I got too attached. But how could you not, knowing these kids’ stories? Anyone with a heart would feel the same.

It’s a shame that you can’t do more. Even with the long, exhausting hours, if you’re able to see one smile, laugh or just sit down with you and chat, you forget about everything else. I was the one who wanted to work with kids. I was the one who left Corporate America. I was the one desperate to get with a nonprofit. Well, I got exactly what I wanted; I just had no idea what else came with it.

Hearing a 19-year-old boy tell you his family has turned their backs on him, and you’re both the dad and big brother he needed and wanted does something to you, especially when you’re not much older than that 19-year-old boy and you realize how truly blessed you are because that could easily be you.

Or a 16-year-old breaks down and cries while telling you about the police beating him up. He runs away, and you go looking for him. Of course, you do. Not because it’s your job, but because you genuinely care about him, and you want to make sure he’s not in harm’s way. You find him and tell him to get in the car. He refuses, not to be defiant but because he pissed his pants and doesn’t wanna mess up your seats. You can’t help but think, “After everything this kid just went through, he doesn’t wanna mess up my leather seats?!” So you turn the hazard lights on, and you follow him home. That’s quite alright with him because he wouldn’t have gotten in if you paid him.

It’s not your money that they need anyway. They need to know that you care about them, whether they want to admit it or not. After all, their own families have all but abandoned them. They must think, “How is it that this perfect stranger cares so much about me?” It’s because you see just what they’re capable of, and it’s something so amazing that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to help them see it, too. Of course, they’re gonna put up a fight. Rightfully so. Everyone else has failed them; why set yourself up yet again?

But you understand just where they’re coming from, and you know exactly how to handle it. Not because you’ve been trained appropriately. No, your major and minor have little to do with this. This stems from your parents playing an active role while you were growing up. You weren’t sent off to boarding school to be reared and raised by a stranger. You were always told that you could do anything you wanted. You had someone there to chastise you when needed and someone to help you up when you fell. You paid attention to what your parents did. You knew that you’d want to do the same with your kids. Little did you know, however, that you’d be doing it at the age of 25. And that you’d have nine kids, both black and white, and not impregnate a single female.

You got exactly what you wanted, and apparently, the kids got what they both wanted and needed. There may be times when you wonder, “Why did I ever leave Corporate America?” “What did I do to deserve this?” “Why am I here?” God put you there for a reason, and that’s all you need to know. So all the BS that you may have to put up with right now pales in comparison to the work you’re doing and the reward for doing it.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
- Romans 8:18

Although you could easily find work elsewhere and make a lot more money, you’ve never been one to want to take the easy route. And you’ve certainly never done anything because you wanted to make a lot of money. Taking another job would mean running away and would show just what a coward you are. And a coward, you most definitely are not. Those kids need you, and you’ve begun to realize that those kids mean so much more than you could ever imagine because they are your kids now. No one will ever be able to care for them as you do, and if you did leave, they’d always be on your mind. Why put yourself through that?

The problem you have is not with the kids; it never has been. Your problem is with the others who have failed the kids.

Your problem is with the deadbeat parents and the unconcerned teachers, people who should have played a big role in the beginning.

Your problem is with a judicial system that has allowed America’s youth to be treated as criminals when most are crying out for help.

Your problem is with a nation that has forced so many of our youth through the cracks.

Looks like you have a lot of problems on your hands, so you need to get to work.

Post Title Download: Interpol – “Untitled” from Turn on the Bright Lights