Why?

I’m at work researching a child story about a girl who entered NPH exactly one month ago. I just finished talking with the social worker about her story, and though I am supposed to be writing an article on this little girl’s life before and after she entered NPH, I can’t manage to bring my thoughts together enough to write anything.

For confidentiality, I cannot go into any amount of detail, besides the story I eventually write which I will share with anyone who is interested once it is published. But her story upsets me so much, I cannot concentrate.

When I interact with my kids on a daily basis, I don’t think about how I’m working with orphaned, abandoned and mistreated children. It just doesn’t cross my mind. They make me laugh like a friend would, they push my buttons as a child would, and they have many of the same heartbreaks, challenges, and joys that I once had (and still often do) in high school. I can relate to them so much.

But then I’m reminded every once in a while, when a new child enters NPH, or when I need to do research such as this for work, that these kids have faced so much more than they ever should have. That in many ways, my kids grew up a long time ago.
And now for the inevitable and unanswerable question: why is the world so unjust? Why do millions of children need to be subjected to poverty, abandonment, and abuse? What did they ever do to deserve growing up in an environment without love?

Thank God for organizations such as NPH. But though the kids are here now, I still hate how they had that experience. This little girl is just once story. There are 800 more like hers in NPH alone.

At risk of sounding corny and cliché, these kids are truly my heroes. So many have refused to let their past determine their future. They have overcome the obstacles of emotional and psychological damage placed in front of them. I have so much to learn from them.

And I ask you to pray for them and think of them. And love them without even meeting them. They cannot be loved enough.