Our Family

 


This was written in an interview for Our Town Magazine in March 2016:

"Attempt something so great for God that it is doomed to fail, lest He be in it," quoted by Randy Pope, pastor of Perimeter Church, where Tim and Jennifer started their journey on staff with Campus Outreach at The University of Georgia 12 years ago. This opportunity shaped their faith, relationships, and finances early on. The couple met on the first day of college in 2000 through this college ministry. They were married in 2004 and became full time missionaries to go back and serve the ministry they were apart of. Little did they know, this strong foundation would lay the framework to endure the loss that was to come down the road.

 Tim and Jennifer reside in downtown Marietta with their three children, Mackenzie, Zach, and David who are in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade at West Side Elementary. The family attends Stonebridge Church on the square, and it is there that they have found a community that they live, work, and raise their kids together. Tim is an Alpharetta native, and has 2 brothers that reside in the Atlanta area. He became a small business owner last January, opening his own HVAC company, Summit Heating and Air servicing North Atlanta. Summit supports Young Life Marietta and when Tim isn't working, he can be found renovating their 1950's home.  Jennifer is a Marietta native and has one sister who lives in Savannah. Her grandfather was a graduate of Marietta High School, and she is happy to be back here raising her own family. She helps run the business, as well as, working for IEM Events as a Corporate Meeting and Event planner. When she isn't working, she volunteers as a Young Lives leader to the teen moms at Marietta High School. The couple’s parents both have been married close to 40 years, and they are grateful for the support and values they were raised with. As a family, they enjoy rock climbing at Stone Summit, kayaking, hiking at Kennesaw Mountain, and anything outdoors. They view their company as a vehicle to fund local missions and support where God is working.

Through the years, Tim and Jennifer have certainly gone through their fair share of ups and downs. Tim’s career in construction sales hit a few bumps in the road during the recession and in 2010 he decided to go back to school and study HVAC at Chattahoochee Technical College. Jennifer worked on weekends to help make ends meet.  They hit the re-set button and sold their home and purchased their first rental property that needed extensive renovations.  They also struggled with starting a family and numerous miscarriages marred their hopes. They were finally able to have 2 beautiful biological children of there own.  The miscarriages were a huge loss including a fraternal twin of her daughter’s. Jennifer explained, “It changed me, the way I view each day, and also how grateful and what a privilege it is to be a mother."

They had always wanted 3 children and after taking a few years off, they decided to adopt an older child through the Department of Family and Children Services. They saw Zach on Fox 5's Wednesdays Child and knew he was supposed to be theirs. "Zach is amazing, a testimony and picture of how God heals and restores. He has been our fighter. When we met Zach when he was 7 and in a state funded orphanage. While he was an energetic 7 year old, the rest of his peers at the orphanage were medically fragile. Zach's medical records gave him a list of diagnosis and special needs. It didn't seem fair to say what a child is or isn't if they have never been given a chance at a normal life." They took another huge leap of faith and decided to adopt him and never look back. "After we saw where he was living and his circumstances, we never questioned leaving without him. It’s what we had to do.”

Life was very difficult transitioning their new child into a family. Not only had Zach never been in a family, he had never really done much of anything.  He had not experienced family holidays, gone on trips, didn’t know what birthday’s were, and every food was new to him. The couple enrolled Zach into school, since he had never been exposed to general education.  It caught them off guard when they realized the school he was enrolled in was not equipped to accommodate his transition.  Jennifer told, Our Town, “We decided enough was enough. Zach had been the product of the system his whole life and had no one to advocate for him. We were convinced we needed to make a way for our new special needs son at his home school."  Not only did Zach stay, but Tim and Jennifer fought for full time inclusion teachers in their home school, and had the Georgia Department of Education come in to enforce policy that children be serviced in their home school. Zach has not only made a turnaround, but is thriving, doing better every day, and now been called "exemplary" by his teachers.

"We knew he just needed a chance. Every child deserves a chance and with supportive parents that are doing their part, there is no reason why a child can't overcome any obstacle. We push all three of our kids to be the best they can. Some just need more help than others." Zach's story makes a full circle because his name, Zachariah, means "The Lord has Remembered". "Zach is healing to us in many ways, not only did God restore and redeem his life, but he heard every prayer and was with me in every loss and remembered we wanted another child. We never thought we would adopt a 7 year old with special needs, but we now know our losses led us and equipped us to welcome this child into our family. God definitely remembers and hears the cries of our hearts."

If you would like to read more about their family, they have kept a blog for a little over 7 years at www.timandjenwillis.blogspot.com. "We hope we continue to take risks and ask God to give us the strength to always say yes. We hope, in turn, our kids will follow the example and never question the path that God may call them to. We love sharing our story because it gives hope and life to the darkest situations we may enter, knowing that God really is Emmanuel, who promises to be with us."