The following is an authentic houseparent perspective submitted by Melissa, who works at Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children. If you're a houseparent interested in submitting your own story, learn more here.
Over the last 18 years as a houseparent and 12 years serving as the director of a children’s home, God has allowed me to walk beside children whose lives began in places of fear, neglect, and deep loss. I came into this calling to help children heal—but along the way, the Lord used them to change me.
I’ve learned that love must be steady to be real. Many of our children have been let down so many times that they don’t believe words. They believe consistency. They believe it when you are still there tomorrow, when rules don’t change with moods, and when love doesn’t disappear after a hard day.
Some of the most powerful lessons have come from small, holy moments. I will never forget a five-year-old seeing a birthday cake for the first time, or a child discovering that pasta can be cooked, not just eaten raw. I’ve seen kids learn that grocery stores exist, and watched their excitement as they put on new clothes for the first day of school. I’ve tucked children into their very own beds in cozy pajamas, singing and praying with them at bedtime. I’ve held a child’s hand after a missed visit with a biological parent and cheered as they learned to ride a bike or ran outside to play without fear for the first time. I’ve seen their eyes light up when they discovered that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and the hope He brings.
Through it all, God has taught me humility and dependence on Him. I cannot fix trauma or erase the past—but I can offer love, safety, and truth, and trust the Lord to do what only He can do.
After three decades in this calling, I know this: small moments change lives. A warm meal, a safe bed, a gentle prayer, a birthday cake, a bike ride—these are the places where healing begins. And every day, I am reminded that God is still writing redemption stories, one child at a time.
Melissa and her husband married in 1992 and began their houseparent journey in 2001. They are presently serving together at Oklahoma Baptist Children's Home, she is the Campus Director, and her husband is the Director of Maintenance. They are blessed with two beautiful, adopted daughters, a godly son-in-law, and a precious grandson.
.png)
