Adam and I have always been open to adoption as a wonderful option for our family. We truly desire to serve God with our whole lives and know that taking care of orphans and widows is very important to God. We have prayed about this for the past several years and then in 2011 we both felt called to pursue adoption more aggressively. God continued to open our hearts to orphans and particularly those orphans in Ethiopia. We had the blessing of meeting a family with 3 biological children and 2 adopted sibling daughters from Ethiopia. We were privileged to read a blog by a missionary in Ethiopia that wrecked our hearts (in a good way). We were constantly bombarded with newspaper and magazine articles, radio stories and songs, and loving people who felt called to adoption. All of these things brought is so much confirmation that this was God's plan for our family.
Through our prayers, God confirmed Ethiopia as the destination for the rest of the Thompson kids. Adam and I felt strongly that adopting more children into our family would be a family affair. Elizabeth and Cael have been praying with us from the beginning. They recognize that we are very blessed and feel the desire to share those blessings with others.
In August 2011 we submitted our preliminary application for adoption with Bethany Christian Services Agency.
In December 2011 our formal application was approved.
In January 2012 we began our home study paperwork and completed all of it as well as our four interview/home study visits and required education by June 2012.
We are currently waiting for our home study to be finalized and approved and then we will begin working on our Dossier. We are requesting 2 or 3 siblings under the age of 6 from Ethiopia. We trust God and look forward to meeting our new children!
This is so exciting! I can't wait to hear more as your journey continues.
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting, Jill. I would love to talk to you about it. I am praying for your family!
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