Our story

So, for those interested in the back story of how we got here, I thought I’d fill you in. It starts back in 1991 when Stephen was 12. He remembers going to bed dreaming of 2 things…1 was to get married and have a lot of kids. The 2nd was to work on a ranch. Here we are 32 years later…living the dream!

We knew from the beginning of the ranch job search, that whoever would hire us, would have to be someone special. Even though Stephen would look up advertisements regularly for years, he never felt a peace about submitting a resume until we could commit to a position. Within 3 weeks of the start of our active submission process, Mr. Elder contacted us. He started the phone conversation by saying America needed more families like ours and that they would love to have us, he just wasn’t sure they had a home big enough for us. Well, that was a direct answer to my prayer because we knew it would take a person who thinks outside the box to want a family our size. We talked for an hour and really loved everything we visited about. By the end of the conversation, he said he wanted to talk to his family and see if they thought we would be a good fit. Within 3 or 4 days he called back saying they would love for us to come and they had a plan! We were SO EXCITED!!

To make a long story short, we agreed upon a start time of the beginning of April. So that put us into motion to button up all our things around the farm and house and get packed and ready to move! We had amazing support and couldn’t have done everything without all the help from family and friends. We are so thankful for so much love that we all felt from everyone as we saw so many specific needs met. Truly a humbling experience and I will be forever grateful.

A little more back story…

One thing I have learned in my 19 years of marriage to Stephen is to enjoy the ride. He is one to “stop and smell the roses.” If you are working on a project, and something else more intriguing comes up, you better get ready to shift gears. He makes life so fun! He has always had such a positive, optimistic outlook on life. He has had such a confidence in things that would worry me. Like, how did he know we would get married on our front porch when we hadn’t begun building our house until January 1 (with a March 13 wedding day)? And how did he know that we would work on a ranch some day and that it wasn’t just a pipe dream? How did he feel so sure about retirement with HFD at 20 years when 90% of folks would tell him to stay? How did he just know so many other things that I would ponder and worry about for way to long?

A few verses that reminds me so much of him are “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Proverbs 16:3 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Was the road without bumps? Not at all! But when you take the straight and narrow like the Lord tells us to, you can have the confidence that He will lead you. And Stephen had that confidence. He knew that the Lord would lead because he said He would. That childlike faith was sweet to see executed. He committed his work unto the Lord, trusted in the Lord’s wisdom, didn’t put his own timing into play and just enjoyed life. All those life experiences with him have grown me and made me love him more for his carefree outlook. He has helped me so much.

So, here we are today…happily married with 14 kids, retired from HFD, and working on a ranch in Oregon! Wow! It’s hard to believe sometimes! I have a friend (Laura Baker) that says she loves going on adventures with God. I couldn’t agree more! The Lord has taken us on such an amazing journey through life and we have seen His hand guiding so lovingly and gently. Sometimes we have made mistakes, but He is still there ready for us to return to Him. That example of our Father’s love is so incredible. Quite convicting when I get impatient with the kids or disgruntled about a certain situation, or worried about something that isn’t going like I thought it should. The Lord is just always there. That unconditional love is so precious and full.

I’m so grateful for where the Lord led us. We are loving our time here in Oregon. The work is big, the land is vast and has such a unique beauty, the folks are so sweet and we are just enjoying our season of life right now!