Friends,

K and I are truly humbled by your support, prayers and joy for us. I can't conjur up the words that would be appropriate to express our gratitude for you. Nor do I have the words to express our gratitude to our Sovereign God. He has given us a great kid.
We had another good night. We "read" a couple of books together after we all piled into bed, then Sam crashed and once again slept long and hard. He may be paralyzed from the waist down, but he thrashes about in his sleep as much as Kristin. I sleep on about 6 inches of bed space, and I couldn't be happier.
Again we're at the internet cafe. Sam is chomping at the bit to type; I think this is the first time he's seen a computer.
This morning Elona called again. When asked what he'd like to tell us, Sam said that he was very happy and wants cucumbers and more carrots. So we add cucumbers to the grocery list. Apparently he doesn't miss the orphanage which is a bigger deal than you might think. Sam's orphanage was not a bad place at all. The caregivers there all loved him and doted on him. The place is sparse, but very clean. The orphange doc even cried when we discussed how she would miss Martynas. So, the orphanage hasn't been a bad place for him; not missing it is good news.
Winter finally caught up with Lithuania - very cold and lots of snow now. No big deal except that it restricts our outside activities some. Tomorrow we'll go to the big mall here in Vilnius. We want to daily expose him to large groups of people and lots of noise. So far he's been frightened only once at a restaurant last week.
One thing we've noticed is that he likes to sing. I suppose it could be a coping mechanism or he could simply be happy, however the times he chooses to sing often seem to be times when it would be appropriate for him to be singing, "My parents are dumb, my parents are dumb, oh no, my parents are dumb." Like when we're trying to figure out how to get a coat over his 20 layers of clothing...
Bottom line, we stand in awe at this journey on which God has brought us. Thanks again for sharing it with us and for tolerating our new parent prattle. If you think about it, please join us in praying for God's regenerating work in Sam; may He be pleased to begin it now. Eventhough we've not yet received the paperwork that finalizes the adoption, nor has Sam yet been baptized, he is now a child of God's covenant. Our prayers are that God would draw Sam to Himself even now. Wow. Since we don't yet speak the same language, I guess that means Kristin and I have to live out the gospel in front of him. Whew! Now that I've thought about that, the pressure's on. Boy, God's grace just took on a whole new meaning! May He work through the prayers of His people and through and in spite of us.
Grace and peace,
Chip