Five Doors. One Room
Every human being who has ever lived has asked, in one form or another, the same five questions. You may not have asked them out
Identity Crisis as a Social Problem
(Race, Gender, and the Social Construction of the Self) We don’t know who we are anymore. Sociologists have been describing this for decades in neutral
Human Agency Endures
No matter what we do, or what is done to us, human agency endures because it belongs to our creation in the image of God.
The Orphaned Heart: When Belonging Is Lost Without Abandonment
You don’t have to lose a parent to become an orphan. Orphanhood is not always marked by death or abandonment. Sometimes, it’s quieter. It can
Modernity Has Mastered Brokenness but Forgotten Belonging
As a society, we’ve gotten incredibly good at reacting to crises. We’ve built massive industries and dedicated entire professions to catching people when they fall.
Restoring Identity and Belonging in the Orphan Age
We live in an age of extraordinary connection and increasing loneliness. People can communicate instantly across the globe, yet many experience a growing sense of
Jacob-The Recovering Orphan
When we read the story of Jacob, it’s easy to get stuck on the surface—the deception, the ambition, the sheer cleverness of it all. But
To The One Being Silenced
You’ve probably noticed this by now: some people don’t want you to heal. Not because they hate you, but because your healing might disrupt the
To the One Struggling with Forgiveness
Forgiveness can feel impossible, especially when the wounds come from those who were meant to protect you. Maybe you’re wrestling with the bitterness of abandonment,
To The One Being Silenced
You’ve probably noticed this by now: some people don’t want you to heal. Not because they hate you, but because your healing might disrupt the
Anthropology and the Loss of Communal Holding
Anthropologists have noted that orphanhood often becomes a societal mirror—it reveals not only personal grief, but the fracture of a culture’s caregiving logic. In societies
Standing in Two Worlds
I am a social worker. I am a minister of the gospel. These two identities are not hats I wear but lungs I breathe through.
The Seven D’s of Rupture
While orphanhood forms over time, it almost always begins with rupture. Scripture and trauma science agree on this much: disconnection does not emerge in a
Hearing Words in the Silence
How Recovering Orphans Turn Hyper-Awareness and Intuition into Empathy and Healing As a recovering orphan, I often hear words in the silence of a long
Comprehensive Bullshit
Why America Needs Comprehensive Foster Care Reform Now There’s a certain comic tragedy in how our society chants the word ‘comprehensive’ as if it were
Rising Tide: The Orphan Crisis Behind Our Social Collapse
I’m increasingly persuaded that many of the crises plaguing our society—from addiction to incarceration, homelessness to human trafficking—are not just random outcomes of individual choices
Hearts Laden with the Loss of Others
How Empathy and Unprocessed Grief Shape the Lives of Recovering Orphans Recovering orphans carry hearts laden with the loss of others—not just their own losses,
The Weight of Inheritance
How Moral Debts Become Emotional Burdens for the Next Generation Some inherit wealth, land, or a legacy. Others inherit silence, shame, and debt—not financial, but
Youth Without Hope: Why Hopelessness Is Dangerous
There is nothing more dangerous than a young person without hope. Not anger, not defiance, not even recklessness. Hope—or the lack of it—shapes every choice,
Remembering the Forgotten
The work of justice is not fixing the broken; it’s remembering the forgotten — in ourselves, in each other, and in the systems that forgot
The Ones We Step Over
There are people we step over every day. Not always with our feet, but with our attention. They stand in welfare lines, at food banks,
Mind Numbing: How Entertainment Feeds the Orphan Spirit
For the orphan heart, entertainment can feel like relief—but it’s often a counterfeit comfort. The more we amuse ourselves, the less we feel, and the further we drift from the healing we desperately need.
When the Fabric Snaps Back
How Our Moral Choices Unravel the Lives of the Young You cannot twist the fabric of reality without it snapping back at you. Truth is
When Poverty Steals Childhood
How Growing Up Poor Changes the Way Children See Themselves and the World Poverty washes away the color and magic of childhood. It’s not just
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
They used to say, “You are what you eat.” And that makes sense—junk in, junk out. But the deeper truth, especially for those of us
Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be
To discard the damaged and broken – the unwanted and the no-longer-useful – that is the way of the world. We throw away what doesn’t
BE STUPID
Why the smartest breakthroughs often start with letting go of what you know. Have you ever been stuck on a problem that just wouldn’t budge—no
When Children Come First: A recovering orphan’s plea
“I will always advocate for the needs of children over the wants of adults.” That’s not just a nice quote pinned to my Facebook page.
When Nothing Feels Right: A Reflection for the Recovering Orphan
Growing up as an orphan—or feeling like one—means you become painfully aware of one thing early on: sometimes, there’s no “right” choice. Just competing wrongs.
A World with a View
The farthest upstream you can go in the river of social problems—the river that produces vulnerable children and distressed families—is the headwaters of worldview. I
Our Ill-Conceived Retreat
Ideas can be fallen just as we are fallen. They can be sinful just as we too are sinful. But ideas, like people, can also
11 Life Verbs
Educator, theologian, and philosopher George Walter Fiske (1852–1917) teaches that there are eleven great verbs of life—each one a cornerstone of human experience. These verbs
The 7 C’s of Child Resilience
Have you ever wondered why some children not only survive but even flourish after experiencing terrible life events? Illness, divorce, crime, war, abuse, poverty —
The Power of Education in the Shadow of Poverty
I believe poor people often have poor ways—not because they’re inherently flawed, but because poverty has a way of degrading the mind and trashing the
The Social Problem River
I want you to imagine you are a lifeguard. But I want you to imagine much more than that. Imagine you have always dreamed of
Four Origins of Hurt
Nearly every hardship a vulnerable child endures can be traced to one of four origins: a private adult decision, a public policy, a broken system,
So Many Are Waiting
So many children are waiting. Waiting for the day they feel good. Waiting for the day they feel safe. Waiting for the day they feel
Like a Real Father
I find it heartbreaking that so many children today must use a variety of qualifying adjectives to describe the men who serve as father figures
Deprived Soils
They learned early how to read silence,
how to measure danger in the flicker of an eye,
how to become small enough to survive
but wide enough to absorb the ache of a house that never felt like home.
It’s Okay
It’s difficult to honor a love that was never given, or to celebrate a figure who failed to live up to the ideal of motherhood.
Orphans – A Crisis of Justice and Morals: A Four-Part Series – Part Four – Justice and Morality, Co-partners in Righteousness.
Behavior Matters Because People Matter. In a just society, every member matters, and in a moral society, it matters what every member does. In a
Orphans – A Crisis of Justice and Morals: A Four-Part Series – Part Three: Jesus as the Defender of Biblical Justice and Morality
Here’s the main lesson I hope to convey in this series: the concepts of justice as a moral issue and morality as a justice issue
Orphans – A Crisis of Justice and Morals: A Four-Part Series – Part Two: The Ever Present Tension
Here’s the main lesson I hope to convey in this series: the concepts of justice as a moral issue and morality as a justice issue
Orphans – A Crisis of Justice and Morals Part One of a Four Part Series: Justice is Rooted in the Character of God
Here’s the main lesson I hope to convey in this four-part series: the concepts of justice as a moral issue and morality as a justice
Rip Off the Damn Labels
When it comes to children, we must rip off the damn labels. There are no “rich kids” or “poor kids”—just kids. No “smart” or “slow,”
I Had No Other Choice
“I had to, I had to, I had no other choice.” That’s what 15-year-old Kip Kinkel told detectives. The freshman had just killed both his
The Universal Ethic
Orphan care can be viewed as a universal ethic, transcending cultural, religious, and societal boundaries. As a universal ethic, orphan care encompasses the principles and
War on Poverty Is Hell
It’s hard to believe that more than six decades have passed since President Lyndon Johnson declared an unconditional War on Poverty. Harder still is the
The Durkheim Constant
About a decade ago, I spent the last remaining minutes of the year in front of the television with my family watching the various New
How Orphanhood Learns to Speak
The transmission of orphanhood does not occur only through behavior or environment. It also travels through language—through tone, silence, and the stories a family learns
The Chief Executive Orphan
His foster family called him Robbie, his relatives knew him as Bobby, and legally, he was Robert. He endured a childhood marked by deep generational poverty, abuse, and neglect. As an adult, he dedicated his career to understanding and transforming these experiences for other children. His journey has given him a compassionate and comprehensive, 360-degree perspective on orphan work—what the system refers to as child welfare.
