Becoming a Statistic

I know I'm completely biased but I think my kids are the prettiest, funniest, smartest and most athletic kids on the planet. I guess it is a lot easier for me to say all that knowing that I didn't give birth to them and contributed absolutely nothing to their genetic make-up. I know some of their traits are unique to them as individuals but then I also know how so much of that stuff is passed on through the genes. I often find myself thinking about their biological parents and wondering what traits they may have possibly got from which parent. It also makes me sad because my little kids are so special in so many ways. Once their biological parents were special little kids too but somewhere a lot of wrong choices were made at very young ages. Now, they will forever live with those consequences. It makes me wonder what their parents lives would have been like had they grown up with different circumstances. In Michael Oher's book, he talked frequently about growing up in the ghetto and the challenges he faced just trying to avoid getting sucked into that life forever. A lot of what he said made me stop and think about how I cannot judge them and their mistakes. Of course, I KNOW that GOD doesn't want me to judge others but sometimes I find it hard to understand how people could make choices that would jeopardize them losing their children. It had never occured to me that it is just that, I DON'T KNOW because I have never lived a life of oppression and poverty. I know their parents loved them very much but they were not equipped with the skills to be successful parents. They also had hard childhoods that lacked proper role models and structure. I pray for them frequently as I cannot imagine what the pain feels like to have lost your children to the state. I know "rescuing" or "saving" a child is often debated among adoption groups. However, I do feel like we rescued them from the vicious cycle of poverty. We are giving them the tools and resources to become successful and contributing members of society. What they decide to make out of their lives is up to them. However, I know in the depths of my heart they will become a statistic...a good one!