This Is What God Has Done: Wilmot Family

God is faithful! As we celebrate 10 years of what God has done at our church, we will be featuring God At Work testimonies from members of our core team who have seen all that the Lord has done. Psalm 115:1, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”

10 Years

How have I seen God at work at Harvest over the 10 ten years? This question could be answered with so many stories, but to pick one: The heart change I have seen in the children’s ministry over the years can only be explained by saying…. BIG GOD! We have served in Harvest Kids since the first Sunday.  In our past children’s ministry experience, some people have served out of duty or because it was “their turn.” Here at Harvest Indy West, we are able to serve with joy; many volunteers are serving even beyond their usual rotation because of the joy and blessing they receive from Harvest Kids. Pastor Doug has said from day one, “serve first where your faith family needs you!”

How God Has Been At Work In The Wilmot Family

As I answer through tears of joy, my story is about our adopted son, Anthony, and how the Lord used our brothers and sisters at Harvest to encourage us throughout the process.

For a while, my husband and I struggled with patience as our family was growing. We faced several big decisions, such as to move to a new city or to stay. We proceeded with selling our house to move back to my hometown to be closer to family. We prayed and trusted, seeking to be obedient to the Lord through these decisions. With no offers received, we decided to stay here on the west side of Indy, wondering how God was working. God had bigger plans.

We found Harvest. We were fearful of being a part of a new church plant, so we prayed and prayed. Quickly, we began to love the core team members, many of whom were total strangers to us, yet we were serving the same God and being unified through the time together.  We had no idea that five years after meeting in a library, God had planned for us to meet specific people that would become part of our journey forever.

It was Memorial Weekend when some friends from Harvest approached us to see if we were still praying for another child. With tears we answered, “YES!” They informed us of another couple at Harvest who had a family friend with a young girl looking for a private out-of-state adoption. With this rush of encouraging information, I probably shouldn’t admit, but I do not recall Pastor Doug’s sermon that morning!

Two weeks later, we drove to Chattanooga to meet this brave, young girl. We fell in love with this shy and scared young mother, who gave us an ultrasound photo of Anthony. We returned home and began preparing to bring our little boy home: I quit my job at the end of July and our attorney lined up a friend in Chattanooga to be our lawyer. Everything was happening so fast, and yet so smoothly. Throughout this season, I was typically fearful, anticipating something to go wrong. Our small group faithfully loved on us, praying with us and helping us to prepare.

Then, one Sunday morning while worshiping our God in the movie theater, I received THE call. That Sunday morning, Paul and I headed to Tennessee. We prayed together on the way down. It was a long drive of crying, rejoicing, and hoping we would arrive before he was born. When we arrived, the nurses brought us our son, who was only fifteen minutes old. The love I had for him the moment I laid eyes on him, words cannot explain, but I felt a peace come over me the moment he was placed into my arms. He was home; Anthony was ours. God had been faithful and we were comforted to know that many in our church family were covering us in prayer throughout the whole process. We returned home a week later and I continually thank God for picking us to be his parents.

This Is What God Has Done

My daughter was born three months after we launched. It has been amazing to see how so many have poured into her—BIG GOD! We were able to baptize our daughter this March and celebrate with our faith family. Our son and daughter can both call Harvest their home church.

I am beyond thankful for Harvest keeping Scripture the center of Harvest Kids and raising the kids in our church as disciples of Christ.