Meet & Greet Monday. {Lucas}

Hey there.

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Our weekend was pretty uneventful. We had lots of rain, lost power one night, and did a whole lot of nothing. We did have cake two days in a row though, so we can't complain too much.

Today, I want to introduce you to one of our boys, and ask that you join us in praying specifically for him this week. All our boys, as well as all of us who work with the boys, need prayer daily - but Isanon and I choose one boy a week to focus a little extra prayer on. Please join us!

 This week, we will be praying for Lucas. Lucas is twelve years old, and has been with us at Hope since January of this year. From January until his birthday in July, Lucas had a government-sent care taker with him 24 hours a day. There were a couple different reasons for this. One being that technically, Hope is not supposed to house boys under 12 years of age. Another being that Lucas was considered a 'threat' because he had physically attacked others at his last home, and had severely injured an infant at his last home as well. As you can imagine, we were all very hesitant towards Lucas at first. The fact that he was considered a threat, did not sit well with anyone. The fact that he had done something to injure an infant was worrisome to all of us. As time went by, and we began to learn more of Lucas' story, as well as get to know the boy - we began to see all the hurt he has had in his short twelve years of life.

Lucas was abandoned by his mother when he was very young, and adopted by a family when he was just a toddler. That family had him for a good number of years, before they decided that it was not working and reversed the adoption. At this point, Lucas was around 10 years old. He was taken to a home for children ages 0 to 12 years old. Lucas doesn't understand why he can't live with his (adopted) family, and to this day believes that it was the other home (and now us) that keep him from them. When he first arrived, he would run away every chance he got and his adoptive family would call social services to bring him back.

Lucas has stopped running away, and is doing really well here now. He is beginning to make friends with a few of the other boys, and recently began going to a special school. Lucas takes strong medicine to control and calm him, but is improving so much. His adoptive grandma has began letting Lucas visit on the weekends, which he loves. Lucas requires a lot of attention, but is beginning to learn limits and how to have healthy boundaries.

Please join us as we pray for Lucas this week. Pray that Lucas would continue to grow and improve. That he would begin to find peace in his heart and healing from all the hurt. We are praying that Lucas would continue to enjoy life here at Hope. Also, pray for all of us that work with Lucas. Pray that we would be given wisdom about the best way to help him, and that God would give us patience with him, and a compassionate heart towards him. Pray for his adoptive family, specifically his grandmother - that she would have patience and continue to love and grow her relationship with Lucas. And above all, that Lucas would grow to know and love the Lord, and that Lucas would feel the peace that only God can give. 

Thank you for joining Isanon and I in prayer this week for Lucas!