Beneath the Psalm Tree

Remembering all the boys I lived with at Southeastern Children’s Home, I feel many emotions at once. Joy. Sadness. Anger. Pride. All of these swirl together to create a picture of three years of my life in upstate South Carolina. I never imagined that I would become a house dad for troubled teenage boys. My family wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. I wanted to be a rock star or on a TV show. God wanted me to reach out to the broken and show them a better way to live life.

My friend Marvin Sapp (not the gospel singer, but a linebacker for USC) suggested that I write a book about my experiences as a house parent. He told me more people read biographies instead of fiction. I like fiction myself. However, when we read about things that have actually happened, it opens our eyes to a world outside of ourselves. The names of the boys have been changed to protect their privacy. Each of these chapters in this book focuses on a particular child rather than a chronological account of our time. You will find out what stuff he liked, his habits, his view of the world and his relationship with me and my wife. Some were already Christians when they came to us. Some were baptized at Palmetto Bible Camp, Central Church of Christ and other places. Some came and went without believing in God and left me wondering what I could have done better.

I hope this book will open your hearts to the broken children of the world. Our time at Southeastern was challenging; yet it was time well spent because we witnessed miracles in the making. We were the seed sowers and cannot know what the future holds for our efforts. God knows, and it is in Him we get our strength as we wait beneath the Psalm tree.