This is a big week, for us personally. It’s a milestone I’m not sure Steve nor I thought we would be celebrating – it just sounds like such a LOT. Indeed it is. We didn’t envision this day anymore than you can really grasp what your adult children will be like, when you’ve only seen their toddler selves. It is exhausting to think about in a future tense, but incredibly humbling to see on this side of the journey.
We started our company on October 4, 2003, and had our first wedding on December 13th, 2003 on our home property just a hop, skip and jump from Kindred Oaks, where we thought our business was to be held. Before we even got out of the gate, we saw multiple challenges we’d have to confront and we quickly started looking for land. We needed an unrestricted space to hold events with loud music and space for parking and bathrooms.
We found the land that is now Kindred Oaks, after a search within a five mile radius of our home. It was part of a three tract parcel of land, that had sat empty, on the market for 10 months, 20 years ago this next month. We couldn’t afford all three pieces so we made a bid on two of the tracts, but the seller said he’d have to put restrictions on it if we took only two. We held firm and said that was a deal breaker. We prayed. We prayed some more and surrendered the decision to God, come what may.
Later that evening, we got a call from our agent saying that another buyer came in at the last minute and wanted only the third tract of land, for a landscaping business. He agreed to have no restrictions. For ten months that acreage sat empty but in the span of one day, two buyers and three tracts of land, we found out what to step out in faith really meant. The picture above is what the home looked like in 1978 when built.
Our business turned 20 years old and likewise, we turned 20 years older. Like a good marriage, it has taken immeasurable hard work, daily compromises, unending patience, and grace beyond what one can imagine. We have made so many mistakes in the midst of the growth, it pains me to recall them, but the development of character in the midst of the chaos, gave us success and abundant joy. I cannot fathom how many children have been born of the more than 1500 couples who have wed here and the generations that will follow.
The 20th anniversary celebration is this Saturday and we could not be more thankful for each one of you who reads this newsletter, each one who said ‘I do’ and committed to life together, each one who served in the capacity of a vendor or showed support in the form of family and friends. You made this happen. And just like the village that I’ve spoken about so often, you’ve helped us achieve what one single individual could not. WE all have established a community of love. WE all have helped change the lives of others and had ours changed as a result.
We set about doing all things in love and sometimes we did not succeed. But more times than not, we did, and with the unbounding grace of God above, we will continue.
Thank you.
Elaine & Steve
