Greetings Wilson’s Mills!
I look forward to the opportunities and mission of God that is ahead of us together, as we share our family and become a part of yours. My sweet husband asked if I would share my heart on our family in written form,because you won't hear me speak as boldly or frequently as he does. If this effort helps knit our hearts to yours faster, then I welcome the time well spent.
My name is Mitzi. Billy and I met in high school youth group. Every moment of our lives before we met and since have been soaked in church. I was born in Jackson, MS and raised in Raleigh, NC and he in South Florida, Boca Raton to be exact. Both Saved at an early age & engaged in church. He moved to NC about a year before we met. I graduated from Athens Drive High School and then went off to Appalachian State. He went from Cary High to Wingate University, both of us in 1997. We were the best of friends, each dating the
other's best friend our final year of high school, even going to prom together; however, college would change all those relationships. Second semester, freshman year, he asked me out and we've never been apart since! He graduated with a Biblical Studies degree and the face of a baby, shortly after we got married in 2001. His dream of being a youth pastor would be put on hold, as he looked like a baby at 21... and then we would be blessed with our first child (Cameron).
Billy worked in banking and mortgages so that we could pay the bills and then our evenings were filled with leading church youth groups in smaller churches and our home for the next 10 years. Two and a half years after Cameron was born, we welcomed our first daughter (Kaylen). Life had its ups and downs, job gains and losses, many a valuable lesson that would write the testimony of God's Provision upon our hearts.
Lay ministry would be replaced in 2012 with the full time call and ordination of Billy as Associate Pastor in the church we were serving at the time, Emmanuel Baptist. For 3.5 years he lead and I prayed and took care of the family and we saw God's hand at work.
In 2014 Billy and I took our first overseas mission trip together to El Salvador where God finally confirmed for him what I had known for years: God was calling us to adopt! We both have a passion for it now- but this is not the place for that book to be written. We began Foster to Adopt licensing, and then welcomed “Z” into our family for a short while. Her return home broke our hearts and raised questions of our family's ability to balance
God's Call with our collective family heart's cost. We took a month and braved the system again in May 2015. That's when God blessed us with, who you'll come to know as Kaiyah.
She was a Safe Surrender from a mother who chose life, even though she had many other lamentable decisions prior. We received her from the hospital and she has been in our arms since 3 days old. We had the privilege of naming her and we walked the long adoption process to make her certain.
By the end of 2015, God was calling us out of Youth Ministry and into a Leadership role with Supply Baptist, where we have served for the last 7 years. Shortly after the move in Jan. 2016, we saw the brokenness again of our county and so we responded and got re-licensed in 2018, just before Caleb Jaxon was born (You can call him Jax). His story is similar to Kaiyah's except that we have contact with the birth family. Both of them were given unfair circumstances before birth, and both are working hard to overcome these challenges, but by God's
Grace they are thriving and forever Rave's. (PS. That's a picture of the Gospel... )
Which Brings us to today... Still seeking God's Glory... Wanting to lead His church... trusting Him for the details! We pray that our hearts will be knit to yours and that Wilson's Mills will See God's mighty hand at work. Will you join us?
With The Love of Christ,
Mitzi Rave
Shorter Bios of the children
Cameron- Now 21 and we couldn't be prouder of the man he has become. Since 16, he's been a firefighter and now he's a Lieutenant with the Bolivia Fire Department and a full time Paramedic having graduated a few years back. We see him late nights and on off days, which are few as he works the paramedic job, but loves the fire department team. The love of his life is a paramedic in training from Kansas, who helps encourage the young man he is becoming.
Kaylen- Now 18, is our songbird and actress. Music and theater are her passions and she is pursuing a theater degree at Appalachian State. She has finished half of her first year and is thriving in this new context. She has chronic health concerns that would cripple most, but she is a tough girl! She is determined and has her daddy's sense of humor. We are proud of her ability to compassionately advocate for others and stand her ground on principles, even when it makes parenting complex.
Kaiyah- Now 7, is our free-spirit. She is an artist through and through, from painting to dancing, and every loud-volumed thing in between. Her current obsession is climbing everything with branches or a foothold. Pray that gravity stays kind! She's incredibly outgoing and has never met a stranger. We love her so!
Jaxon- Almost 5, is the loudest and highest energy of our crew. He is cram-packed with emotions and he displays them freely (that's usually a good thing). He loves his family and has the best of friends. Kindergarten is on the horizon and we look forward to seeing him grow.
Lets See? Am I forgetting something? Not unless you count our senior dog Pico- A Chinese Crested \ Poodle mix. Ellie- Kaylen's toddler Black Lab. Skippy our Red-eared Slider turtle, or our 5 free-range chickens- that may not move to Johnston County...
We'll see!
Pray for us. Pray for the Mill. Pray for the church we serve.
Pray that in all things God would be glorified and that transitions would be sweet.
See you soon!