Alex Slitz/Daily NewsTerrie Wilson plays with her 20-month-old son, Ben, on Wednesday in their Glasgow home.

Terrie Wilson sat in a room inside Christ United Methodist Church on Sunday, quiet for just a moment as she pondered a question – “What does the Wilson family want?”

She smiled and responded, “We always tell the kids to count your blessings before you count your wants.

“But a dishwasher would be nice to have, and a heavy-duty washing machine to help cut down on the loads of laundry done a day,” she added. “The size of the house doesn’t bother me, but I wouldn’t mind another bathroom.”

The Wilsons are a family of eight, with five adopted, special-needs children – all the children are minorities – who live in a small, three-bedroom, one-bathroom home.

“With one bathroom, someone is constantly in there. Someone always has to go,” Terrie Wilson said. “It’s a lot. We have our moments, and some we can look back on and say ‘this was a great day,’ but it can take its toll. It can be stressful. The children don’t get as much as other children may in toys and stuff, but they don’t seem to miss out.”

While the Wilsons live day to day, as many large families do, enduring their share of struggles, there is no shortage of love under their small roof. However, there is a lack of space and resources, and this Christmas that is set to change.

Christ United Methodist Church takes on several projects during the holiday season to help those in need, and it has taken on another – Christmas Spectacular.

“We just want to take one deserving family and knock the socks off them,” said Josh Wicker, the youth, young adult and contemporary worship pastor at Christ United Methodist. “We want to make Christmas spectacular.”

In hearing the story of the Wilson family about four months ago, Wicker was struck that a family with close ties to the church – Mike Wilson’s parents are long-standing members – had never really received assistance. The idea of Christmas Spectacular, he said, came about as he tried to inspire the spirit of giving during the holiday season with the church’s youth.

And when looking for a family to help, the Wilsons were at the top of the list.

“They have hearts full of gratitude, and you don’t meet many people like that,” he said. “I’ve never seen a better example of love. A lot of people walk by families like this with a need, and the need doesn’t go away just because times get rough. And when you find an opportunity like this, it is a chance to be a blessing.”

What began as a collaboration between church ministries – especially the youth and college ministries – has spread into the community. Wicker said brochures and fliers were circulated asking area residents to help make Christmas brighter for the Wilson family. The response, he said, has been strong.

“We didn’t know how this would work or turn out, but it’s been amazing,” he said. “With the majority of donors from the church, we’ve also had people from across the United States, from California to Georgia, to respond. People really believe in this event and this family.”

Wicker said that since the beginning of the project two months ago, the church is close to receiving the requested items through youth-sponsored chili sales, yard sales and other fundraisers and congregational giving.

“We’re a couple gifts away from our goal,” Wicker said.

In addition to improving the Wilsons’ bathroom situation, Wicker said the church is working toward a new vehicle for the family. While the family lives in Glasgow, a lot of their activities are in the Bowling Green area and their vehicles are in need of repair.

“The family has two vans, one with 250,000-plus miles and the other well over 300,000 miles,” Wicker said in the brochure that was circulated. “A new van which can hold all eight members would be a tremendous blessing.

“The Wilsons have not asked for any help … however, we believe Jesus is asking us to go above and beyond.”

The Wilson family

Terrie Wilson, a stay-at-home mother who is studying nursing online, and Mike Wilson, who works in finance, tried for nine years to have a child of their own.

“We went through fertility treatments, and we finally just gave up,” she said. “Well, while I was working at Cracker Barrel, I saw a baby sitting on the table, and thought it was so cute. And the mother was like, ‘He’s up for adoption.’ … That’s how we got into foster care.”

As foster parents, the Wilsons’ home has been open to 15 children – each with a special need. But it was Noah, 10, Nate, 9, Max, 8, Drew, 6, and Nina, 3, who made the Wilson household complete. Ben, who is 20 months old, was the Wilsons’ surprise baby. Believing she was permanently unable to bear children, Terrie Wilson would explain to the children that “mommy’s belly is broken,” but that did not dissuade the prayers from the children for a new sibling – prayers that were answered.

“Someone said they prayed we would have a child of our own, and I laughed,” Mike Wilson said. “That will teach me to laugh.”

The Wilsons have had each of the five children they’ve adopted since they were babies. While Nate was the first adopted, Noah, their 10-year-old, was the first child they received as foster parents.

He was 48 hours old.

“He’s the cocky one,” Terrie Wilson said with a chuckle.

Next came Nate at 19 days old, Max at 10 months old and Drew at 48 hours.

“He’s our peanut,” Terrie Wilson said with another laugh as they realized his shoes were on the wrong feet.

Last came Nina at 72 hours old. Nina’s story is a special one. The family was told there was a baby girl in Mississippi who needed a home. Mike Wilson, who had just lost his job, and Terrie Wilson, who had broken her leg, were about $15,000 short of the adoption fees.

But things started to fall in place, Terrie said.

“We had only lived in Glasgow for about six months, and we had people we didn’t even know helping,” Mike Wilson said. “It was like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ ”

Terrie Wilson said they are often asked why they adopted five children, and she simply says the family wasn’t complete at just one, or two or three.

“The way we are, if someone dropped off their child on our front door, we’d take it in because, for us, that’s God,” she said. “All we ever prayed for was a family, and it took nine years.

“These five made the family.”

Each of the children also knows about his or her biological parents, which Terrie Wilson said they have never hidden from their children.

“Each of their parents made a sacrifice, and their birth mothers are angels to us,” she said.

After moving five times in six months, and after Mike Wilson lost two jobs, the family found themselves back in the area, living in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment that Mike Wilson’s parents owned. Meanwhile, Terrie Wilson had just found out she was pregnant with Ben.

Terrie Wilson said a friend who owned a home in Glasgow had moved to New York. The home had been vacant for about a year. The friend, she said, asked if they wanted to buy the home. It is the three-bedroom, one-bath home the Wilsons occupy now. The home has a basement, which she said they have dreamed about finishing.

“But we do day by day, like everyone else. We live paycheck to paycheck,” she said.

The goal of Christmas Spectacular

This Christmas campaign boils down to this, according to Wicker: “What can the body of Christ do for thy neighbor?”

He said he wanted Christmas Spectacular to be a communitywide event, which he believes can bring together people from other walks of faith or denominations.

“It’s loving your neighbor in a way they haven’t been before,” he said. “It’s really loving your neighbor as you love yourself … seeing people as God does.”

Wicker said it is also about trusting in God. He said he believes those who contribute will be blessed as well.

“For us, money is our safety net, but when we are generous with our money, it places value on the person or persons those contributions are going to,” he said. “When giving to someone in need, you’re saying absolutely, ‘God, we trust you.’ And I believe that if you put your money in God’s bank, you are building God’s kingdom.”

He said those who could not donate financially have contributed in other ways, such as providing time and manpower to the work in the Wilsons’ home.

“We are trying to get the church in general and the community in general, to take the spotlight off of ourselves and put it on our neighbors,” he said. “That’s the heartbeat of Christmas Spectacular – to be the hands and feet of Christ.”