~The Story of Hearts Haven Ranch~

The story of Hearts Haven Ranch is one of many layers.

It's the story of a place, chosen by the Lord, to be used for His purposes.

A place where people and animals alike find refuge and restoration in the love of God.

A place where His heart is held with humility, compassion, reverence, and devotion.

A place where hard stuff happens.

All the time.

But it's a place where God meets us in the hard.

It's the story of a place where our family, spanning three generations, was brought together to do life. To navigate all its peaks and valleys, its twists and turns, its treacherous, yet grace-filled roads. Merging our own stories and our own pasts with the present. And following our Father into the future.

And it's the story of a place that has become a work of faith.

In 2003, God lead the first of us to this property, following a For Sale sign that lead down these winding back country roads. At the time, the original sign (pictured above) stood at the entrance, revealing that God had already established this property as a hearts' haven. Though only able to go just past the entrance, there was an immediate knowing that this was "the place" God had chosen to carry out His work. Tucked away behind the sprawling live oaks was an old farmhouse (which was actually two old houses that had been joined together many years before), and there was a little red guest cottage seated right next to it. The boundaries of the property form the mirrored shape of Israel (as if you were looking at the country of Israel on the map, but flipped it upside down). This likeness to the chosen land of God's chosen people was a firm affirmation that this was indeed "the place" for this specific work of His.

Over the past 23 years, Hearts Haven Ranch has gone through many transformations; as has the entire Hearts Haven Ranch family. In fact, it went from only one of us living here in 2003, to ten of us living here by 2018--through marriage, births, adoptions, and the blending of families. It has always been a gathering place, and a home away from home for all of our extended family and friends. Over the years, God has brought other people here-some just for a visit, others for a season-grafting them into our family, and into the story that He is writing in this place.

Within the four corners of Hearts Haven Ranch, we have navigated through blended family dynamics, births, deaths, sicknesses, adoption, trauma and loss, mental illness, disability, special needs, marital trials and tribulations, healing and deliverance, and all the spiritual battles that come with the territory. But God has been right there with us, each step of the way. He has brought us through some very stormy seas, and has anchored us in His love.

He has given us new life.

Abundant life.

Here, we have been free to walk intimately with the Lord. To worship Him and learn of His ways, to cry and pray and fellowship, to repent and seek forgiveness, to learn and to grow, to receive and extend grace, to fall down and be lifted up again, to be broken and put back together again, piece by piece.

From the very beginning, we have always known that God would use this place for His work, and for those in need of refuge. But it wasn't until we walked through certain fires ourselves, that we began to see what that might look like. And how He might use this place for others in much the same way He has used it for us.

As an open Heaven.

In 2020, God spoke the words "Come to the table", revealing that He was moving into a new season here, and that He was inviting others to join our family, and come sit around this table with Him. It has been nothing short of astonishing to see who all God has brought to Hearts Haven Ranch in the past 6 years. The table has grown in ways we never could have imagined, and the seats are being filled by people from all walks of life.

And by animals...

The animal rescue work should not have come as much of a surprise to us, but it did. We have always had a heart for animals, and especially animals in need. But we did not foresee that animal rescue work would become such a large part of what we do here. Within the animal "trade" sector, there is so much evil. Evil that preys on the most vulnerable creatures in this world, who have no voice, as humans do. There is greed, there is malice, there is deception, and there is So. Much. Cruelty. The more we saw, the more our eyes were opened, the more our hearts were broken for these animals. And God was creating hearts of compassion and love, of sacrifice and resolve, and most of all--hearts totally and completely dependant upon Him. What we have learned from these years of doing animal rescue work has shaped our understanding of everything else that is to follow.

In 2024, the entity of Hearts Haven Ranch 501(c)3 was established, launching us into the next phase of work here. God spoke the words "Open the gates", and though we didn't fully know what He meant by that, the gates have most definitely been swung wide open! Not only the gates leading into Hearts Haven Ranch, but also the gates leading us out from the ranch and into the community.

In 2025, there was a rapid expansion of the animal rescue work, along with the inititiation of the community outreach programs. Opportunities to serve began to open up, one right after another. The vision for what God wanted to do through Hearts Haven Ranch became clearer, as He guided us through some of our most difficult trials, leading us in the direction of His ultimate purposes here.