One Day...

One day there won’t be any more suffering. There won’t be any pain, disease, corruption, abuse, addictions, sin, or sadness.

One day there won’t be any more boys who live in the streets. There won’t be any families where pride and selfishness force young boys to choose an abandon car to spend the night under over a warm bed. I can’t wait for it! Because I’m struggling to rationalize the picture on our mantles with the stories I hear over and over again about hatred, abandonment, and fear of tomorrow from a 12 year old.

One day you’ll take your son to Boy Scouts, camping, baseball games, or to test drive a car. You’ll probably tell them at 16 that they have a curfew and they’d better not make the mistake of missing it. Moms will get anxious at 18 when they have to pack them up and take them to college. They’ll probably walk into their old rooms and bathe in nostalgia for a few hours.

But I doubt very seriously that Dennis will have that experience from his family. I’m pretty sure that Johnny won’t have a dad who flips open his wallet with puffed out chest telling his co-workers about his son. And little James may never ever raise his hand and tell you what bedtime story was his favorite read by his mom.

Why? Because their families have already chosen something else over them.

Sin is an awful sickness. It’s rooted in pride, born at birth, and extensive in life. And millions have no idea how horrible its effects truly are. Dennis, Johnny, and James’ families sure don’t.

But what if one day something different happens. What if, instead of an abandoned car, there was a bed with plenty of covers and the sweet smell of Downy sheets filling their nostrils? What if there was a mom to read bedtime stories to 2 little boys who previously had no concept of such a thing? What if instead of colleting plastic bags all day for just enough coins to by a mango, there was a table with more food than they could stuff in their mouths? What if there was a real family where they didn’t have to look out for themselves because someone else was willing to?

One day that will happen…

Actually,… that one day was July 3, 2010. For one day, 10 young boys were allowed to be boys. They didn’t have to buy food. They didn’t have to sleep outside under newspapers. They didn’t have to worry if someone was going to attack them while they tried to manage a few hours sleep. I was on watch!

Lindy and I were honored to have our boys spend an entire day AND NIGHT with us! They played, ate, laughed, and were free to be boys for this one day. At the end of that day, I gathered them together and told them that we’d love to have them spend the night and travel together to church the next morning. They cheered loudly! They high-fived, and beamed with excitement! I took them upstairs after every one of them got warm baths to show them their beds. We walked in the big “bunk room” and I said, “You will sleep here.” They asked, “How many to a bed?” … My heart jumped into my throat because I knew what was to follow my response. “You each get your own bed tonight.” Their screams of delight melted my heart. Most kids in the world not only know a bed, but they usually have their own. Neither of these were true for my little buddies.

But tonight it was.

As my boys slept, for one day at least, I didn’t have to worry where they were, if they were safe, and if anyone was going to mess with them. And I too, slept very well for one night.

I can’t wait to make that one day a constant reality for 10 boys who are becoming saints. My family works for them so that can be a reality. We are closer than before.

One day an even better reality may happen for them too. And that’s the day that I most long for. It’s the day that they become adopted sons of my Father. And I will wear my tears like an honor badge for them.

Pray for my boys today. Their Father loves them and wants them to come home.