We’re excited to let you guys know that we are heading to court on March 5 and 7 for the TPR hearing. Please pray over the hearing: that it goes smoothly, that the people testifying would feel peace while on the stand and that the judge would hear the needs of this sweet boy and our heart to care for him permanently. It could still be a few months after the hearing before we get a decision and then there are several other steps before we can move forward with adoption, but we’re excited that we’ve reached this important part of the process! Thanks for joining with us in prayer!

Thank you so much for your prayers! God is SO GOOD! TPR was filed on October 16! They have already had one hearing, with two more scheduled in the next couple of weeks! We are overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from all of you and are grateful for your continued prayers. We will keep you updated on the process!

This time two years ago, Ben and I were praying and researching about how we would add to our family. We knew we wanted another child (ok, I wanted another child…) but weren’t sure where we should begin. We looked into international adoption, private adoption, and foster care. The more we talked to others and prayed about it, the more we felt led to foster care. That wasn’t an easy decision because the foster care system has a bad reputation. We’ve all heard about large caseloads, overworked social workers and children with overwhelming behaviors in this broken system, but we felt very clearly that God was calling us there.

We started the process in January 2017 and sat though several classes, met with a social worker and made our decisions about what we were willing to take. A 2-4 year old African American male was our preference. Ben didn’t want a baby and Eden wanted someone that looked like her. By May we were just waiting on final approval from our county DCS office. My phone rang on the way to teach my stretch class at church on May 11, 2017 and I heard Stephanie telling us that our paperwork had been approved and we were officially foster parents. She asked, “Are you excited?!” I answered very enthusiastically, “YES!” and Stephanie said, “Great! I have a baby for you!” Umm…what? Stephanie gave me the run down on the baby and asked if we were interested. I quickly called Ben who agreed that God must have planned for this baby to join our family since he was needing a home the day our license was approved.

The next few hours were a whirlwind as I prepared to bring a new baby home from the hospital. Diapers, car seat, crib, pack-n-play, bottles, formula, the list went on and on. We had amazing friends and family that helped us gather all that we would need and I headed off for a night at the hospital getting to know a sweet baby boy.

As I stared a the tiny, white, 5 pound, 3 week old sleeping in the bassinet, I laughed at how Ben and I always think we have a plan for adding to our family and yet, God always seems to have a better one.

Today, that tiny baby is a busy, sweet, adorable almost 18 month old walking, climbing and chattering all over our home. If you’ve had the opportunity to be with us, you know that he is deeply loved and cherished in this house. He has 4 older siblings and two parents who love him and dote on him and now we are anxiously awaiting to chance to make him a Wolfe.

We are waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the process to move. We are tired of the fight and tired of the delays and tired of the processes which feel like they lose sight of the small boy calling us “mama” and “dada”. We want to sit down and rest from the phone calls and the nagging and the shifting schedules and the changing plans.

But, tonight in our family devotions, we read about Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. In Luke 11:5-10 Jesus tells the story of a man going to his friend at midnight asking for bread. The friend yells from the window, “We’re in bed, we can’t help you.” The NLT version says Jesus told them, “But I tell you this- though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

So, we’d like to ask you to join us in our “shameless persistence”. Will you knock on the door of heaven with us? Ask that TPR (termination of parental rights) would be filed. Ask that the judge would make a decision for this baby, so that he can find a permanent, safe, loving home with us. You’ve prayed us through many obstacles before, and we know that God will be faithful again.

Six years ago Ben, Andy and I touched down in Indianapolis without Eden. I remember the night we realized we were going to have to leave her in Kenya. We were sitting on the steps in the Heron hotel in Nairobi talking to a man from Rep. Rokita’s office. There was nothing left to do. No one else to call, no more favors to ask, no more begging or pleading…we couldn’t do anything else ourselves, so we did the only thing we could. We booked flights, one way for Andy and I and a quick return flight for Ben, and trusted that God would finish what he had started in Eldoret in 2009.

Stepping off the plane was the start of 10 very hard weeks during which Ben and Eden celebrated Thanksgiving, Eden’s 3rd birthday, Christmas, our anniversary and New Year’s on a different continent. But those 10 weeks were also filled with many blessings and miracles. Our communities in the US and in Kenya surrounded us with prayer, meals, notes, babysitting, legal genius, signatures on our petition, Elmo cookies and a cake, and supported us in many other ways, some I’m sure I still haven’t heard about.

Most importantly during that time, God moved mountains. God led us to attorneys who not only helped us convince the government to allow Eden to return to the US, but who later helped another family adopt their Kenyan babies. Over 35,000 people heard our story and signed our petition. They were used by a powerful God to fulfill a plan He had made before time even began. At the end of those 10 weeks, Ben and Eden came home. A week later, Grace was born and life moved on.

These six years have been a blur, but we haven’t forgotten, and we know many of you haven’t either. Looking back, Ben and I laugh at the plan we had. It was easy and convenient and worked for us, but God had a much bigger and better plan. A plan that clearly showed God’s glory and power in the midst of our weakness. Now we get to look back and see that God was faithful, and because of that, we know that we can trust Him to be faithful again and again and again.

This summer, our family returned to Kenya. The night we spent in Nairobi, I crept out of my room and sat on those same stairs in the Heron hotel. I remembered our despair; how I couldn’t imagine leaving Eden in another country, not knowing when I would hold her in my arms again. I remembered feeling crushed and defeated and at the end of myself. Then I thanked God for the blessing of returning to those steps, this time full of joy and expectation. I slipped back into our room and kissed each of my kids before going back to sleep.

I can’t miss this opportunity to say thank you (better late than never, right?). Thanks to each of you that did all of the little things, and to those of you that did the very big things. They mattered to us and made a difference and we’re still very grateful. Most importantly, I’m thankful to our loving Father, who precisely orchestrated each tiny detail, and who lets us play a small part in His story.

Sarah has made some big strides in the last couple of months. The main one being that she is actually striding around now: walking everywhere she can and attempting to go most places she should not! (video is a few weeks old, she’s much steadier now!)

What really helps around the house is that she knows the meaning of the word “no” (probably because she hears it a lot). She’ll think about it a bit and then put it down or stop doing what she’s doing. If its said in a particularly harsh way to her though (especially from me) she will immediately stick her bottom lip out as far as possible and wail for a few minutes.

Even though her first word was “dada” a few months back she has all but forgotten that. Now everything is mamma mamma mamma. Its used for both Meghan and anything that she wants you to give to her. Her vocab is still limited: “Up” comes out as “uppa” and “more” is just “maaahhhh” accompanied by an emphatic baby sign language gesture for “more”. She does a great job entertaining herself…unless “mamma” is anywhere nearby. Then she is the only entertainment that will do! She’s still a great traveler, mostly because she has the “fall asleep instantly” in the car gene.

She made a bit of progress in the height/weight department: 21 lb 6 ounces and 31 inches tall this go round. She received 5 vaccine shots and a prick of the finger to draw some blood. She was not happy about any of those, but a sucker made her all smiles again!