Adoption, most of the time, is painted as this beautiful picture of a family coming together and joining through the bonds of law and love. However, this lovely image simply covers the ugly truth about the way lives are affected by adoption. Adoption itself really is a beautiful thing, but it comes from a past full of heartbreak and loss.

The foster care system is a brutal place to be for any child that is placed in it. The children are taken out of their biological homes and placed in the homes of strangers. They move around from home to home, until someone is willing to adopt them, or they turn eighteen and are left on their own. Many times these children are feeling unwanted and unloved. They learn how to take care of themselves, and block out anyone who might have the power to hurt them.

Foster children go through pain that no one should ever have to endure. They go through mental, physical, and emotional trauma that takes years and hundreds of therapy sessions to work through. A lot of these children put up walls between their emotions and the people who are trying to love them. They do not allow themselves to have feelings for the people around them because the children fear that if they get too close, they will get hurt.

These children do not have anyone to rely on, but themselves. They know that they can be taken away from a home any time a social worker comes to visit. They cope by throwing fits, refusing to use the restroom and going in their pants, and yelling all the foul language they have learned along the way. Often, these behaviors cause foster parents to doubt their ability to take care of the children and have them taken away. It is a viscous cycle that is hard to break.

Children in the foster system become victims of the state, and are subject to the decisions of people who do not even know them. I encourage anyone who can take in a child, and give them a loving home, to do so. These children are innocent and not at fault for the lives they have been given. God calls us all to take care of the orphans, just as he does. My wish for the future is that no child will have to wonder where their next meal will come from, or where they will sleep at night. I hope people are able to open their hearts and homes in order to save the children from a life of pain.