We are the Thompson family from the heart of Ohio. Our story began more than 11 years ago when we (Jeff and Julie) decided to join our lives together in marriage for the glory of God. Since then, God has been at work pruning, shaping and growing us – we are now a family of five including our three wonderful children. Our journey hasn’t always been paved with smooth roads, but as we look back we can see how God graciously withheld things from us and allowed us to walk through places that have brought us to the point we are at today. For that, we are forever grateful to Him. We can now see that part of his plan was to prepare our hearts for adoption. In the fall of 2008, He graciously turned our eyes from looking at all we don’t have to discovering all that we do have in comparison to those who have so much less around the world. Our family got deeply involved in Compassion International, but soon felt an additional call that would join our lives with Africa, a continent we had grown to love. We began our adoption journey in the winter of 2010 and became increasingly excited when in January of 2011 we heard those three sweet letters announced to us: DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia)! As we wait, we continue to press on in everyday life: attending school, doing homeschool, being blessed by an amazing house church family, advocating for moms and babies in Tanzania, making a living as writers, playing basketball, riding bikes and learning to love God more. Thank you for partnering with our family on this road and for praying for God’s wisdom and guidance on a life-altering step of obedience. You can follow our story by going to http://www.crossroadsoflightanddarkness.blogspot.com.