Today is day 12 of the Gully Family Adoption Fundraiser. Two weeks ago 5 dreamer girls got together and prayed & believed that God did not want this family to walk this road alone, that God wanted a community to come alongside this family and LOVE them in a HUGE way. After 12 days this family's adoption has been "FULLY FUNDED." This local & online community has blessed this family above and beyond what they ever could have imagined and we thank God for speaking to so many giving hearts. Please continue to cover this family in prayer as their adoption of these 6 girls is finalized. We are thankful for them allowing us ALL to be a part of their story.
"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” ~Luke 6:38
UPDATE:
On day 5 of this 12 day fundraiser, I am unbelievably in awe of what God has done! The immediate goal of 12K has been met!! Praise God!
Because 5 dreamer girls joined together to post about this sweet family a whole community of people have come together to bless them abundantly & to lift the burden of finalizing their adoption. We believe that God wants this fundraiser to continue for the entire 12 days & we know that their needs for the upcoming year are greater than just the fees owed for their adoption. So we have prayed and have decided to not put God in a box, to know that God may see unknown expenses in their future, and that this is His way of rewarding His faithful believers.
*This fundraiser will end on DAY 12 (Dec. 27th) Please continue to bless this family with what God has laid on your heart*
Oh. Where. To. Start...
We met this couple shortly after moving to Texas 8 years ago. We would bump into each other at summer track or church & then God placed them next door to my in-laws. Over the years we have seen each other at functions, passed each other on the streets, waved to each other from our passenger vans & had tons of phone & text conversations about our children's education, discipline, health, etc. They have truly been such an amazing example to our own children and to every person that sees them and their love for these children. We love this family like crazy & we are beyond thrilled that God has brought them to a place where the girls will become Gully's FOREVER!!! We want to support this family as they finalize the adoption of these 6 precious girls and we need your help. They need approximately $12K to finalize their adoption including legal fees, home study fees, insurance changes, etc. and we are believing that this can be raised in a matter of days. This family has acted in a BIG way, said Yes to an Almighty God that has entrusted them with 6 of His children & we NEED to lift the burden of funding their adoption.
*Read their sweet story below of how God has blessed them in a incredible way*
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act" Proverbs 24:12
We have never publicly shared our story in 9
years. Ever. We have been asked many times to and have
never felt it was the right time.
Honestly, I would be good to wait and share it once the kids are all
grown up. I am super protective of
people knowing very much about them and it is such a hard thing to share. And there are things about our situation that
just aren’t picture perfect and don’t make sense to everyone. From the outside
looking in, it’s hard to understand.
From the inside looking out, it’s hard to explain. It’s just not an easy story to write, but I’m
going to try.
In August 2005,
I met our precious kids. Ceree, Alajia,
De’levyus, and Oceana came to Crockett Elementary to begin their school year as
I began my very first year of teaching. I
had Alajia in my kindergarten class, Oceana and De’levyus next door to me in
kindergarten, and Ceree a couple doors down from me in first grade. Jeniyah and JJ were still babies at home and
Gigi was three weeks away from being born.
I think it took me all about two weeks of school to know that Mike and I
were supposed to be involved in their lives.
I’m not kidding. I’m sure
everyone thought that I had met some kids and this was just a “phase” that
every first year teacher goes through of not being used to the poverty and
sadness I felt everyday as I came to work.
Mike and I had been married a whole nine months and I was already
formulating huge plans of what I wanted to do on a daily and weekly basis to
help this family. I have no idea why or
how he jumped on board immediately, but he did and I am SO GRATEFUL. So, we started taking food and all kinds of
supplies to their house and staying over there to clean and organize and do
homework and make dinner and run errands and anything else we could think of
just to spend time over there to get to know their mom and the kids. We just wanted to do anything we could to
make their lives happier and easier and better.
That year, we continued this way.
We recruited my family and tons of friends to help us and we built a
firm foundation that year.
The next year,
we decided to start doing more activities with the kids in our home and taking
them places. We were 23 and 24 at this
point and we were learning how to do black hair, discipline some very rowdy
kids, teach kids to read, homework, take
them to church, do black hair, teach them about the Lord, take them to soccer
and basketball practices, and did I mention learn how to do six heads of black
hair?! We were falling in love with
these children and beginning to see some progress as we spent more and more
time pouring the love of Christ into them and into their mom.
The next year,
we approached their mom with the idea of getting joint guardianship with
her. Basically, she would still hold
primary custody, but she would make us the temporary guardians so they could
live with us and we could take them to school and to the doctor and make
educational and medical decisions. She
agreed and I’m not sure we had ever been so ecstatic about something in our
whole lives. It was a complicated decision
and we spent so much time trying to explain it to anyone who asked because it
wasn’t something that many people ever do.
Our whole intention has been to help the children be close with their
mom and to also help them have every opportunity and everything they need to be
successful in life and to know the Lord fully and deeply.
We renewed
temporary guardianship 8 times. During
those 8 years, we have learned how to change diapers, potty train, crochet
extensions, cook in huge portions, shop wisely, bought two twelve passenger
vans, and renovated our house 500 times to try to accommodate so many
people. All 7 of the kids have asked Jesus
to become the Lord of their life and to reside in their hearts forever which
above anything is the only thing that matters.
We have been on road trips that I can’t believe we actually did. We have had a precious baby who is such a joy
in all of our lives. We have gotten two
crazy dogs that the kids talked us into. We have made some ER trips and we’ve
had surgeries. We have spent a
ridiculous amount of hours listening to kids sound out words and learn to read
and endless hours doing algebra and homework and I know there is so much more
to come. We had a fire in our house and
we had to live in a hotel room for two months.
I’m telling you, we have lived a crazy life in the past 8 years with
these kids and it has been worth every single minute.
There have been
times that have been really hard to understand too. So much communication has gone into our
relationship with their mom. We have had
to work at a relationship that hasn’t come easy. I have learned so much over the years about
humility, grace, and priorities. There
are so many times she has been self-sacrificing in choosing this life for her
kids because she has always wanted what is best for them, but there is nothing
easy about the situation. She has seen such change in them and is always so
amazed at where they are today. We are
truly grateful for a mom that wanted her children to succeed in life and wanted
them to escape the cycle of poverty.
The hardest
decision we have ever made in our entire life was made four years ago when we
all decided it was best for Delevyus to go back and live with their
mother. It is something I cried about
everyday for 6 months. It is what is
best for him and where he is the happiest.
We still see him often and his sisters giggle with him incessantly when
we are together. He will always be my
baby.
We have learned
so much over the years of relying on the Lord for everything. I have never had to learn this lesson so many
times. Like 500 times. Like I am still having to learn it. We have been so worried about providing for
the kids so many times about a ridiculous amount of things, but every single
time, HE provides. People have brought
us groceries, clothes, school supplies, furniture, and anything else we seem to
need. If we get low on money, a check
will show up under our door mat or in the mail box or somehow something will
get taken care of that we don’t seem to have the means for. I’m telling you--we never would have been
able to do this on our own. There are a
ton of people that have surrounded us and poured Christ’s love and generosity on
us over and over to provide for these kids in so many ways.
All of this to
say-- we have made the decision, with their mom’s blessing, to adopt the
girls. We started this process 4 months
ago after a year of prayer about it and some conversations with their mom. Our prayer was that if she was not at peace
with the decision that we did not want to push this. When we approached her about it, she was
ready and willing and we were all united in our decision. I had no idea 8 years later this would EVER
be in the Lord’s plan. EVER. We are so grateful.
God has blessed
us abundantly and we are honored to continue to parent these amazing children.
We thank God for entrusting us with them & seek Him in every decision we
make and everything single thing we do. Thank you ahead of time for coming
alongside our family & being a part of their adoption story.
All for Him,
Mike & Jody
Gully
Please pray about being a part of what God has led this amazing family to. It takes a village to raise a child. For you & I that sometimes means coming alongside a family that has said YES to God & loving them through our finances. This couple has devoted their life to raising these amazing children & speaking Life & Truth into their lives daily. Let's step up and bless this family as they finalize the adoption of these 6 girls.
Donations for $12k in 12 days
Gully Family Adoption
can be made by:
*Checks made payable to
Mike & Jody Gully
Re: Adoption expenses
(email me for mailing address)
OR
*Paypal Button
"Forever Family"
"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court." ~Psalm 127:3-5
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