People who become cottage parents come from different places and have diverse backgrounds. Each person is unique with special gifts and talents. But all come with a sense of calling and their purpose is shared as they care for children.
The Reeds, Kivetts, and Myers are new to cottage parenting at Broyhill Home in Clyde. The Myers are recent additions beginning last June. The other couples have served just more than a year. The paths each couple took reveal God’s leadership.
Rachel and Alex Reed
Having a house full of children is nothing new for Rachel and Alex Reed. The young couple grew up in large families. Rachel is one of seven children and Alex is one of nine. Serving as cottage parents is familiar.
“When Alex and I married in 2021, I wanted to be a homemaker, raising and nurturing children,” Rachel says.
The couple met through their passion for missions. Alex had traveled and served in exotic places, reaching people for Jesus. Rachel was a preacher’s kid with a heart for ministry. While working as a nanny and in construction, Rachel and Alex felt restless in their jobs and dreamed about working together.
A search online led them to BCH. Serving as cottage parents
was the open door they were seeking. They could even begin a family.
“We are on mission for these kids,” Alex says about the boys in their cottage. “It is different from traveling the world but these guys are now our focus. We are trusting God every day to lead us. We are gospel focused.”
The Reeds find themselves trusting God more in every way. “We are learning that in the moment, being here for these boys, God is all we need,” Rachel says.
Rachel and Steve Myers
Cottage parents Rachel and Steve Myers have family ties in Waynesville. The couple first planned to move to North Carolina from their home in Ohio seven years ago.
“We tried to come once before,” Rachel says. “Our hearts were looking outwards, but God needed us to stay. We waited until God gave us the desires of our hearts.”
Feeling a stirring in one’s heart and then having to wait can be difficult. Difficult experiences are always times of preparation.
“When God moved it was more than we imagined,” Steve adds. “We needed to wait. God had plans to place us in a cottage. It was about a ministry calling. We never saw it coming, but we are at Broyhill Home one hundred percent for the ministry.”
The couple have a blended family. Their oldest child is 27. The youngest is five and in kindergarten. Married life over the last nine
years has been busy. They have felt like they were always on the go.
Caring now for a cottage full of girls ages 4-11 demands they use all their life’s experiences.
“Steve and I are a team,” Rachel says. “The lessons we learned about working together are used every day. We rely on each totally.”
Stacie and Tim Kivett
The path began as a matter of prayer. To step away from careers was a major move for Stacie and Tim Kivett. In their early 50s, their thoughts had been on retiring to the beach not dedicating themselves to caring for up to eight girls as cottage parents.
“We prayed,” Stacie recounts. “Tim had a confirmation in his heart, but we both had to be together. I kept praying.”
When the peace came to Stacie, the couple was ready. “We knew BCH was where God was leading,” Tim says. “It was time to step out in faith.”
The Kivetts quickly learned that a cottage parent’s life can be hectic. There are things happening all the time. Keeping the children busy is important. Keeping God first is essential. “You cannot be what you need to be for the children without Jesus being in the middle of everything,” Stacie says. “It is not uncommon for Tim and I to stop and pray together.”
The couple agrees that being a cottage parent is a calling not a career. “You need to know this is where God wants you,” Tim adds, “for yourself and for the children in your care.”
Becoming cottage parents
BCH is actively seeking Christian, servant-minded, married couples who want a great mission career opportunity to serve as salaried Cottage Parents. Each candidate must be a minimum of 25 years of age, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and be a licensed driver. BCH provides cottage homes where professionally-trained parents care for children in a Christian, family environment.
A nonprofit organization, BCH is nationally-accredited and uses CARE, a trauma-informed model to help boys and girls find healing. Cottage parents work as a team and oversee the daily activities and needs of the children in care. They also work in tandem with another set of cottage parents, each set working two weeks on and two weeks off.
Couples interested in becoming cottage parents can learn more and apply online at bchcareers.org. Both husband and wife must fill out a job application. For questions, contact Samantha Allred, BCH’s HR manager for recruiting and staff development, at 336-307-1181 or email her at sallred@bchfamily.org.
Written by Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity & Children