never been to a prison of any sort, I was apprehensive and very prayerful.
Infact after arriving at the Womens Prison, Trevor and I shared a short prayer in the parking lot.

We were checked in at the front desk, went through a metal detector and were "wanded" by an officer, the escorted into the "Visitors room. It was full of short tables and chairs. A female and male restroom, a playroom for children were also connecting.
There were many families waiting, and children dressed up in their Halloween Costumes.

There were many vending machines and (Note to self) I will bring in quarters next visit.

We waited for about 15 minutes ...and then heard the automatic door .
In a room 9x8 six women entered. It is a holding room between the cell block and visitors rooms. It visible by a window.
There the women stood, we could see them and them us.

I recognized two of the six women were very pregnant and wondered which was "Hope".
My eyes connected with the smaller built of the two, I smiled at her and she smiled faintly back.
After the women were padded down, they were one by one allowed into the Visitors room.
Trev and I stood and introduced our selves.
What do you say in a situation like this...."Hi I am so-and-so...I will be raising your child until you can?"....I still had a lump of anxiety in my throat that kept me from talking very much or with volume.

We sat down, and with tears in her eyes...all Hope said was "Thank you".

Anxiety gone...I grabbed her hand a squeezed and and told her" It will be BOTH of our blessings".

We had a great visit, sharing our histories. She kept on looking at Trev and saying "He looks (her native land)".
Though she immigrated to the US when she was nine, she still struggled with English fluency.

We had a great visit.I embraced her as I left and told her we would keep praying for both her and Faith.

The spirit was so strong as I left.
There are just moments in your life , you know you are in the exact time and place God would have you be, I feel that way in Haiti all of the time...so why not in a womens prison?

I pray for Hope everyday. She has lost so much in her young life.

Since the complications, spotting and contractions are at bay and her most recent stress test was OK..they are going to let her go until her due date ...the 14th!
Yikes RIGHT in the middle of my Haiti trip!...It will work out, one way or another that is what Faith has taught us....and what this little "Faith" will teach us.

Lindsay