Powder Springs man on a mission
to mentor youth
 POWDER
SPRINGS - For Brian Busby, being a dad is literally a full-time
job.
As child care supervisor at
Calvary Children's Home in Powder Springs, Busby plays the role
of father for as many as 25 children at a time, 10 of which live
with he, his wife, Melita, and two children in a cottage on the
property.
"They refer to us as aunt and
uncle - Aunt Melita and Uncle Brian," Busby said.
Busby said the best thing about
working at the home is seeing the positive difference he makes
in the lives of the children who live there.
"I really believe that living
for something that will outlast your lifetime is the greatest
good that you can do," he said. "Being a family that a child
longs for is unbelievable. Being a dad for a child that wants a
dad - that's unbelievable."
Busby, 27, got involved with
working with children at the home when he was 19. He knew then
that he wanted to spend his life helping children.
After completing in-staff
training, he and his wife began work at the children's home on a
full-time basis in January 2000.
For the first two years, he and
Mrs. Busby rotated through the three cottages on the property
relieving the other parents for four days at a stretch. In 2002,
they moved into the boys' cottage permanently and have stayed
there ever since.
"We've been here for two years
and hope to be here for many more," Busby said. "I love my job
more than anyone I know. I love to wake up at work."
And one would have to love it,
to spend every day supervising a dozen children.
"Kids have so much energy - an
unbelievable amount of energy," Busby said. "I remember when I
first came here I wondered how to keep these kids in line."
The Calvary Children's Home
doesn't use corporal punishment, like spankings, he said.
Instead, discipline is administered in a more creative fashion.
Much like the old tradition of writing sentences on a
chalkboard, the children are assigned "pages" to write
describing what they do wrong.
He recalled the first time he
looked at one of the children's pages.
"The first page I came to was
'I must stop chasing cars. I must stop chasing cars. I must stop
- '" he said. "I wondered what I'd gotten myself in to."
Busby says little about
himself, instead preferring to talk about the children and the
success stories he has seen during his tenure.
"The vision of the children's
home was to take children from broken homes and rehabilitate
them," he said. "More often than not these kids are here until
they are ready to head out into the world. We've had kids come
here who have been terribly behind in school and, because the
community has been so kind to us, providing tutors and such,
they graduate from high school, and some go on to college."
Busby admits that looking after
the 10 children in his cottage and trying to balance out a
normal family life is challenging at times.
"I couldn't do this without
Melita," he said "She's the sweetest woman on the planet."
Busby said that his work is the
most rewarding thing he does and is rooted in his faith in Jesus
Christ.
"Christianity has its roots in
love," he said. "Even non-Christian folks can relate to
Christian virtues."
Busby said that his method of
teaching the children Christian values is by showing, not
telling. He recalled a favorite saying of St. Francis of Assisi
- "Preach the gospel every day - use words if necessary."
He has no plans of leaving the
home anytime soon.
"I hope to use the rest of my
life to reach young people in the name of Lord Jesus Chris,"
Busby said. "Not only do people love you, but God loves you.
There's a reason they (the children) are here. There's a reason
they exist."
- Blair Hadley,
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
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