justinatrip

Baptism

Before we left the orphanage, we were informed that Justina had not been baptized as an infant. We were told that was somewhat unusual for orphans in Lithuania.

We believe that God had a special plan for Justina, and part of that plan was to be baptized once she was adopted into her family. In baptism, we celebrate God's adoption of us as his sons and daughters. For us, that will have a very special double meaning, as Justina's earthly adoption gives us a picture of our spiritual adoption.

We're not sure how many this will reach, but we wanted to extend an open invitation to everyone who is able, to attend Justina's baptism this Sunday, August 8 at Spring Lake CRC (364 S. Lake Avenue, Spring Lake) at 9:30 am.

Thanks for sharing in this journey with us. Justina's baptism is another leg in that journey and we hope you are able to share that with us.

Settling in

We have had three good days since being home. It's been nice that Becki and I have both been off this week. It's given us a chance to get caught up and get over our jet lag.

Cheri Ter Haar took some pictures at the airport on Sunday. Two of them are included in this post.

Justina is eating and sleeping well, so we feel like we've got the basics covered. Generally, she's happy and finds lots of things to do during the day, like coloring, playing with dolls and following mom and dad everywhere. She's a good helper around the house and enjoys setting the table for meals. She especially likes going in the car, and asks about it all the time.

As we expected, Justina has occasional moments where she is sad. Once again, she has had to adjust to a new place to live and to a busy household. She's beginning to learn that mom and dad aren't always home at the same time. She's also discovering that no one understands her when she speaks. I'm sure that must be very frustrating for her, and it shows sometimes when she just keeps repeating what she's saying, hoping that we will eventually understand it. She seems to understand us when we ask her questions, but she has yet to speak an English word on her own.

Justina went to her first high school baseball game today. She'll have many more opportunities to see ballgames, although I think most of them will be softball. She also went to Abby's Brown Bag Opera at school today, and got lots of attention from all the kids at school who were eager to meet her.

We're enjoying learning her personality. She is lots of fun to be with and has added a new dimension to our family. We feel blessed to have her and we have also been blessed by a tremendous support network here at home. We appreciate your prayers and words of encouragement, and ask that you continue to remember us as we settle in here at home.

Home

We are back home! It's good to be back, although now we've been up for 24 straight hours!

We had a wonderful greeting party at the airport - what a blessing to see so many family and friends coming out to greet Justina as she arrived home. She had lots of fun playing with the kids and with her 2 new balloons.

Justina did so well on the planes. She didn't seem to be affected by the taking off and landing. She sat well in her seat - even on the 8-hour flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. She stood patiently with us in line at customs and immigration. Thanks for your prayers - they were answered in very wonderful ways!

We are very happy to be home. The rest of our family has missed us and Becki's parents can now enjoy some peace and quiet. Not only did they take care of our kids, they also did a number of projects around the house - the kind of projects that are always on your list but you never get to because something else seems more urgent (or maybe more fun!).

We have been very blessed these past two weeks. It's time for us to get to bed and to try to start back on our regular schedule. Justina is about to walk into her room (shared with Leah and Abby) for the first time. Another new place, another new bed. Justina has only slept one hour in the past 24, so hopefully, she sleeps well tonight.

We'll post again within the next day or two to let you know how things are going at home.

Last day in Lithuania

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks ago we arrived here. In some ways, it went slow, such as our times of waiting. In other ways, it went very fast. We have very much enjoyed our time in Lithuania. We have experienced much of the culture here and have felt very comfortable here. It's a great place to visit, so if you're thinking about your next vacation destination, consider Lithuania.

This morning, we went out for a walk and discovered a 3-on-3 basketball tournament happening on the main street. Basketball is very big in Lithuania. We enjoyed watching it for quite a while. There appeared to be tournaments for several age brackets. Justina stood there, taking it all in.

We then went back to Old Town and walked around what has now become familiar territory. We were headed toward the Gates of Dawn and Justina wanted to keep going further, so we made it all the way there on foot.

After lunch, we organized our suitcases and then went to the park. Justina had great fun on the slide, playing in the sand, and, of course, on the swings. A special highlight was when a man was feeding the pigeons, he reached out and caught one. Justina thought that was quite something, as did the other kids in the park. After playing in the park, we went back to our favorite ice cream place, Soprano's, for some Italian ice cream.

For supper, we had a little bit of everything. We had to finish our food so we cooked whatever we had left and nearly finished everything. We have a few ziplock bags filled with teddy bear snacks and a few cookies for the plane. We're hoping we don't have any trouble getting it through security.

We're heading to bed early tonight so we can get up at 4:00 am. We're getting picked up at 4:45, and our flight is scheduled to leave at 6:50 am. Please join us in praying that our flights are on time and that we experience no delays at customs and immigration.

It's been a privilege to share with you during these two weeks. We will continue to post here, but not as regularly. Our next phase of adjustment begins when we get home. Justina getting used to a new environment; us getting used to another person in the house.

Wishing all of you a good Sunday. Hopefully it will be a day of good rest and worship for you.

Potpourri

Today we completed the last step in Justina's adoption in Lithuania by picking up her Lithuanian passport with her USA immigration visa. Everything was ready when we got there, so the trip to the embassy took all of 20 minutes.

So, we had lots of time today. In many ways, that was good. We went back to the park; this time the two Italian families living in the apartments above us were there along with their two adopted children. All of the kids had great fun going down the slide. Even cooler was that as we were gathered around the slide, we had three different languages being spoken: Lithuanian, Italian, and English.

This afternoon, we went to the Family Law Center to deliver a gift. They have been great to work with, and have been very helpful, even calling just to see how we're doing. They are currently working with 2 other families, so only one of them was in the office. Elona returned later and called to thank us. It was a good walk there and back.

Yesterday's post was on "firsts," and after we posted we realized we forgot one. Yesterday, at the embassy, Elona asked Justina what was good in her life. She responded, "I have a mom and a dad." This is the first time she has been able to say that.

Before our heads get too big, we are quick to add that she is quite easy to please. While at the embassy, she also commented that she would like to live there.

As many of you get ready to meet her, we have to say that we're glad you speak English. She has far too many people here who understand what she's saying. She continues to ask people for candy, and, believe it or not, she continues to get it. We're NOT going to tell you when she's asking you for candy.

Another phrase that we recognize is essentially, "I will do it myself." She's a strong-willed child, and also independent. She likes to do things herself, like sweeping the floor of our apartment for almost 20 minutes (must have gone over each section at least 10 times!).

We're starting to wind down here, anticipating leaving very early Sunday morning. We're getting picked up at 4:45 am!! We're thinking that we'll get up a little early tomorrow (seems wrong to do on a Saturday, but you do what you need to do) so that we can get to bed early. We have some food to finish and some packing to finalize, but we should have plenty of time for both tomorrow. We may also walk back to Old Town one last time.

This afternoon, as we were walking around town, someone in a taxi rolled down the window and started talking to us. After a half-second, we realized it was one of the people we met in church on Sunday. It was good to connect with her for all of 30 seconds while she was stopped at a traffic light. We also reflected that it must be time to go home when we start recognizing people on the street!

Not sure if we'll post tomorrow or not, so we'll share with you some of the ways that we've seen God working during our trip. We believe that God is always working, even in ways that we cannot see. But there are also times when God's working is so evident, and we want to share a few of those with you.

*Justina, from what we've observed so far, appears to fit in well with our family. God matched us up well, even across two continents. Five years ago, Justina was born. We didn't know anything about her, nor her about us. Yet in God's plan, he brought us together in 2010.

*Everything went so well with our court hearing. We were assigned a very compassionate judge who we learned often waives the appeal period. Not every adoption case gets this judge. What was even more amazing was that she announced her decision while we were all in the courtroom. As a contrast, one of the other families here had to wait over a week to hear what the judge's decision was. We are sure things happened that way because God's people have been praying for a long time for our case to go as it did.

*Ease of the trip. Things have gone well and according to schedule. We were also blessed with four days last week to absorb some of the culture without having Justina with us. It enabled us to do a lot and to maintain a flexible schedule. Please pray that the remainder of our trip, especially our travel back, goes as smoothly as our travel here.

*All the clothes we brought were the right size. Thanks to Mary and Jaclyn Ten Cate, with Jaclyn serving as our model. We had never met Justina, but noted from the records we received that she was about the same size as Jaclyn, so that gave us some idea. Special thanks as well to Linda DeBoer and her daughter who gave us a boxful of clothes and shoes that were just the right size.

*Justina has bonded well with us. She tries to push her limits (what 5-year-old doesn't?), but she has seemed very comfortable around us and trusts us.

God has been good to us. We know that things have gone this way because of your faithful prayers on our behalf. Thank you so much for praying and for being a special part of this journey with us. We are looking forward to seeing you again very soon!

Firsts

We'll start with something that was a "first" for all of us - going to a US Embassy. To get in, we had to go through airport-like security. As Elona (from Family Law Center) said, "Only in America..."

We waited quite a while. Our 10:00 appt, for which we arrived 15 minutes early, wasn't completed until after 11:00. We weren't called for our interview until just around 11:00. The interview went fine - the paperwork was all in order. Justina managed to ask for and receive candy from two of the embassy workers. Had mom and dad known what she was asking for, the result may have been a little different.

While we're not completely sure of what Justina's orphanage experience was like, we're pretty sure these things were "firsts" for her.

Seeing food prepared. The orphanage has a large kitchen where food was prepared and then brought to the rooms where the kids were. In the past few days, Justina has been a good little helper in the kitchen, putting peeled potatoes and carrots in the pot to boil and watching mom prepare some chicken in the frying pan. She also helps to clear the table.

Taking out the trash. This evening, after supper, she walked with me out to the dumpster to throw away our kitchen garbage bag. She thought it was great fun.

Laundry. She was fascinated by our small front-loading washer. She's gone through her clothes a little quicker than we thought, so we had to wash some to keep her going for the rest of our time here. She kept running back to the kitchen to watch the clothes in the washer.

Swings. We didn't see any swings at the orphanage but for the last two days, that's mostly what she wants to do at the park. I think she spent over 30 minutes on the swings today.

Grocery shopping. So many things to look at and then grab. She's gotten better over the past few days. On Tuesday, we had to take her out of the store because she was being naughty. Today, she was very good. It was her job to carry the juice to the checkout, and then carry it back to our apartment.

Using keys. Another job she has come to enjoy is unlocking and locking our apartment door. We have a big skeleton key that locks our main deadbolt lock. We have to turn it four times. It's become a great way to teach her to count in English.

Washing dishes. Today, she helped me wash the dishes. The past few days, we've done dishes after she went to bed, but tonight we decided to do them right after supper. She was fascinated with the whole process, and quickly caught on. She began handing me dirty dishes to wash. I had a hard time keeping up with her pace.

Family style meals. Everything on the table looks good to her. If you offer it, she'll eat it...and quickly. She's a good eater. We'll have to do a better job managing her portions.

We keep reminding ourselves that much of what she's experiencing is new. At the same time, we have to establish boundaries and expectations. Even though we're not speaking the same language, she knows when we are disappointed with her behavior. She's a lot of fun to be with and is full of energy.

Of course, the "firsts" continue. On Sunday, she will take her first airplane rides. Becki brought along a library book for children that helps explain what will happen on an airplane. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story. She will also meet the rest of her family for the first time. We've been teaching her to say the names of her siblings as well as grandpa and grandma. She's coming along well, although you can hear her "accent."

We are doing well but also looking forward to coming home. We miss our family, our friends, and our regular routine.

Some have asked about meeting us at the airport. We are not putting together an "invite" list. If you would like to meet us there, you are welcome to do that. I can't promise what kind of shape we'll be in since our first flight leaves at 6:50 am (around midnight in MI), and we arrive in GR at 4:15 pm. We are on a Delta flight from Detroit, so our terminal shouldn't be too hard to find. We will have already gone through customs in Detroit, so we'll be able to come right off the plane and meet everyone.

Thanks for taking this journey with us and for bathing it in prayer. In one of our next posts we'll share with you how we have seen God at work in this process.