Patience in the wait

Here we are in mid-April still waiting for news from USCIS.  Being patient is challenging for all of us, especially for Vitaliy.  Our missionary friend went to the orphanage on Saturday and Vitaliy came to her with an envelope in hand and note enclosed for us.  This is what he wrote, “Mama, I love you very much. I want you to take me to you, to US. When I come home, I`ll play soccer with papa and I`ll score him a goal, then I`ll ride a bike.”  This is the first time he has addressed us as mama and papa.  We had tears of joy and sadness as we read his note.  Tears of joy because this child has the patience of Job as he waits for us and tears of sadness because we can’t be with him now.  Our hearts ache for him as we would ache for the presence of Grace or Hanna if they weren’t with us.  It makes me think of how much our Savior aches for his children, the ones that he came to earth to redeem and adopt.  Except in His case, Jesus has already paid the price for His elect and He is waiting for us to turn to Him to be rescued.  How much our resurrected Christ aches to gather His redeemed, the price He paid, and the love He gives, this sort of love is amazing!

Joyous news to report from the Thompson household is that Hanna our 11 year old gave her life to Christ on March 22^nd! We are so overwhelmed with God’s mercy and grace!  We had been praying specifically for her salvation prior to bringing Vitaliy home.  We knew that the challenges we will face will be immense and that it would be extremely difficult to endure without the Holy Spirit inside to guide, protect, and encourage our hearts. 

Other news to report is that we have raised a total of $23,546!!!  $16,454 to go!! Thank you all for your generous support. We are hoping we will have the funds raised NLT June so that we can finalize the adoption! 

This is a quote I came upon during my reading this week that I wanted to conclude this blog post with.

"Adoption is heavenly before it is earthly. One is what God does: the other is what we do. Adoption is something God has done and is doing before it is something we have done and are doing. God invented adoption even before He created the world. Adoption is how God brings us into His family." ~Dr. Joel Beeke

Blessings from the Thompson’s