The Children Come HomeEvery other year, on the last Saturday in July, the children come home for a family reunion. Since 1950, thousands of children have found refuge on the tree-shaded Round Rock campus of Texas Baptist Children’s Home, sometimes for a few days or weeks, sometimes for years and years.
They first arrived from all walks of life from all over Texas, sometimes with little more than the clothes they were wearing, but carrying heartbreaking stories of hardship and difficulty, of broken families and damaged souls. At TBCH, they found hope, healing, faith and, often, salvation. Many will tell you that it saved their lives. Most say it changed their lives in ways both subtle and profound. And when they left, the Children’s Home stayed a part of them.
When they come back for the biennial Alumni Reunion on July 31, they will gather to reminisce, to show off children and grandchildren, to see cottage-mates they may not have seen in decades, and to reflect on the journeys they have taken. For many, life hasn’t presented a straight path; sometimes, when you start off in life a bit behind everyone else, it’s just tough sledding. Others found marriages and careers upon which they could build the stability that may have escaped them when they were children.
Hundreds will be at TBCH for this year’s reunion. We asked three to share their memories and talk about the impact it had on their lives. Max Johnson lived at the Home from 1952 to1959. “My mother and dad were divorced and she wasn’t physically or financial able to keep us six kids. All of us, four brothers and two sisters, stayed at TBCH through high school. I generally avoided getting in trouble. Mom Thompson spanked one of the boys the first day I was there and I promised myself to avoid that. I was given the option of learning to cook and wash dishes or go outside and learn to milk the cows. I chose to be outside. I appreciate what the Home did for us and for our family and me as an individual. In about 1955, I was called to ministry. I was ordained in 1965 and started my first church that year. I’ve been the pastor at First Baptist Church in Jarrell for 30 years. When the tornado came through in 1997, we lost five members of our church. Although we were apart when I was young, I kept up contact with my mother and as she got elderly we brought her to our house to take care of her until she died at the age of 95.”
Lee Ann Mora was a resident from 1968 to 1972. “When I was 11 or 12, my dad was abusing us and we went to live with our grandparents. They couldn’t handle us, so my two brothers and I went to the Children’s Home. I remember I used to run away a lot. I liked it there, but I was really insecure. There were 10 of 12 girls living in Cottage 7 and I remember the big table where we would eat, and mopping and waxing all the wooden floors. Even though I didn’t get saved until later in life, I always can remember the values that were put on me by Mom and Pop Courtney and by [former Administrator] Charles Wright. Those are things that stay with me to this day. There were so many things that they taught me. To pray. To believe that God answers and hears prayers. And that God loves me no matter how much trouble I get into.” Caroline Cryer called TBCH home from 1992 to 2001. “My dad was a single dad with five kids and he could not mentally or physically care for us any longer, so he sent us to the Children’s Home. Today I have three beautiful children. I am working on my degree in education, but taking a little break while I raise my children. The things I remember most about living at TBCH are when we would go to retreats and when we went to summer camp. It was amazing to be so close to the Lord and be involved in activities I knew would never have been possible if we had not lived at the Children’s Home. There are many lessons that stayed with me. Most important is that I want my kids to be raised with loving parents, because they need that in order to develop emotionally and spiritually. I want them to have a stable home and be involved in church. And to always write thank you notes.”
RSVP for the Reunion here.
|