Mustard Seed Ranch

My perfect family has a dad who is strong and always picks his kids up after getting home from work, and tells them stories at night. It also has a mom who stays home and cares for and plays with her children. I didn’t get a picture perfect family. Instead I got a mom who was kind as can be but couldn’t stay off of drugs long enough to take care of her three kids. I also got a loving father who couldn’t keep the cancer at bay. My parents ended up passing four days apart when I was seven. After that my brother and I ended up moving in when in with our welcoming aunt and uncle. My sister was old enough to live on her own so she didn’t come with us. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for my aunt and uncle to bring in my brother and I at the young age of seven and ten along with three kids of their own. Things started off good but after about a year and a half I started to act up just doing things I wasn’t supposed to and sometimes being really disrespectful to my aunt. I honestly just did this because I saw how happy my cousins were with their mom and that made resent her for not being my own mom. It also mad me jealous of my cousins because their family was still together and I had just lost half of mine. But as I grew older I realized that I had gained much more than I had lost. After that I had acted out so much that my aunt and uncle decided it was best that I didn’t live with them anymore so they placed me in a group home. My first group home wasn’t the best fit for me. After it didn’t work out there I was placed in a residential treatment facility in Memphis. It wasn’t a good place to be at all. My first night there is when I decided to change and become a better person. I don’t know what exactly made me want to change but I like to think of it as a wake up call from God. It didn’t take long for people to realize that I shouldn’t have been there so after I was successful discharged I moved back in with my aunt and uncle for a couple of months. After a few months in to living with them again I was told that I would be moving to a place called Mustard Seed Ranch. All I could think was; “ Here we go again”, but they soon reassured me that it was supposed to be a really good place and that I should be hopeful for a fresh start. They had told me that they had done a lot of praying about this place and had continuously looked in to the ranch. They had talked to Mrs. Tammy, the director of the ranch and said that she told them a little about Mustard Seed. After I had been told by may aunt and uncle about how amazing this place was I was kind of exited to go. Of course I would miss my family but I would get to see them every other weekend and for holidays. It has now been a little over two years since I’ve been at the ranch and I truly believe that it has changed me for the better. I am so grateful for everyone here and am extremely grateful for my aunt and uncle for having put me here. My ranch family is such a huge part of my everyday life. I don’t know what I would be like if I didn’t have them, and honestly I don’t think it would be good. Being at the ranch has taught me so much about life and how it’s okay to not be okay sometimes and to learn how to persevere through the hard times. And for that I’m forever grateful. Jordan