nc renfrows

Well, 2012 was quite a year for the Renfrow family. We wanted to share our experiences with all that are interested and to express our great gratitude to our family who helped us soo much during this season of our life and to give our praise for what the Lord has done for us.

To start, I (Matt) have wanted to be involved in farming for most of my post college life. I have been able to have jobs in agriculture which I have really enjoyed, but always just had that desire to grow crops and have ownership in the work that I was doing. From 2007-2009 I tried starting our own small farm where I sold some produce at a local farmers market as well as to some of you reading this. It was definitely something we enjoyed but proved difficult and costly to start from zero and gain much momentum.

In the summer of 2011, I was able to meet a farmer in Indiana that was interested in retiring and didn't have any children that were interested in continuing their family farm. He and his wife wanted a young, established family to join them and begin the process of purchasing shares of the business. We traveled to Indiana twice to meet with them, spending a full week with them on the second visit as we got to know each other better. We met with lending companies about how we could finance something of this scale and to see if it was a reality. After this visit, the family made us an offer to come and work with them and to pursue options for ownership.

Our first response was no. I couldn't take my family 700 miles from family and take a shot on chasing this dream that I have had, right? To clarify, this was a 3,200 acre corn and soybean farm that uses GPS to drive all their tractors in strait rows and precision equipment to measure soil pH and moisture availability in their soils to choose the correct management for their crop. This was not old McDonald's farm.

I thought about this decision everyday for weeks that turned into months. Did I make the wrong decision? I have been praying for an opportunity like this for years, but would the Lord be leading us to Indiana? It's cold there. They don't drink Pepsi, they drink "pop." So, that's exactly where we went. After a few months of prayer we felt the Lord was leading us to make this move! Alison and I were very excited to make this move after talking about it every night for countless nights.

On Jan 31, 2012 I gave my resignation notice with Pioneer and the adventure begins! On February 18 my brother-in-law Jason and I take off for Connersville, Indiana. I began working on the farm, getting to know the area. During this time Alison and the kids were staying at our parents' houses while the owners of the farm have agreed to add a bedroom and bathroom to his mothers old home so that our family could have enough space.

This is awesome until 7 weeks in and something changes. I have tried a few churches in my first few weeks here and reporting to Alison how the visits went and what to expect when they all come up in a few weeks. I went to a local church that the farmer had told me he has had some issues with some of the people there but wouldn't really divulge much info on the situation. Turns out they had a falling out with one of families that helped start the church. The man that the farmer disliked so much was now deceased, and his widow did still attend the church.

After my first visit I am convinced the Lord led me to this church from NC. Here I met 3 great guys on my first visit that almost instantly make this place feel like home. There is good biblical teaching and there are a good number of families here that homeschool their kids like we do. This is definitely where we will worship as a family when the family gets here.

The farmer and I met every Sunday night to talk about the coming week and he and his wife confidently tell me that if I continue to attend the church that I was excited about and was attending, the deal was off. Yup, no deal. So, after a lot of phone calls and prayer that night I resigned the next day, April 2. Alison flew up two days later and we put all our stuff back in storage and drove back to my parents house in VA to see the kids and get a grip on what has just happened.

I tried to find work and sent out a bunch of applications with a good number of interviews but no offers. The job that I thought would have been an ace in the hole when I left Indiana was now gone. The prayers now turn to "Lord, did I hear you wrong? Was I supposed to stay in NC and I didn't listen?"

April, May, June go by and nothing. I had several interviews in Indiana with seed companies but didn't receive any offers. In July I got a call from my old boss at Pioneer letting me know that he had an open position and wanted me to apply. I graciously accepted the position and started August 6th. The position was working as an Agronomist as I did previously but my location was not yet decided. I started working still living with family waiting for the company to make the decision on where we could live. We finally got the official word that they decided to place us in Eastern NC in November. We had found a home that we liked while we were waiting to be placed, so we were able to move forward with an offer and closed on the home on December 17.

So, we are very grateful to have landed in Washington, NC and look forward to getting back to work and getting life back to a normal pace.

Thanks again, so much, to all our family and friends that helped us from NC to VA to IN over the last 10 months, I don't know how we could ever repay you. We pray that the Lord would bless you for all you have done for us in this process.

Come see us in Washington!!!

The Renfrow's