Realizing a Dream

All my life I have wanted to be a rancher.  I grew up following my grandfather who always owned cattle until he was almost 90 years old.  The problem with wanting to be a rancher is that it takes a lot of money.  That wasn't something that I inherited or was given so, I had to start saving what I could.

My undergraduate advisor at Texas A&M was Dr. Ronald D. Kay.  I will never forget Dr. Kay because he cared about the students and teaching more than he did about research.  He gave me some very practical advice.  Pursue what you want to do but remember, there's more than one way to skin a cat.  You may have to do something you don't really want to do in order to do what you really want to.  He suggested agricultural finance might be a good way to start working toward my dream of owning a ranch.  It was good advice.  Managing money properly is necessary to realize a dream that costs as much as ranching.

I owned cattle a time or two through the years.  But, I was never able to put much together beyond a few stocker calves or a few old cows on leased land.  I stepped away from it for awhile and decided to focus on putting together enough to do it right.

This year, we finally were able to realize the dream.  Looking back it was all obviously "God orchestrated" because the combination of things coming together could have been the result of nothing else.  There are a few pictures below....