Lamar Grimes was nine years old when he and his younger sister and two brothers went to live at a Christian children’s home in Orlando, Florida. His mother was an orange picker and worked in the packing plant. The family lived in a trailer park with other people who depended on the orange harvest to make their living. Her paycheck went far too often to buy alcohol and drugs. Lamar says he became a “dumpster diver” to find food for his siblings. He learned when the stores would throw away the dated food and bruised produce. “I made sure to be one of the first ones there.”
There were times he would sneak into neighbors’ trailers for food. One day, there was a note waiting for him. The neighbor wrote that there was no need to break in; he was welcome to take whatever he needed. Caring for his siblings, making sure they attended school and had food, took much of the young boy’s attention.
The children’s home was the ministry of a Baptist church. He and his sister and brothers attended the church’s school. The house parents modeled Christ, and he came to know Jesus. The experience shaped Lamar’s life.
Nancy and Lamar have been married 34 years. They met in church, fell in love, and married. The couple has three children, two daughters, and a son. He was a career AC repair technician, and Nancy worked in the financial industry. Lamar had also served as a bi-vocational youth pastor many times. There have always been children in their lives.
“I can’t remember a time when kids were not in our home,” Nancy says. “We have a heart for children.”
When the Grimes felt God stirring in their hearts to become cottage parents, Lamar knew it was a way to give back what was given to him. In 2016, they left their careers to serve in full-time ministry. Their children affirmed the decision: “It’s what you already do. Go for it.”
“We both had great careers,” Lamar recalls. “It wasn’t easy. I remember talking with my boss about it, and he asked me, ‘Did the Lord say go? If so, go.’ We knew the Lord was leading.”
Six weeks later, the couple became cottage parents at Seamark Ranch in Green Cove Springs, Florida, caring for as many as ten girls. The Grimes overheard one say, “They’re not going to last long.”
“The first two months were hard,” Nancy remembers. “It was all uphill. There had been three sets of parents before us, but we were not leaving.”
The next seven and a half years were spent caring for girls. Training and depending on God to equip them brought success. They learned the importance of building relationships.
“The girls wanted to be heard like any child,” Lamar says. “One girl said later, ‘You told us you loved us, and we felt you loved us.’ They became like our daughters.”
Nancy and Lamar left in December 2023, trusting the Lord again to lead the way. An online search drew their attention to Mills Home in Thomasville, and the way became clear. They were offered positions, and in early July 2024, they came to serve in Johnson Cottage.
“We felt like we were not skipping a beat,” Lamar says. “It is a girls’ cottage, and we had the experience. We were ready to dive in.”
The Grimes know meal preparation and sitting around the table with the girls grow relationships. The time invested brings big rewards.
There is never silence—at mealtime or in the kitchen. The girls talk about their days, and it is best to never be surprised by the breadth of conversation.
Lamar and Nancy are responsive to the girls’ needs. Around the table, the girls are free to ask questions—to talk about what is on their minds. They hear things at school and are looking for answers. The Grimes have learned that discussing real life creates opportunities to discuss biblical truths.
“We don’t force our way in,” Lamar says. “Kids put up walls—boundaries. I understand because I was that child in a home. I responded to honesty. Kids know if you’re fake. Building trust. Doing what you say and following through is the only way to break through the hurt and see the walls fall away.”
Some girls come into care and do not know how to pray. They have never been part of a devotion. Some want nothing to do with God. The Grimes meet the girls where they are.
“We work to build trust,” Nancy says. “Lamar and I love them. We line everything up to the Bible and plant seeds. We present Jesus to them and trust the Lord to bring change into their lives.”
In Johnson Cottage, the girls are fed physically and spiritually—their stomachs filled and their hearts nurtured. Lamar knew his house parents loved him and his siblings. They cared. He knew they were there for them. He and Nancy model the same for the girls in their cottage, asserting, “This is their home. There is always a place for them around the table.”
Written by Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity & Children