Temporary Home

Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone
Another new mom and dad, another school
Another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary home."

When I first heard this song by Carrie Underwood, it caught me off guard. I was innocently listening to the radio on my way to work, not expecting to hear a song that would knock the wind out of me. By now the song is overplayed and seeing the lyrics makes them sound somewhat cheesy, but this song has great meaning. I think most anyone can be touched by the picture the song paints of a boy without a family, shuttled from house to house and never belonging. I suppose it possibly means more to me than to some because I have been the person to do the shuttling.

But why is it necessary? Why are children without a safe place to live in the first place? What exactly is broken in the world that creates such an environment? And why is it so hard to find someone to love and care for these children?

Sure, I know the surface reasons. A lot of the kids in the foster care system have severe mental illnesses, post traumatic stress disorder, they’ve lived a life of abuse and neglect and often no rules or limitations, they’re fearful and they’re confused. Doesn’t exactly make for a cuddly, obedient child. But, that child still needs a home.

I feel as if I am being torn in a million directions as I write this. I wish I had some answers, I wish I had a solution, I wish I had the time and resources to love on each and every child out there who is currently in need. And at the same time, I know just how big of a deal it is to try to care for these children, I know just how great their needs are, and just how out of control some of them can be.

When I worked as caseworker I had to remove children from their homes and take them to live with strangers called foster parents. I had extensive training in my job and they taught us about how traumatic all of that can be, but, the thing they didn’t cover was how to have that conversation with the child. How do I tell a 6 year she can’t stay there anymore because her mom chooses drugs and prostitution over her? How? How do I explain to a 13 year old that I must move her to another foster home because her current one doesn’t want her there anymore? How? There is no good way, I fumbled my way through so many awkward and broken conversations, and in the end the only thing that comes close to working is a hug.

I suppose I don’t have a specific point or goal in writing this, I just cannot help myself from speaking about an issue which is so real and raw within my heart. There are children who need homes, teenagers who need love. How sad is it that I work with kids in the juvenile detention center who say they actually like being there because they know they’ll be clothed, fed, and sheltered, they’ll be kept safe, given boundaries, and given attention. What has gone wrong that it has come to this?

What can the church do? Where are we missing the point? James 1:27 tells us

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Are we looking after the orphans? And not just the technical orphans who have no living parents, but the children who are in need? If the church isn’t loving them, who is? What sort of example of our loving Father are we giving to the world? What can we do? Who will speak for the unwanted and forgotten children?