Marcus Redding's First Day on the Ranch

Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. Marcus stood in the driveway outside his new ranch house. An old pickup truck rolled in. Mr. Johnson was driving. He rolled down the window and gestured to a teenager sitting in the passenger side. “This is Justin. He’s going to be a senior at Brownsboro. He’s been my ranch hand for about a year now. Just started his summer break but he doesn’t get a break out here. Right, son?” He slapped him on the leg. “Yes, sir,” Justin said. Mr. Johnson turned back to Marcus. “Jump in. We’ll show you around.”

Mr. Johnson talked as he drove through the ranch. He had a quiet voice and Marcus had to strain to hear him. “300 acres. Goes back to my great-great grandfather. He was a criminal. Shot a man he thought was stealing his cattle. Johnsons have a temper.” Marcus took a nervous sideways look at Mr. Johnson, who winked at him. “Don’t worry, the Lord has taken care of that. James 1:19-21. I live by those verses, and some others.”

Mr. Johnson went on, “Livestock. You’ll learn how to inoculate, separate the sick, build feed troughs, make sure calves don’t get separated from their mothers. Check fences. Always check fences. We had that windstorm last Friday night. See over there.” Mr. Johnson kept his hands on the wheel and pointed with one finger. Marcus saw where an oak had fallen into a fence. The tree was cut up and the fence had been repaired.

“You’ll run the tractor. Bale hay. Identify and remove exotic plants. Hogs tear up the place. You have to set traps. Shoot the hogs when you can. Doesn’t make much difference though. Maintain the trails and roads. Do some welding. Keep the garden. I’ve got three guest cabins. Every weekend at least one is occupied. You and Lauren will take care of them. Cleaning. Laundry. Maintenance.”

Mr. Johnson paused. “Overwhelmed?” “Yes, sir, just a little.” Mr. Johnson spoke reassuringly, “Justin will help. There’s a couple other boys that help out. I’m 75 years old but I’d like to be around for a while longer. I’ll teach you how to do it all.”

Lauren left TJC that afternoon and drove out to the ranch. Mr. Johnson met her at the office just off from his house. He greeted her courteously and held the door as she walked inside. A lady behind a big desk stood and walked up to them. Mr. Johnson said, “This is Lisa. She’s the dragon lady.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “If I get out of line she brings me back in. She’s been running the office for 25 years and she’s moving on. Everybody’s leaving me. She’ll show you everything. I gave Marcus a chainsaw. He’s out cutting up some trees. I’ll meet both of y’all back at your house at 6:00.”

Lauren was surprised at Lisa’s warmth and friendliness. She took Lauren’s hands in hers and asked about the baby and said she had heard so many good things about Lauren and she was so happy to meet her. Lisa got Lauren a chair and pulled it up behind the desk, “The office is the hub of the ranch. The three key words are: friendly, efficient, and clean. I’ll show you how to process receivables and payables, make changes and updates in the reservations, organize the office, order supplies, keep Mr. Johnson’s schedule, answer the phone, keep up the website, answer email.” They spent a couple hours talking about family and talking about work. Everything sounded good. Lauren was hopeful.

At 6:00 Mr. Johnson met them at their house. They walked inside and sat at the kitchen table. Mr. Johnson set his hat down and ran his fingers through his silver, wavy hair. “Do you know the story of Mephibosheth?” Marcus kind of remembered. Lauren knew it well, “He was Jonathan’s son. Lame in both feet. David wanted to show kindness to him to honor Jonathan’s memory so he gave him his share of Saul’s land and made sure he was always taken care of.”

Mr. Johnson didn’t say anything. He just looked at Marcus and Lauren and smiled. They looked back at him for a while. Then they looked at each other. They got it.

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.