Notes to My Siblings

“Adoption is a beautiful picture of redemption. It is the Gospel in my living room.” -Katie Davis I made my monthly visit to my little guy who's in foster care today and came away with a little ache for his unknown future. Today is National Adoption Day, drawing attention to the 100,000 kids in foster care in the US who are legally freed for adoption and waiting for a family to call them their own. Did you see that number? That's a lot of kids. And that's not even a quarter of the kids in foster care. I could spew stats for a while, but Google can help you out with that.  Instead, go look at these faces. Then ask why. Why are there so many. Sure, these kids are broken. But they're no more broken than you and me. The Gospel takes the broken, messed up you and me and adds us into God's family where we are loved infinitely even though we did nothing to deserve it.  And honestly I have a tornado of thoughts on this subject but I'm tired and can't f...

It was an ordinary Wednesday night at AWANA. All my little Sparkie boys were filing in, the usual banter and craziness that usually accompanies 1st and 2nd grade boys filling the room. Everything was normal, except one of my little guys seemed out of sorts. Usually happy and sweet, Tim* was sullen and cross. In the weeks that followed, his attitude continued, and some of the younger boys would complain that he hit them, or mouthed off at them, which was not characteristic of Tim. Eventually, I heard that his dad had left several weeks earlier- the same time his demeanor took a nose dive. I could google a bunch of statistics about fatherless homes and crime rates, repeated patterns, etc, but to some extent, I think we all realize that fatherlessness causes problems. Girls look for the love they should have had from their fathers in other men. Boys look for the guidance and attention their father should have given them in other men. I heard of a former gang member once who, after he ...