Ok, so last night at midnight, I finally sit down on the couch after a day of garage sale sorting (why am I doing this again ..oh right my precious in Uganda), so anyway I hear the biggest thunder crash and my first thought was that the carport just caved in on all my garage sale stuff !!!! Then all of a sudden, the house goes dark ( I know it should be dark since it is midnight, but I still had work to do) and I jump up when I hear a police car and look at my front window and there is a car flipped upside down on my front lawn ... Scott and Eric (our cousin who was here) go out the front door and help the policemen lift the car off the man's chest ... He wasn't wearing a seat belt and was getting crushed ... Then about 5 minutes later my front yard looks like a Christmas tree ... 3 fire trucks, 2 police cars, and an ambulance !!!! These men were very amazing and I am thankful to live in a country where we have servicemen who do such a good job of protecting and serving ... Needless to say we were not going to sleep anytime soon ... They were here for about 3 hours doing what they do and cleaning up ... We found out the man in the car wasn't exactly and upstanding citizen, so I am thankful no one was hurt in trying to help him and I pray he realizes he was given a second chance ...

Now about today ... I wake to another group of service people trying to restore power and fix the power lines that were knocked down last night and my front yard still looks a little bit like a junk yard for all the car parts just sitting around in the meteor size craters the crash made (just a little bonus) ... It didn't stop all the garage sale prep that had to be done TODAY ... The super fun part of having 4 kids (plus my friends kids who were helping .. take makes about 10 kids) while trying to prepare for a garage is they tend to pretend they are shopping and keep bringing stuff into the house when I am trying to get all the stuff out of the house !!!!!! CASE IN POINT THE PICTURE BELOW .... So at midnight tonight baring any wrecks in my front yard I will be sneaking into all my kid's rooms and collecting all the stuff they have taken and put it back outside for tomorrow morning ... ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING YET ??? I sure hope so because I have discovered I am more of a LAUGH IT OUT woman than a CRY ABOUT IT ONE ....

Please pray it doesn't rain like the forecast says !!!! Will keep you posted !!!!

This past Saturday all my men (here in the U.S. ...sweet Joseph will be tagging along soon) were at the Vince Young football clinic ... For all you non-sports people, he is the quarterback for the Titans and we LOVE OUR TITANS here in the Oatsvall house. Scott got to work the clinic and the boys had a great time playing football and being with kids there age from all over the Nashville area ...

Last Friday, we hosted an event for Katie and it was more than we ever dreamed and the presence of the Lord was so evident in the place that it was as if we were STANDING IN THE CENTER OF HIS WILL ... We were a body, a community, a family saying here we stand desiring to be ISAIAH 54 people ... We are stretching out our tents and opening our curtains wide to the children of Uganda ... We want them to feel our love and commitment from here and know they are not alone. We wanted Katie to feel our love and hope that we have in her ministry ... The night was a dream and I know God was smiling down as people flocked to sponsor the 84 children still left this year unsponsored .... Not one child was left on that wall !!!! People gathered in groups to talk about how they want to be obedient to God and His command for us to care for the LEAST OF THESE ... There were so many tears for the children that are hurting and alone with very little hope and how by supporting Amazima we can bring REAL LIGHT into the darkness .... The night was so much more than I can describe ... The event was so much work and stress (all worldly fleshy stuff) right up until the program started and then a wave of peace surrounded my heart ... Scott, Suzanne, Mike and myself just sat there at our table in awe of how God is using our families in this ministry ... Mike made an amazing plea for support that came straight from a father's heart (even though he is a big numbers guy ... hee hee) and Scott's closing pray went straight up to the heavens ... Katie of course shared her story as only a mother, a missionary, a Christ follower, and an obedient servant can do ... THE NIGHT WAS ALL OF US STANDING IN THE CENTER OF HIS WILL ... I pray we can do it again soon !!!

I laugh at myself because I thought I was signing up for free book by Francis Chan (author of CRAZY LOVE) which I thought was amazing, soul wrecking, and very honest about TRUTHS in scripture AND LOVING ON THE LEAST OF THESE ... Anyway, this is a book by the same publisher and because I signed up I didn't want to go back on my word ...

"To follow Me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your desire to please other people. However, your closeness to Me will bless others by enabling you to shine brightly in the dark world."

this is sweet Elle, who spent approx. 6 wks in Africa serving the children ... love her
Joseph proud of his family picture and his future wife Josie Mayernick crying !!!

Thank you Lord that Joseph knows we are coming... These pictures speak volumes to my heart and we hope to his as well ... I pray he feels a peace that consumes his heart !!! We can't wait to show him what family is ... We can't wait to help him fall deeper in Love w/ you ... I can't wait to see him in his bed, playing in the backyard with is brothers and sisters, watch him cheer Jeremiah on at his games, play dinasours with Elijah, bug his sisters, sit in Scott's lap as they watch cartoons, hug my leg when he needs to be picked up and so much more ... My dreams are endless when it comes to my children ... I am thankful for ADOPTION ... It is the most beautiful word ... whisper it, scream it, cry it, and rejoice at the thought of it ... My prayer is that my entire family will be adopted into Christ's family ... IT MEANS CHOSEN !!!

The reality is that Elle brought home many more pictures from Africa and all that she experienced and as happy as all of Joseph's pictures were there were 5 times as many pictures of children standing on the road in tattered clothes with no home, children hungry, children sitting in orphanages waiting for A FAMILY, children sick with no hope here on earth, and all this breaks my heart and keeps me awake at night ... I know that most of you that come to my blog are doing your part to care for the orphans, but we all seriously have to SPEAK LOUDER ON THEIR BEHALF !!!! We have to make them real to those who pretend they are not there or are not their problem ... We have to consider how they must feel with no one to belong to ... Their eyes are saying HERE I AM PICK ME !!!! We must help people find the fields, we must help them take that first step, we must encourage them in CHOOSING to be a part of what is dear to the Lord ... We can make a difference and we CAN BE OBEDIENT ... We had dinner with a really sweet couple wanting to know more about adoption (this is also a ministry God has called us to ... We have two more families scheduled to meet w/ this month and each time I see the light come on in their eyes and heart and it blesses us) ...Roger said it so well and simple, "I don't feel called to adopt really, but I love being a dad, I have room in my house and in my heart, so I am going to be obedient to scripture and we are going to adopt." ... I mean does it get any simpler than that ...I don't think you need some big loud thunder moment, hear angels from the heavens, or have some fireworks display to know it says CARE FOR THE ORPHANS AND WIDOWS OR SPEAK UP FOR THOSE WHO CAN NOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES !!!

I will leave you with this ... I am proud to stand by you all and link arms as we CHANGE the lives of the orphans!

There is a lot going on here at the Oatsvall house ... working on BOOK, working on new website to help families fundraise for their adoptions, working on new t-shirts, working on Amazima (Katie is home and that makes my heart smile), and doing fun summer stuff with the family !!! I hope your summer is going well and you can feel all the blessings surrounding you each day!

love you ...

This is precious Lucy Lane and I have prayed for this child to come home for months and months ... The Lord saw fit to bless me with Kristi as a sister in Christ exactly one year ago last month ... We meet in the blog world and learned we lived like 5 minutes apart ... She is blessing to my life in so many ways - she is a servant, she is funny, she is kind, she loves my kids, she has introduce me to some amazing people, and she DESPERATELY loves the orphan (THIS IS THE CORD THAT BINDS OUR HEARTS) ...

please take a moment and watch Lucy Lane's coming home video and I promise you it will stir your heart .... Stir you to pray, stir you to act, stir you to adopt, STIR YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN THE LIFE OF AN ORPHAN ... WE LOVE YOU LUCY LANE !!!!

This is an email I received today and just had to share it ... I promise to have our China Reunion Pictures, new pictures of Joseph, and so much more amazing news from the Oatsvall Team soon ... Enjoy reading and watching God do HIS THING !!!

P.S. T-shirts are sold out !!!! Get ready for the FALL shirt ... It will rock your world !!!





"Hey Gwen I wanted to send you a picture of me wearing the T shirt in Africa holding an Orphan named Love.
Just a little info about Love...
Her story... She lived in a homestead where the oldest person was 5 years old. She was very abused, so much so that she had to have surgery and was in a wheelchair because of the abuse by a man. Last year the team discovered that her homestead had no adults and that she was one of 4 or 5 girls that lived by themselves and their older sister who was 5 at the time was taking care of them.. or trying to. So, through sponsorship and the care point the children were found a GoGo to live on the homestead with them and take care of the girls. A house was built through funds that were raised, and we got to paint the house while we were there. Love is now talking, walking, and eating.. She has come so far, and we want her to make even more progress. Without our team and without the sponsorship of churches and individuals this child would have died and possibly nobody would have even noticed.... but Jesus. Now, she is the ROCK star of our Carepoint, Thwalane. We all love her and are so excited to see her progress. So, of all the precious children we saw while in Swaziland, I wanted to make sure I got a picture of Love. The back of your shirt speaks volumes, and we are honored to be able to speak for those who can not speak for themselves. If you would be so kind as to publish Love's story, we would be so appreciative! A great blog site that has our mission trip documented and the in depth story of Swaziland and our journey with this carepoint is www.matthew25ministries.blogspot.com."

It is a late night for me, but I needed a break to give you a few praises, updates, and prayer requests ...

This past weekend I hosted our China Travel Group reunion ... 6 of the 11 families attended and it is always a sweet and emotional time ... You can see the girls take a couple of hours to adjust to each other and then they just start playing ... It is such a sweet sweet site and brings so many emotions to the surface of how blessed we are to have these amazing girls in our life as our daughters !!! They all turned 5 this year and we could not be more proud of them all !!! I promise to post pictures soon ...

We also got a call Friday from a friend, whose daughter just got back from 6 weeks in Africa (oh the things she saw) ... One part of her trip was a visit to Amani. She delivered Joseph his family picture book I made and she told me that he already calls himself Joseph and that he went running with his book to show his friends that he has a family. I just can't describe the joy in my heart at knowing my son knows he has a forever family coming to bring him home ...

Working late on THE BOOK tonight ... It is 190 pages so far and it is close to being complete and honestly I can' wait to be done. I feel humbled that God called me to do this, but also feel so much pressure to do it right and honoring to God ... I have cried many tears tonight as I read again your stories and really see your heart, see you choosing the path of adoption, see you waiting for your child, see you holding your child for the first time, see you change into the person filled with God's love and purpose ... Thank you for allowing me this honor ...

Jeremiah is away at the beach for a week with his best friend Michael. He has only been away from home one other time for 5 days and it is something I don't like if I am being honest. This mama likes all her peeps under her roof. He is calling everyday and I miss him so much !!!

Katie has got me busy (hee hee) and walking alongside of her is completely a blessing for our entire family. When the house is falling down around me w/ dishes and laundry, I always say I would rather help an orphan, answer a phone call about adoption or direct someone in a email on ways they can help Amazima over housework any day ... hee hee

Maggie was very sick last week and is recovering well. She is doing really good these days and it just comforts my heart to see her at peace ... She will probably have surgery again sometime in Nov. or Dec., so please continue to pray for her ...

I would like to ask for special prayers for the McNair family. Our son played basketball with Steve's son and I know it can not be easy right now with all the media intrusions. We will pray for comfort for his wife and his sons.

Back to work ... I am thinking I will get some sleep sometime around the end of August ...

Love You All !!!

Reminder ... shopoatsvallvillage.blogspot.com ... we are not ordering any more of the short sleeve designs. The men's brown shirts are sold out and we have a few orange Orphan Definition in the distressed look and few blue fitted 147 million orphans left, along with the regular t-shirt w/ the Orphan Definition Design ... Only a couple of youth girls and boys left also ... email me if you are interested in a certain size (twohunangirls@yahoo.com)... I can't tell you how amazing it was to see so many people at the concert in the t-shirts ... WE WERE SHOUTING TO THE LORD and SPEAKING UP FOR THE ORPHANS ...