What am I called if my mother and father are both in prison?

Seven-year-old Adam asked this question recently. He had heard if both your parents were dead you were called an orphan. So he wanted to know what he would be called if both his parents were in prison. His dad is already there for five more years and his mother is looking at a possible four years in federal prison, although we are hopeful the judge will allow her to remain at Blue Monarch. This painful uncertainty is something Adam and his sisters are accustomed to living with daily. 

Since Adam brought this up I haven't been able to get this question out of my head. It immediately brought me back to a time when I was a child and the kids from the local Children's Home attended my church. A few times I rode back on the bus with them after church to spend the afternoon with some of my friends who lived there.  Today that same Children's Home has individual homes to provide a more typical family environment but at that time it was much like a Little Orphan Annie dorm. There was a large, dark brick building with vast rooms, tall ceilings, cold hardwood floors and each child had a twin-sized bed and chest of drawers filled with only a few belongings, lined up against the wall with numerous children to a room. 

Meals were loud and chaotic in the dining hall and each child had a chore to complete before leaving the room. It was common for the children there to insist their moms and dads were coming for them, which rarely happened. And they often gazed out the windows as if they expected their parents to drive up at any moment. I wonder now if some of those kids had the same question Adam is asking today. 

I think back on the Adam who first arrived here ten months ago. He was an absolute handful! He was angry and bad about biting those around him. He hit others, including his mom. He yelled A LOT - and was in trouble most of the time.  His first week at school started badly when he threatened to kill the father of a classmate. Apparently it all started when he told a little girl she was pretty. Not sure how it escalated so quickly, but in Adam's world this was probably a pretty normal chain of events.

Adam's young world had already been packed with turmoil. His parents had both been in and out of jail his whole life, he had been moved from place to place numerous times, and had even been struck by lightning at the age of four. Yes, struck by lightning. And this apparently has nothing to do with his double vision.

But after ten months at Blue Monarch, Adam is a different child. He has soaked up his life here like a sponge. He absolutely adores his tutor, a gracious seminarian who inspires and motivates Adam to learn and always takes the time to play after their lessons. I can't count the number of times I have watched the two of them run past my office on their way to play basketball or toss the football. And Adam's grades? Well, he started the year with only dashes on his report card. But now? He's advanced in three subjects!

He's seeing the eye doctor as I'm writing this, getting prepared for an upcoming surgery to correct his double vision. And Adam's behavior? He's so proud to run in and report to me that he was "green" all day, which means he stayed out of trouble at school.

Adam loves church, the Bible, and the Lord. He recently made a card for two of our major donors and inside the card he asked, "Do you love Jesus?" He drew boxes to mark yes or no. (I suspect they checked yes.)

A card Adam made me

One day I held Adam by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes and said, "Adam, I am SO PROUD of you!" He just stood there staring back for the longest time, then with big ole' tears in his eyes he gave me a tight, lingering bear hug and said, "Thank you so much!"

And that's when it hit me. Yes, there actually is a name for Adam if both his parents are in prison. Like all children, either way, he will always be a Child of God.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith... Galatians 3:26