When Halima Cissé fell pregnant she and her husband Kader were delighted at the prospect of another child as a brother or sister for their existing daughter. So, imagine their surprise when they discovered that she was not expecting just one baby, and not even two or three, but nine. Commenting on his wife’s spectacular fertility Kader said, ‘God gave us these children. He is the one to decide what will happen to them. When the Almighty does something, he knows why’.
Of course, the Bible is full of stories of unexpected pregnancies, most famously of all that of the Virgin Mary who suddenly found herself pregnant with Jesus. But centuries before that we read of another couple, Abram and Sarai. Way past the age of childbearing Sarai had given up on ever becoming a mother, when an angel appeared to Abram and promised that he would become the father of many nations. As impossible as it seemed, God’s promise came true and like Kader, Abram found himself with a rapidly expanding family – the Jewish race, from whom the Saviour of the world would be born. No doubt Abram would have echoed Kader’s reflection,’ When the Almighty does something, he knows why’.
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