[meganicolson]

Great thread and so fun to read everyone's answers.

I guess that adoption has always been a part of my life because I was adopted as an infant, as was my (non-bio) brother. I have several other friends who were also adopted, too, and we are all from the closed adoption era, though some of us are at different stages of seeking reunion.

While waiting for our first adoption my husband and I, along with three other couples from our church, started an orphan ministry at our church in order to reach out to missionaries serving orphans throughout the world and to offer grants to families in our church who were adopting. This has lead to several projects that the entire church has come along side to help with and has been very exciting and encouraging.

Now my husband and I facilitate a Christian adoption support group for families in the North West metro area of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The group's focus is mainly on prayer and Christian parenting and support. It has been such an encouragement to us as we learn to lead this group together.

We are blessed with several close friends who have adopted both infants and older children and sibling groups domestically and internationally. Adoption is the norm for us. Sometimes when a member of our extended family responds to our adoption journey and doesn't seem to "get it" right away we are kind of shocked because the rest of our world is on board. Thankfully our family has been very supportive and they are learning as we go.