God Will Provide!
Our Journey of Adoption and God’s Abundant Provision
By Brooke Wolfe
Every child matters: Terry and Brooke Wolfe play with their sons, Jackson and Titus. The boys are just as excited as their parents for an addition to the family.
This post has been made possible by our wonderful partner Scott Brothers Heating & Air.
Receiving Jesus
My husband Terry and I both grew up in Christian homes and we went to church most Sundays. We both grew up believing in God and knowing the story of Jesus. I guess we called ourselves Christians.
For me, it became very real one night on the football field at Kidd Brewer Stadium. On September 17, 2000, Franklin Graham wrapped up the Festival 2000, a Christ-centered gathering inviting people to hear the message of the Gospel. As he closed his message that night, a strong tug came to my heart, and I, along with thousands, made my way to the field to receive Jesus as my personal savior and to begin a new life.
Terry made his decision to receive Jesus for himself on October 6, 2005. He knew there was something missing and that believing alone wasn’t enough. In the quiet of an apartment he invited Jesus into his heart.
In 2014, after a series of challenging circumstances, both Terry and I began to seek the LORD on a deeper level. We really began to walk with Him, realizing there is an endless, daily supply of the Holy Spirit, and God so desires for us to pursue Him each and every day.
Calling to Adopt
We have always talked about adopting. After having two amazing boys, we were still open to the possibility, but never saw the opportunity or how adoption might fit into our lives.
If there’s anything we’ve learned over our years of following the LORD, it’s that His plan doesn’t fit into your life, your life is part of His plan. With that, we would like to share our adoption story with you.
It begins in February of 2019.
I was invited to a Christian worship gathering in Florida along with a few of my dear friends. We traveled down with high expectations of what the LORD might have in store for us. The gathering was centered around one objective: to send Christians into their calling all over the world. My prayer was to encounter God in a new way and hear His heart and call for our family.
If you have ever asked God to reveal His call for you, then you know our own expectations fall immeasurably short of what He wants to do and what He has planned. His call for our life blindsided me completely.
After standing on a football field most of the day enjoying amazing worship, we listened as a speaker took the stage. I cannot remember what the message was, but shortly after he spoke my life would be forever changed. As he closed his message, he asked that we grab someone close and pray together. I turned and seeing no one I knew joined hands with a beautiful black woman and we prayed. After the prayer she left and as I turned to get ready for more worship, I saw her come back through the crowd. She said, “While we were praying, I saw you with black children…yeah, black children. And God says, ‘Yes’.”
I have had people speak over me before and share what they felt like they heard the LORD say, but this took me totally by surprise. I thanked her, but inside my reaction was “What?” My first thought was that maybe God was calling us to go to Africa and minister. This has never really been a place we felt led to go, but I was open to whatever His call would be.
After a few more songs, I made my way back to the stands and another speaker took the stage. He began to share his family’s story of how he and his wife along with their two boys had adopted two girls. As he shared, I felt a feeling I have never experienced before, and one that I can’t possibly explain here. All I know is that it was the presence of God, and in that moment through the uncontrollable tears I was crying, I knew God was calling us to adopt.
The Process
I thought about the experience all the way home and prayed, knowing that if this was God’s call, my whole family would be on board. As soon as I arrived home I shared with my husband and we committed to pray about it. It wasn’t long after that we mentioned it to our boys and they both shouted with utter excitement, “YES!!!” This was our first confirmation. Everyone wanted to adopt!
“In that moment, through the uncontrollable tears I was crying, I knew God was calling us to adopt. ”
Over the next few months, we researched both local and international adoptions. I still felt called to Africa for some reason, but we knew there were children in need everywhere. Nothing really went anywhere until November.
Our youngest son hopped in the car one day after school and blurted out, “I really want a little brother or sister!” I asked him where that came from and he just shrugged and said he didn’t know. The next day, we received an email from one of the agencies we had looked into. They were highlighting adoptions from Burundi, Africa. Up until now, all the countries we had looked at in Africa seemed drastically out of reach—they had been way more than we could afford, and we didn’t meet a lot of the requirements. As we looked over the program, we were able to check off all the boxes! Could this be it? We prayed again, asking the LORD for confirmation.
The very next day we received another email from a different agency, but for the same program! Burundi! I began to cry, feeling the same thing I had felt that day back in February. I shared with Terry and we both agreed this could be what we had been waiting for.
Eagerly Waiting: The Wolfe family with big smiles. Their youngest holds a doll which was handmade by a close friend, a gift for the child or children they adopt.
Financial Gifts
We filled out a pre-app and waited for a call. The only part we were missing was the money for the adoption itself. If you have ever looked into adoption, you know how incredibly expensive it can be! But we knew that if God was calling us to adopt, He would make a way.
Terry’s life verse is Exodus 14:14 (NLT): “The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” When you take a leap of faith, you find out just how faithful God is to His word. “In God We Trust” is on every piece of US currency, and a reminder that He is our provider. Every time anyone in our family finds a coin, we put it into a special jar that we can look at and remember that He provides!
The next week, we received a financial gift. As we began to pray about what it could be for, I realized it was the amount needed for the home study, the next step in the adoption process. I shared with Terry and we felt like it was our greenlight to move forward. However, the next step was a huge payment due when we signed the contract with the agency. The gift was not enough.
One morning, we prayed that God would show us where the money would come from, and He led us right to a Journey magazine featuring an article on the Kimbro family, their adoptions, and Chosen Ministry, located right here in Boone. We connected with them, shared our story, and Chosen gave an enormous gift that provided 75% of our needed fees!
God is so faithfully walking us through each step of the process and providing all we need. At the time, we had a Honda Accord that was very nice, but would not fit our growing family. We had shared our needs with a friend who owns a car lot. One morning, I was driving into town and felt led to ask God for the new car. A couple of hours later, our friend called and told us he had found a car, and we were test driving it by the end of the day! We didn’t have the money for the car, but again, we knew if God provided the car, He would provide a way. We prayed once again, and by the end of the week, we had enough to buy the car!
God has provided and continues to provide all we need. A few months ago, we wrote a check for the last of the money we had set aside for the adoption fees. We prayed again, knowing that He would provide for the next step. That very evening, we received a text from a Chosen Ministry leader asking how we were and if we needed more money. We shared with them where we were in the process and they provided the rest of the funding for the adoption fees. Now, we are 100% funded! We are so humbly thankful and have received many gifts from many people and organizations. We are in awe of everything God has done and is continuing to do!
In registering for the adoption our oldest son said, “If there are siblings, we have to get them all!” Of course, we all agreed and have registered for a sibling group if possible. We know that there will be more expenses as we plan to travel and possibly receive a referral for more than one child, and we also know that God will continue to provide more than enough.
Every Child Matters
If you have ever adopted, you will understand that this isn’t adding someone else’s child to your family. The child is just as much yours as if you had given birth to them, they are simply being delivered in another way. We know we have children somewhere in Africa, and we can’t wait to meet them for the first time!
As we wait for our little ones it feels so long. It has been almost a year since we entered the program, and we pray we will be “matched” soon. We know there are so many little ones out there who need a family that will give them the love our Father gives us every day. We also know that God has specifically chosen these children for our family.
Every child matters! The concept of adoption is at the very heart of the gospel. For those of us who have come to know Jesus as our LORD and Savior, adoption is a part of our own story. We are adopted into His family and are given the same inheritance as Christ. We are so thankful that God has chosen us for this calling. We are also thankful to share that both of our boys decided to follow Jesus for themselves this year, and we were blessed to baptize one of them as well.
As we look to the challenges ahead, we are confident to have many more stories of His miracles that make the way possible. New challenges seem to arise every day, but we know that He is making a way and His timing is so perfect!
If you are considering adoption and don’t know where to begin, pray. Ask Him and open your heart and mind to endless possibilities. I promise it might take you by surprise, and I also promise He will provide all you need and more! If you think you can’t afford it, remember—you might not, but He can!
As we close, we pray that anyone who might be reading this who has ever thought of adopting would begin to ask God about it. We pray that if you are in any way considering opening your life to one of His children, you would allow that fire to be lit again, and trust the Creator of the Universe to lead you in the calling He has for you. The only way we can really live is when we are living out the purpose He made us for.
This article was originally written for the Winter 2020 Edition of the Journey Magazine.