Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. . . . — Isaiah 43:5-6.
That Sunday morning in sacrament meeting, I sat with a discouraged and hopeless heart. For nearly two years, we had been in the process of trying to adopt domestically, then internationally. We had experienced numerous complications, and we had heard the day before that we would need to wait an additional two months before the Russian government would allow us to travel to meet our boys. I felt as if we were just not getting any closer to bringing our sons home.
As the opening hymn began I opened the hymnal and tried to let the music soothe my aching soul. The song was Hymn No. 85, "How Firm a Foundation." As I sang the third verse, the words gave me comfort, and I felt less anguished. I dwelled on the verse during the sacrament, and decided to look up the scriptures that accompanied the hymn. When I got to Isaiah 43:5-6 my heart seemed to stop.
Though the scripture refers to the gathering of Israel, at that moment, it was meant for our family in our days of tribulation. I sat up straight, and feeling renewed and ready for the fight, I knew that the Lord was mindful of our family and our struggles.
During the next eight months, we faced seemingly unending challenges before we finally were able to make our journey to Vladivostok, Russia, to adopt our sons. The scripture became a rallying cry of comfort for us until we were sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple. — Amber Flake, LaPlata, Md.