Posted in MISSIONS

Haiti – Day 1

It’s 1 something in the morning and I can’t believe that this day has arrived already!

Struggling to get out of the bed…I was happy that I had made sure to pack earlier than the morning I left because the way I am wired, it would be me to do that. I work better under pressure aka procrastinate. But you know, we are all a work in progress 🙂

So we finally get to the church and my husband helps me with my luggage. I wanted him to leave right away because I was trying to get my mind together that this would be the longest we had been apart from each other and I didn’t want to get more sad than what I already was. But he wouldn’t leave my side until I got on the bus to depart. I am glad that he stayed with me.

We pulled away from the church and I sat in my chair, in the darkness of the early morning and the tears started to fall. I was mad and frustrated with God. I kept saying “why do I have to go by myself”! “Why didn’t you want us to experience this together”!

And in God’s sweet and comforting way , he said to me “because I want you to know how it is to rely on me alone”.

Wow! I felt a peace start to come over me as God reassured me of this and that he would take care of my husband. The tears started to lessen.

We got to NYC! Time to get on the plane. Ok, I am ready!!

Airline announcement: ” There is a malfunction with the plane going to Haiti. There is now a 3 hour delay”

I was like really? C’mon Now!

I think part of me felt like well maybe something will happen where we don’t have to go. Then the other part of me was like, I got this far I am not turning back.

It is funny how things happen. During this time, the bonding was growing between us as teammates going to Haiti and with the wait I wanted to get to Haiti faster now then before we even had the delay!

3 Hours go by.

Airline Announcement. “We will now start boarding those going to Port au Prince”

Yesssss!!!!! My head was in the game and I was ready to go.

Smooth Plane ride. Safe landing.

“Welcome to Haiti!” We made it Baby!!

Getting our luggage was a bit Hectic but I felt an overwhelming peace. To be honest it shocked me! Here I was in a different Country and yet I felt so comfortable and I hadn’t even met all of the people yet. I just felt like, I’m okay with this place.

I like this place. I see Beautiful people.

I walked through the crowd of people like a BOSS to that yellow school bus! haha! I felt good.

It was night time now so it was dark but that ride was one like no other. Bumpy. People jumping on “tap’taps” ( Haiti’s Version of a Taxi), ladies walking holding jugs & baskets on their heads.

New place but I already was starting to feel connected. And then we pulled into Mission Of Hope. Ahh the start to a great journey.

We received an overview of what Mission of Hope was and what we would experience the next couple of days. Little did I know that this place, in a short time, would change my  life.

It was time to rest up for the next day.

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1st Picture – the area we had our first overview and the place I would have personal devotions throughout the week.

2nd Picture- This was the room I slept in , bottom bunk.

Posted in MISSIONS

Sweet Haiti.

The last time I wrote about Haiti, I was wondering why God was taking me out of the states to do missions. I just knew he wanted to teach me something and for sure he did. In the next couple of posts I will describe the different “God Moments” I had while in Haiti but let me just tell you the short version of a long story…. God is good. He is Always Right. Follow Him and you will be blessed. I LOVE HAITI&  I want to go back as soon as I can.

The End…..Haha, not really. Grab a snack as I walk through some Haiti Moments. IMG_2831

( The Sun shining down on the Beautiful Haiti Mountains, a view I always loved seeing 🙂

Posted in ADOPTION

We Felt the Love!

December 8th through December 13th was our first fundraiser week through Chick Fil A. We asked everyone that was going to support us , if they took pictures to tag it #JAAdoption. My husband and I were so overwhelmed with joy to see the pictures of the many people who supported us through that week. Even if people didn’t take pictures or couldn’t make it to Chick Fil A people sent us support through our “Go Fund Me” page, personal messages on FB, text messages etc. WOW! We just felt so blessed and can’t wait to share with the future baby Wilson how many people loved him or her even before we knew who they would be. Between personal donations and the money we received through the fundraiser we were able to complete the first part of the home study fee which was $3,000. God is good!!!  The 2nd home study fee is $10,000 and we know that God is going to help us get through this part as well. God allows us to go through things to stretch our faith and our faith continues to be stretched by this process and we believe our adoption process is stretching the faith of those around us as well.

Our next Fundraiser will be a one day event, Feb 1st 2-5pm at the Coffee Station. More info to come but we hope that you will mark your calendars and drop in to be with us anytime between 2-5 that day 🙂

My husband made this beautiful video to show the support we received during our first fundraiser. We hope you like it. We love all of our supporters. Thank you for being you!!

Here are all of the lyrics to the song we had in this video. You are Beautiful 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized

Can’t wait to be over this hump

So we are and have been in the home study process for quite sometime now. What many don’t realize is that the home study consists of more than just a person coming to look at your home. We have to read books, fill out more paperwork, get physicals, have interviews, have references contacted etc and then pay  $13,000.00 before the home study is complete. We originally thought that the home study would be complete after $3,000.00 but we misread that number and it was clarified today. ( breathe in and out, stay calm). Man, that’s a lot of money!! This is why we have to go back to God daily to gain strength and to trust him that this will come together. The reason why this is so important to get through this part of the process is because it takes a while for the written approval to come in but once we are approved for the home study then we can start our family portal so we can be picked for placement. We would finally be able to meet our birth mom !! How exciting is that!! ?? So exciting to us but we have to get the funds first to make it happen. Here is our most recent fundraiser that we have coming up! Spread the Word 🙂

It will be with Chick-fil-a in Lancaster, PA. You can go there ( December 8th -13th) and present this flyer by paper or on your phone and let them know that you are supporting the “Jason & Ashley Wilson Adoption Fundraiser” and a percentage of your meal cost will go to our adoption acct. We will have our rally night there on December 11th from 5-7pm and would love to have everyone stop by and asks us any questions and also sign a book we will have to show our baby when they get a little older how many people helped to bring him or her home to their forever family 🙂

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Posted in ADOPTION

God’s Promise

Jeremiah 29:11 never gets old , “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” ( NIV) .

The process of adoption is somewhat of a roller coaster because we can’t wait to meet our baby but there are so many steps in between until we meet them. It never fails though , when I am having a day where I feel discouraged, someone will send me a word of encouragement concerning our adoption or a donation will be in the mailbox and God continues to show himself to us and lets us know that we are on the right path and to keep persevering.

Our lives are in his hands and I just have to believe that $30,000 is just a number and that the greatest blessing is beyond that amount. I mean look at the price God paid for us , he gave his only son to die on the cross for you and me! Not trying to be super spiritual but that is deep! It just makes it more real to me that anything good will cost, there will be sacrifice but it will be worth it.

I kept feeling like God was telling us to start getting the baby room ready.

The room that has been set aside to be our baby room was already starting to get cluttered with stuff. Boxes, etc. So since I kept feeling that I told Jason and we cleared out the baby room, got an accent wall painted and added a few baby books, got a nursery check list and just gazed around the room. Like this no longer looks like an office or a room just for extra “stuff” this is a room that we are preparing for our baby.

This is an extra step in the faith walk we are in, waiting really equals preparation. You have to prepare for what God is going to give you not just sit around and do nothing. Every day I walk past the room I feel that much more encouraged. I often think ” our babys coming soon, our baby is coming soon, I know it.” Soon may look different time wise to all of us but I am holding on to the promise God has over our lives to parent.

Jason and I pray in that room often. It will be a spirit filled room for our baby that’s for sure! haha!

Here are some pictures of the beginning stages of our nursery:

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Posted in ADOPTION

The Times of Grieving

In the midst of being excited about a new journey that will consist of God blessing us with a child through adoption there is still a season of grief that I have experienced about not being able to conceive. The tricky thing about having PCOS is that some day it “may” magically happen that I conceive but there is a chance that I will never conceive so what truth does one lean on? I know that God has called us to adoption so I don’t dwell much on conceiving but there are those times when in conversation about my adoption and PCOS that  I start to get teary eyed at the fact that Jason and I may never know what our biological child looks like. What would their personality be like? Would they be short or tall? Would they have more of his personality or mines? I may never know and quite honestly that hurts. Every time I hear about a child being hurt or killed because of the negligence of someone else , its like really? Yet, there are those of us that would love to have children but were not gifted with that? Why, God, Why?

My husband and I went to a marriage conference not too long ago called “I Still Do” and at the end you get to renew your vows which we did and I just fell in his arms crying. I felt like the tears could continue to flow into the next day. You remember the part of your vows that says , “through thick or thin, for better or worse” , well when the worst actually hits, it tests your marriage and my husband has been nothing less than supportive through it all. I love him for that and the vows we said that day meant more to me than the ones we said on the day we got married because we were getting through this storm together.

As much as my flesh would want to be wrapped up in the “why?” , God has sent an overwhelming peace over me to encourage me that everything will be okay. He is big enough to handle my hurt and bless me way beyond I could ever imagine. This little guy or little girl is meant to be in our forever family and Jason and I are meant to be their parents.

Posted in MISSIONS

Heritage and Haiti

( Written By The Hubby Jason )

Recently, I received a photocopy of a document from one of my cousins on some of the heritage from my father’s side of the family, specifically his mother’s family tree.  I have started to attempt to piece together somewhat of a family tree some years ago, but had little success.  Both my mother’s side and father’s side of the family came from slaves who were brought over here to America.  So trying to obtain records and information isn’t that easy.

I started this search some years ago, because I wanted to know more of where I came from and I also wanted to know for the children that I would father in the future as well.  As this became a task to find information, I let it lapse into a pile of things I want to do. (As I am sure we all have a to do list/pile like so.)

I am grateful to my cousin for sharing this document with me.  It’s only a page long, with about 4 paragraphs explaining how my great great grandparents were brought over here and how my great grandparents made a success with farming sugar canes for syrup, and vegetables.  Within this document it explains how my great grandfather was Afro-Haitian and my great grandmother is a descendant of the Cherokee Indians.  Finally some closure to a piece of who I am is how I felt while reading this.

After reading this, it hit me of how my wife is going to do missions in Haiti!!  Wow, isn’t that something.  God is calling my wife to do mission work in a country in which my great grandfather is a descendant of.  I find this exciting and look to hear of the experience my wife will have there until we both can go there and do missions together.  Look at how God works; just when we question his work he sends back a dove with a branch to spark our interest even more.

This has put a new spark in me to find out more information of my father’s father, my mother’s father and mother family tree.  This is a great start to the journey building my family tree and having a closer look into my heritage as well.

Posted in Uncategorized

God’s Plan above Ours.

( Written By The Hubby Jason )
If you have a car, its sole purpose is to be a vehicle of transportation from point A to B. Most cars are made to fulfill this purpose safely, but what if you stepped in to a car and it said to you, Thank you for making me, now this is what I want you to do for me. Sounds crazy and like chaos right!! Well think about how God feels when we tell Him our plans and what we want Him to do.
 
Now how does this tie into what I am trying to relay, here it goes!
 
Jeremiah 29:11 states ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for a future and a hope’ (some of this is paraphrased)
 
God has a plan and purpose for each of us. Many times we see those plans and purposes as an interruption to what we want to do. I have found that when we are trying to get the glory that should be given to God, who makes all things possible, your plans won’t work out as well as you think. Think about Saul in the Bible. God told him what to do with clear instruction, but in his arrogance and greed he went a different direction and ended up in worst shape than what was intended for him and his family line. In many different ways, that’s what we all look like. God tells us to go down a certain road and we veer off thinking we can do it better or know better than the God who made the path for us. 
 
Jonah was another prophet in the Bible, God told him to go to a certain city and proclaim a warning. Jonah said no, that’s ridiculous, how about I go the other way and go somewhere he believed would be better. Well Jonah ended up in a belly of a Fish until he realized he should have followed God’s plan. Once he decided to follow God’s plan, the fish spit him out and he went on to do God’s will and was a success at. (I’m sure he took a shower first before going to the city though, after being in a fish’s belly for a while).
 
All of this is to say, that God’s plan may not look like what we think or expect it to look like, but if we want to have success following His plan and purpose can exceed your wildest dreams.
 
I hope this encourages someone to continue to follow God’s plan.

 

Posted in ADOPTION

The Joy of Being a Future Father

( This post is from my hubby’s heart. Be blessed)
When we first thought about adoption, we knew that it would be an option we would want to pursue. Especially because at our wedding, the pastor of the church I met my wife at said that my wife and I would have many children and not just biological children. I come from a big family where my mom is 1 of 4 and my grandmother is 1 of 16. So our family gatherings were very full of people, lots of people. I knew that I wanted to have at the least 3 kids, preferably 2 of the 3 being twins or having 2 sets of twins if possible (um yea I had goals) When the pastor stated this, it didn’t come to a shock to me. My wife worked at a boarding school where her students called me Poppa J (which in my opinion has a great sound to it)
We didn’t try to have kids right away, as I am sure everyone who is a newlywed is asked questions like: When are the kids coming?
 
I didn’t grow up with my father in my life, but if you ask him about that today he will tell all of these things he did but I don’t seem to remember, so it’s either I have amnesia or someone is just flat out lying. As I am giving that to God, growing up without a father leaves you to figure out a lot of life on your own. I am thankful for the men God has placed in my life that have made a positive impact in my life in helping to groom me into the person I am today. So thank you to DJ, Uncle Abe, Uncle Laniard and even my mentor now Tim.
 
Before the thought of being a father would scare me or be a thought that was too far to reach. Fear of having to instruct or lead a family. Trusting God and His will has helped me to face that fear. So the thought of adoption after I knew that I could be a father and do it with God’s leading was totally acceptable to me. I understood that this was God’s plan for us. Some may question don’t you want a child naturally? Why not try the different procedures and treatments that medicine offers? But, I answer with a simple its God’s plan. I believe that God sets a plan out for our lives and we can’t force His will for our comfort, we must allow things to happen in His time. Our decision is to adopt and we are more than happy with that decision. We have received some mixed feelings from people in our family and those we have chosen to tell. When you are following God’s plan, not everyone is going to be happy but I don’t expect those that don’t understand His will to understand.  As long as my wife and I are doing what we have to do, that’s what matters most. Plus, either if our child comes from a natural conception or a process of paperwork and prayer, it’s still a wonderful thing to have a child and to raise that child in the likeness of a Godly standard. 
Posted in ADOPTION

Plan B, C and D are necessary !

My husband and I started going through the paperwork for grants and we started to notice a common theme…a lot of them want you to have your home study completed and approved before they will  give out grants. The thing is, … to complete the home study it costs about $3,000.00

Everyone knows adoption is expensive so you try to have some type of financial plan in place to make things happen. Jason and I had that and it included working on grants first but then running into the “home study needs to be approved first” situation caused us to do more financial brainstorming.

Jason began looking into other jobs to take up with his financial experience until tax season because on top of his full time job he is also a tax pro at H&R Block during the tax season and my full time job is pretty busy so I took up an additional direct sales job ( that I LOVE!) that can be flexible with my current job and then Pinterest became our best friend. We started pinning like crazy, looking for adoption fundraising ideas , ( gofundme is a great tool but other fundraising ideas are even more helpful) while we are in the midst of still finishing paperwork, getting ready to move, working….lets just say life is BUSY even beyond getting ready for the adoption but that’s the season we are in and it’s okay. Anything good is worth working hard for! So back from my commercial… On Pinterest we found out about a site called “Fund The Nations” … LOVE their mission !!( check them out http://www.fundthenations.com/ ). Great causes affect people in positive ways but it takes money to fund those causes, so I love how this organization uses shirts to help fund individuals life callings and/or steps of faith. We will continue working on more fundraisers but we are hoping that at least this one will help us get past the home study.

If you would like to be a part of our journey and purchase a shirt , all of the information will be in the “Donate” section of the blog.