Hall of Fame

The longer I've had to get to know my boys - their gifts, talents, interests and what just makes them unique - the more I've started to dream of who they can grow up to be one day.  I dream of the kind of men they'll be.  I dream of what kind of fathers and husbands they'll be.  I dream of what they might study one day and what careers could define their adulthood.

Parents, I'm convinced, like to think that their own children are the most handsome, smartest, most talented and funniest children to have ever walked the Earth.  We brag about them all day long to our friends, co-workers and we put their precious faces all over social media don't we?  Why?  Because we are obsessed with them.

I am absolutely no exception to any of that - just my kids aren't mine.  My kids live in an orphanage.  My boys have lived at the same orphanage for the past 7, 8, 12 years and my oldest kid is 13 years old.
I hope and pray that my boys grow up to be men of integrity, passion, service and live lives full of joy.  I pray that they don't repeat the cycle of following in the footsteps of the generation before them who after leaving the orphanage, abandon their own children at the same orphanage just a few years later. I pray that they have a family one day and I pray that they can hold down a job.  I pray that they can make a living doing something that they love, using their unique gifts and talents to not only feed their family but to glorify their Maker.

I pray that nothing holds them back - not their friends, street gangs, poverty, unwanted pregnancy, or selfish desires.  I pray that my boys can study something useful for their future.

Parents try to give their kids every single tool imaginable for what challenges life might throw at them - so that they are ready and equipped.  I tried to teach my kids the importance of their education and the ability to read.  And you better believe that I am so proud of each and every one of them.  More than anything though - I'm proud of how proud they are of themselves when they see what they've accomplished.

Check out the chapter books my boys have read.  Due to privacy laws in this state, I can't post the pictures of their beautiful smiling faces but you can use your imagination.

you can be the greatest, you can move a mountain

you can be a master, don't wait for luck

dedicate yourself and you can find yourself standing in the hall of fame

you can go the distance, you can run the mile

how are you ever going to know, if you never even try?

be a champion, be students, be teachers, be politicians, be preachers

This story, the story of their lives, is no where near over.  In fact, this is just the beginning.  God knows the plans that He has for them... plans for a hope, plans for a future...