What does it mean to be an orphan?

There has been so much joy in my heart thinking about bringing children into our home.  This joy has overflowed and given birth to a passion, a passion for families, churches and communities to care for orphans.  But what does it mean to be an orphan.  When I started really pondering what it means to be an orphan my heart broke with grief. To become an orphan, there must be a wound... I know this is obvious, but sometimes I forget this.  These children are orphans because an unfathomable hurt occurred in their lives.  

This is the definition of orphan given by the USCIS website

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides a definition of an orphan for the purposes of immigration to the United States. A child may be considered an orphan because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents. The child of an unwed mother or surviving parent may be considered an orphan if that parent is unable to care for the child properly and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption. The child of an unwed mother may be considered an orphan, as long as the mother does not marry (which would result in the child’s having a stepfather) and as long as the child’s biological father has not legitimated the child. If the father legitimates the child or the mother marries, the mother is no longer considered a sole parent. The child of a surviving parent may also be an orphan if the surviving parent has not married since the death of the other parent (which would result in the child’s having a stepfather or stepmother).

Just this week we learned the story of two boys, two boys who are orphans, two boys whose father is unknown, whose mother is deceased and whose grandmother is a widow and can no longer care for their needs.  They are orphans, they need a home, and they need the care of parents.  But what hit home for me is that in the midst of my joy, there is sadness and grief and the carrying of burdens of children that were born into tough places.  It is this strange mixture of emotions that is fueling my energies as we continue to work through the process.  Most importantly, this is what keeps me on my knees, begging the God of the universe to care for these children, to enlarge my heart, to allow me to do my part in caring for the many orphans that walk this planet.