Comments and Conversations

There have been a variety of comments and conversations with the boys this week that have stood out to me. I thought I would share a few with you. I hope it helps you to experience a little more of life at Sunbeam.

"I feel like I have sugar on my skin."

Said as he bounced around, unable to settle down for bed. It was a new expression to me, but perfectly described what I was looking at.

"The world doesn't end here."

One of our boys had the key to his locker stolen today and then some of his things. He shared with me how it makes him want to go steal from someone else, but he doesn't want to fall to that.

"I want you to be my mother.""

This is one of the blessings comments, but also one that breaks my heart. In a perfect world, he would be home with his own mother, being care for and loved.


I spent some time talking with the boys about things that I'm missing from the States right now - family, friends, my dog, etc. It opened a good dialogue because they miss many of the same things. Through tears one boy share that a thief entered his house and wanted to harm his mother. His father was able to get the thief away from his mother, but somewhere in the mix his father was killed. This child came in when he heard his mother crying and found his father dead on the floor. As he shared, I could see him reliving the whole thing. I believe he can see it as clearly today as when it happened.

I struggle with a lot of questions. How do boys recover from events like this? How do they heal? How does living in an orphanage impact, hinder, or help this process? What can we do? What does it mean to grow up without a family that is able to support you? For some of our boys, what does it mean to grow up being told you’re not wanted? After being abused, how do you learn to trust people? How do you not do the same to your children? And the questions continue.

I know I don’t have answers, but I must fall on my faith and trust the Lord to care for, protect, and restore these beautiful children.