Our story is, was, and always will be about “us.” There is no individual piece of the puzzle that is greater than the others. In Part 1, I shared how our family left Kansas and followed God’s call to Arkansas—an unexpected move that would change our lives. Now, nearly 25 years later, there’s still a lot of story left to tell. While I can’t accurately retell everyone’s journey that brought them here, I can tell you mine. The story of a kid who spent years trying to leave the very place he now knows he was meant to be all along—something I can only credit to God’s plan unfolding, even when I didn’t see it yet.
A Family Begins Again
When we moved to Mountain Home in 2001, it was just my parents, my sister Kaytie, and me. Kaytie was a senior and ended up returning to Kansas to graduate from Yates Center. Brady moved from Emporia in the spring of 2002, and by the summer of 2004, Kaytie and her soon-to-be husband Ryan had made the move back. Brady has worked with Lawns Plus and Mountain Milling ever since. Ryan began working full time with us in 2017 after leaving a career in security & surveillance systems. They each have their own story to tell—but this is mine.
Built by Work Ethic
There is a story my grandma used to tell about their Oklahoma farm. A grass fire had broken out nearby while my grandpa was away. She had my dad, age 8, and my uncle, age 10, jump on tractors and disc a fire break around the house. And they pulled it off. I can’t imagine handing my own 10-year-old the keys to a tractor today. But our family has always held a high standard of work ethic and responsibility.
Learning From Doing
When we got to Mountain Home, I was 13 and about to enter eighth grade. I played football, so practice kept me busy during the week, but Saturdays were usually spent working with Dad. I remember spending a good portion of that first winter helping Dad turn an old feed barn behind a country grocery store into a small living space. I wasn’t particularly useful, but I could help lift framing, run wires, and hold the flashlight like a pro.
Early Days of Lawns Plus
Throughout junior high and high school, I worked for and alongside both Dad and Brady. We had a regular contract for a rental management company where we would clean out rental homes. This usually happened after an eviction or after a tenant left the home in poor condition. We would haul off trash, remove carpet, paint walls, replace lights, or whatever else was needed to get the home ready to rent again. We cleaned out units with spoiled food, animal waste, and even a live grenade on one occasion. Early on, we also picked up some mowing jobs. With a John Deere mower, a tiny trailer, a handheld Weed-Eater, and a blower, we did what we could. Eventually, we upgraded to a Grasshopper zero-turn and began buying better equipment. When there wasn’t grass to mow, we replaced siding, repaired soffit, painted houses, fixed roofs—you name it. One day we’d be hanging a door and the next we’d be cutting tennis balls to fit on the feet of a walker.
Snow Days and Two-A-Days
For as long as I was still in school, there were two things that I dreaded more than anything: snow days and the first two weeks of August. Snow days were exciting for most kids, but for me, it meant we were out somewhere shoveling snow. I very vividly remember shoveling a walkway to someone’s front door and hearing laughter and screaming coming from across the road only to realize it was a group of my friends sledding. The first two weeks of August were an even bigger pain point. The first day of August is when, at the time, the state allowed formal school football practices to begin. These were still that days of “two-a-day” practices, and our coach’s policy was to split them up to the cooler parts of the day. So, we had our first practice from 6 a.m to 8 a.m. and our second practice from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This turned out to be incredibly convenient for everyone. Being out of practice by 8 a.m. meant that I had time to change for work and hop in a truck in the school parking lot at 8:30 to head out to mow. Then, at 5:30, I would get dropped off at the school just in time to shower and change back into my practice clothes and be on the field again by 6:00. I got some of the best sleep of my life during that two-week period each year.
Leaving Home, Then Mowing Again
After I graduated high school, I spent two years living at home and attending Arkansas State University – Mountain Home and working in between classes and during breaks. I moved to Fayetteville in the Fall of 2008 to attend the University of Arkansas. I very famously, in our family at least, told my mom that I wasn’t ever going to mow yards again. Three years later, in the Summer of 2011, with no real path and no degree, I moved back home to start mowing yards again.
Business and Blessings
Life was good. We worked as a family, I met my wife, got married, had kids, and cut grass. We expanded the lawn service in 2015 to include weed control, fertilization, and pest control applications. We moved to a new building in 2017, which we still operate out of, and started looking towards the future. Late in 2017 we purchased our first Norwood sawmill and Lawns Plus was expanded upon to now include Lawns Plus Milling. It was a side-gig. A winter job. Something to keep us busy during slow times. Just another thing that we tried to expand and grow. We upgraded to our first Woodmizer sawmill and purchased a re-saw as well. Not long after that, we bought our first moulder-planer. The ball was rolling downhill, and we were running behind it trying to keep up. Through all the growth, I still found myself searching for my place in it all.
A Change in Direction
By the Spring of 2019, I was ready for a change. Wanting to step out on my own and pursue different goals, and that Brady, my brother, and Ryan, my brother-in-law, could operate just as well without me, I started looking for my next opportunity. After secretly interviewing for several different positions over the course of the year, I finally landed a new job in January of 2020 with the City of Mountain Home to become their new Parks Foreman. It wasn’t long before I found myself at home as a government employee. I wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations of Lawns Plus or Lawns Plus Milling, but with a tight knit family like ours, I was never completely out of the loop either.
Conviction and Clarity
After two years with the city, I was pretty sure that I had found my place in the world. I had gone back to college in January of 2020 as well, and finished my bachelor’s degree through online classes in the Spring of 2021. I was promoted from Foreman to Supervisor later that year. By the beginning of 2022 I was doing everything in my power to send myself down a trajectory that would enable me to eventually become the Parks Director when my boss retired. I was fully convinced that God’s plan for my life was to be in that position and retire there.
A God Sent Confirmation
I got a shock to my system in June of 2022. My boss announced he was retiring a couple of years earlier than expected. Although I knew that my resume wasn’t ready to compete for that role, I felt that I was at the very least one of the top candidates. It was too soon, I was too inexperienced, and the role went to a person who was a much better fit than I was. Even knowing all of that, I was spiraling once again trying to figure out what God had in store for me. Being raised as a pastor’s son for most of my childhood, I eventually went to God asking for direction. It wasn’t long before he laid out a path.
Rooted in Purpose
God always has a way of meeting you right where you are. So I did the only thing I knew how to do—I prayed. I leaned into the faith that had been a part of me since I was a kid growing up as a pastor’s son.
And God met me there. Just like He always has.
I felt Him pulling me back to Lawns Plus and Mountain Milling Co., but I needed some kind of confirmation. One day, I randomly opened my Bible and read, “What’s the point of 2 Chronicles? Those who rely on the Lord make a huge difference in life.” Just below, in 2 Chronicles 2:3: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father.”
And just like that, the work I had tried to leave behind became the work I now feel called to do.
As long as the Lord allows, I’ll be here—growing this business, honoring our family, and building something worth passing down.
Faithfully Walking the Path
It’s been almost exactly three years since that decision was made. I returned to Lawns Plus and Lawns Plus Milling in January of 2023. Lawns Plus Milling officially became Mountain Milling Co. in March of that year. It’s not always perfect, sometimes its not even close. Yet, here we are, still working together and striving to continue to build the company that God has given us to manage. One day I know that God will show us a new curve in the road, and when it comes we will manage it just as we have all the ones before – faithfully submitting to the work he has before us.
