Cooking for the Masses

So my wife and I are going back and forth on recipes for our Easter party, trying to figure out the best way to feed a crowd of friends and family without needing to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. It’s hard to cook for a lot of people!

…or so I hear… I can’t cook, personally, but it sure looks hard!

So I suddenly realized that I am literally surrounded by house parents who have to feed a small army every night. Who better to provide recipes for a group? I emailed TBCH cottages across the state, and recipes have been pouring in! I thought about hoarding them all for myself, so that the Wetherington household suddenly became THE culinary hotspot for the greater Nashville area. But then I thought, since I’m the “Communications Coordinator,” I should probably communicate these great recipes with everyone else! Here’s our first one, a delicious-sounding vegetable casserole. It came without a name, so I’ll give it one:

The Woodmont Cottage Zesty Italian Vegetable Casserole

You need:

red onion, zuchinni, yellow squash, tomatoes, potatoes, italian seasoning, feta cheese, shredded mozzarella, and olive oil.

1) Layer slices of red onion, zuchinni, yellow squash, tomatoes, and potatoes in your casserole dish. Sprinkle olive oil over each layer.

2) Sprinkle salt, pepper, italian seasoning and feta cheese throughout

3) Top final layer with shredded mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 40 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

You can adjust the amount of veggies and cheese for the number of servings needed. For a large crowd, use two casserole dishes. 

And that’s it! Easy-peasy. I’ll be updating the blog with more recipes tomorrow!

-Charlie

Chattanooga

Continuing my series on the various TBCH locations across the state (the others can be found here, and here) today I want to talk about Chattanooga.

I visited with Carl Willis, the regional director, and he gave me a tour of this large, beautiful campus. And I do mean large! With six cottages housing thirty-three children, it’s our busiest residential campus.

Oh, by the way, here’s a little advice: Chattanooga is on Eastern Standard Time. Remember that if you’ve made a lunch appointment, and you’re coming from the Central time zone. People end up hungry if you forget that extra hour.

Anyway, Carl drove me around the campus in his truck, up a gravel path into a little wooded area. It was here that I noticed something smart that Chattanooga does. (It would be a theme throughout the trip.) At the top of the hill, behind a fence, were three cell phone towers, which Carl told me the TBCH collects rent from.

This is something that happens a lot at the Chattanooga campus. Next, Carl showed me their gym, which he lets the local YMCA use in exchange for TBCH kids’ memberships! Another thing Carl showed me was their gazebo and park area. He told me that the local Kiwanis club holds their annual barbecue there, and in return they invite the kids to come have a picnic! Fantastic! See, this is something I hadn’t really considered before. The Tennessee Baptist Children’s Homes obviously helps children and families, but they also help the community. Maybe that’s obvious, but it was a new thought for me. The campuses are all so pretty, and quiet, and sort of secluded from the rest of the town (“Good,” says Dr. Millsaps. “They’re supposed to be.”) but through partnerships like the ones I saw in Chattanooga, they’re a part of their communities, as well.

Not only that, but I’m starting to see how the TBCH is an investment in the community. They take children who are adrift–from family, from God, from themselves–who may end up a burden on the community, and steer them toward a life of spiritual and educational fulfillment. The Chattanooga campus has two kids in college currently. College! These are kids who, previously, may not have even graduated high school! What a difference this will make in the community, now. These will be active members of their communities, giving back in ways unimaginable before.

Like I said, a return on an investment.

Each campus I’ve visited has revealed a different facet of what the Children’s Homes does. Brentwood taught me how well the houseparents show their children love, the Boy’s Ranch made obvious that responsibility and accountability have a tangible effect on these kids, and Chattanooga made me realize what a boon to the community the TBCH is. I can’t wait to see what I discover next.

-Charlie

The Library

The first books I remember reading were our outdated World Book Encyclopedias. Pretty dry material for a 6-or-7-year-old, I guess, but they seemed like “grown-up” books. My mother read to my sisters and me every night (Dr. Seuss was practically another member of the family) but this only whetted my appetite for reading. So I reached for the most readily available books I had access to. My love of reading took off, and I’ve had a book with me ever since.

Books are powerful things. You can expand your worldview, live another person’s life, escape your troubles for a little while, or simply learn a few new words. Plus, a love of reading (or, at the very least a comfort with it) aids the learning process immeasurably. A child who reads will have no problem researching the answer to a school problem–reading through their textbook will just be natural. Compare this to a child who “hates reading.” Their textbooks must seem like insurmountable chores.

To me, the effect that reading has on a child is unmistakably positive. That’s why I was so excited to learn about a great project underway at our Brentwood campus: a library!

I met with Linda Eddy, who has really spearheaded this project. She described the scene to me before she got there. “It was just an old craft room. Books were piling up here, just to store them away.” Things have certainly improved. She alphabetized and categorized everything, put some visually appealing books on display to attract attention, and even created a sign-out notebook to organize the “check out” process.

Anyone with school-aged children will recognize the all-too-familiar cry of “I need a book for school tomorrow!” In the past, house parents might have to make late-night runs to the bookstore to buy three copies of Catcher in the Rye. Linda is attempting to rectify this situation by stocking all the school reading list books. Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Hatchet, and others sit ready to be checked out by any student or house parent. It’s not just fiction, either. Linda made a call to Dave Ramsay’s people, and they sent over a half dozen books on finance, for children and adults!

This is a fantastic resource for the children in our care. We could still use some help, though! There are a few required-reading books missing, and some books in a series. If you’d like to donate a book or two, Linda has a list! Please give them a call at (615) 376-3190.

A Simple Test

I was talking with Dr. Millsaps the other day, and I asked him, “With everything you have to do to keep this organization running, how do you stay focused?” He thought about this for a minute, and then he said something pretty cool. “I just put everything to one simple test.”

Then he told me a story. (This will come as no surprise to you if you’ve ever met Dr. Millsaps. He’s a storyteller, through-and-through.) He described a meeting where ten people came up with thirteen different ideas to solve just one problem. He had written them down one by one, and as he’s looking over them–these thirteen different, sometimes conflicting or contradictory ideas–he thinks I’ve got to get a handle on this.

 ”We’re going to go down this list one idea at a time,” he says. “And we’re going to put each one to a simple test: is this in the best interest of the child?” Now, obviously the TBCH is always looking toward the best interests of the children in its care, but sometimes mundane  concerns, like budgetary constraints, can get in the way. Here Dr. Millsaps was saying, hey, we have a mission to minister to these kids, to do what’s best for them, so let’s just do that!

So that’s what they did. He and the others in that meeting, they just went down their list asking that simple question: “Is this in the best interest of the child?” One by one they were able to mark off items, until they were left with just one. Dr. Millsaps told me it was like a revelation. Suddenly their tense, frustrating meeting became exciting! Ideas were bouncing everywhere! What could be seen as a constraining one-sentence litmus test was actually an incredibly freeing mandate.

The mundane, earthly-concerns should be kept in mind of course (keep to the budget, don’t do anything immoral, illegal, or unethical) but otherwise it’s really very simple. “Is this in the best interest of the child?” Now there’s a great way to stay focused.

-Charlie

Gigi’s Cupcakes Visits Brentwood

We were so excited to welcome Gigi’s Cupcakes to our Brentwood campus yesterday. Gigi, herself, braved a downpour of rain to deliver boxes full of mini cupcakes for the kids and staff. Upon meeting the woman, one girl exclaimed incredulously, “Wait, you’re the Gigi?” I know how she felt. I always get starstruck around people who bring me dessert.

The Brentwood Campus

Continuing my series on each TBCH campus, today I’d like to talk about Brentwood.

I’m based out of the Brentwood office, so I guess I could have done this entry first. If I had, though, I would have had much less to talk about. I hadn’t met the local house parents yet, for one thing, and it would have been a shame not to talk about them, as they are an amazing, interesting, and diverse bunch. Oh, and did I say weird?

Now don’t get the wrong idea! They’re the good kind of weird; they’re my kind of weird! You know how when you were growing up, your dad would make a joke in front of your friends and embarrass you to death? But later on you’d kind of smile and shake your head, because he was just so darn endearing? Yeah, they’re like that. And who doesn’t want a parent like that, you know? The kids who come to the Children’s Homes–they might not know the sort of joy one gets from an endearingly embarrassing parent. I love so much that the kids in these cottages, maybe they’re laying in bed about to fall asleep, and they think on something funny one of their house parents did, and they just shake their head and smile.

It’s a tough job these house parents do. Seriously tough. I don’t think I could ever do it–taking care of a house full of children (and I do mean full.) Driving nine kids to school. Making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a literal pack of hungry teenage boys. Trying to coordinate soccer practice, dance recitals, and school programs for a small army of children. I don’t know if I could do it, but I thank God that there are people who can. 

These house parents work day and night for these children. They may not ask for help, but I bet they could use it. If you’d like to lend your support, whether it’s volunteering, praying, or donating, please don’t hesitate to call us at (615) 376-3190.

My Trip to the Boy’s Ranch

Well, it’s been two years since this blog has been updated. Let me blow off the dust, like it’s a relic from an Indiana Jones movie, and see what I can do with it.

Oh, I’m Charlie Wetherington, by the way. I’ll be updating this blog going forward–giving you a heads-up on upcoming events, relaying stories from our house parents, and simply sharing the many ways in which God is moving within our campuses.

Speaking of campuses, the first thing I wanted to do when I started here at TBCH was to visit each of our residential care locations across the state. To better tell the stories of these places, I want to see first-hand how they operate. The first trip I made was the three-hour journey to Millington, to see the Boy’s Ranch.

For the benefit of those of you who may not be familiar with it, let me tell you a little about this remarkable place. The “Double B” Boy’s Ranch is a working ranch where young men aged 11-17 live and work. These boys come from families that, for whatever reason, are temporarily unable to meet their needs. They may have never had any real responsibility or accountability at home. The Boy’s Ranch teaches these kids to take responsibility for their actions. For perhaps the first time in their lives, they’re hearing that they are loved. You can imagine the kind of effect that has on a child’s sense of self-worth! To not only know that their actions make a difference, but that someone notices what they do! Let me show you a picture I love.

 

That’s a great picture, isn’t it? I heard a story about the boy in this photo. He apparently struggled with anger issues, family issues–you get the idea. Well, apparently when he saw this photo of himself, it was like seeing himself for the first time. Here was a young man who, just a year before, couldn’t live peacefully within his own home. But this boy–the boy in the photo–had grown in Christ, learned new skills, learned to love himself. The young man who left the ranch would be nearly unrecognizable to the boy who had entered it. That’s incredible to me. By the way, we used this photo in our promotional materials, and he calls from time to time to make sure it’s still on there!

The Boy’s Ranch is a beautiful place. If you’ve never seen it, I urge you to drive past it. Even better, volunteer there. Seeing it in pictures is nothing compared to being there, getting your hands dirty alongside these amazing young men. Give them a call at (901) 872-0839 and see it for yourself.