THE WALL

It surrounds Aaron's institute. 

Made of concrete. 

Forbidding. 

Two gates lead inside.

The pretty one is deceiving.  

Its designs face to the road, unseen by the boys inside. 

It is a secondary gate and rarely used.

This is the main gate.

At night and on weekends.... chained shut.

A side door allows us entrance to see Aaron.

The boys inside never go outside that wall.  

They are hidden.

The "Lost Boys"

They can hear the world going by but cannot see it. 

The cars, trucks, motorcyles and buses that drive past the wall hour by hour are only "Machinas" to the boys, recognized only by the sounds they make. 

Oh, the longing to see what is outside.  It burns in their hearts.

But....

With a Mama and Papa and a brother,

a Lost Boy can walk up to the forbidding gate. 

He can tentatively lean out to peek at the crane working on the house across the street.  

What joy!  What wonder!  

The world outside the gate. 

And even... if but for a moment... to step a happy toe onto the concrete beyond the wall.

In only a few short weeks,

by the grace of God,

we will walk that little lost boy out of that gate,

an orphan no longer, to see the world beyond. 

Wonder of wonders! 

I cannot wait for that day!