The Verdict

We are so thankful for the two women who came to talk with the three of us a couple of nights ago. Unfortunately, I came down with a nasty head cold, so I'm sorry for the delay in updating.

Our conversation was pretty intense and at one point Igor had to walk out of the room. We can certainly appreciate how hard it is to make such a life altering decision at 17 with very little life preparation skills. The Ukrainian woman who has adopted two teens herself, did an excellent job of explaining to Igor about family life and telling him he needed to decide if he was willing to learn to be a member of a family. Throughout the conversation Igor changed his mind twice, ending with a decision not to come home with us. We said our goodbyes to the two ladies and just after they left Igor walked out with a note he wrote in Ukrainian. Here's the translation:

StartFragment…"I’m sorry for acting badly, I won’t do it again, I will go with you, I love you guys and I will listen to you and be obedient. I am sorry for what I said. Now I am your son.”EndFragment

While we certainly don't expect he will be able to follow everything he's written, what we could clearly see was his true desire to come with us. I later communicated with the woman from the orphan ministry and she agreed. We all have the sense that Igor is scared and he's behaving the way he knows, to hurt by saying he won't go with us when he's angry, but when he calms down we can really see that he does desire to go with us. So, while we know the journey ahead will be a rollercoaster, we continue to press on in welcoming this young man into our family.