Fall Festival: september 20 - november 2
christmas flash sale starts oct 29th at 8am!
THE BIGGEST BACKYARD IN TEXAS
We moved to Cleburne in 1989 because of a desire to live and raise our family in the country. We named our place Mainstay Farm based on the Scripture, "Stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, knowing it is not a waste of time or effort.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
OUR FOUNDATION
We began growing Christmas trees six months later. It was at a Spring Christmas Tree Field Day that we learned that a mainstay is actually a bamboo stake used in the Christmas tree industry to hold a seedling up straight: it marks the seedling; it protects the seedlings roots from wind-waller; it gives the seedling stability, disciplining it so it will become what it is intended to be.
For our family, the Living God is the Mainstay of our lives. He is doing these same things for us. Encouragement to you wherever you are with your relationship with God. We are glad you are here.
— Jim and Marianna Wilson
HOW WE FOUND OUR FARM
We found our farm one Sunday afternoon while driving the country roads near Burleson. At the time Marianna and I only had one daughter, Carmen, 22 months old. We lived in Fort Worth but wanted to raise our family in the country connected with agriculture; this was our dream. When we came upon the place it was overgrown, had poor fences and a small farmhouse that needed attention. It was part of an estate vacant since 1985, formerly a peanut farm. Marianna wanted it the moment she saw it. But me?….. I loved our home in Fort Worth and was already comfortable with life as it was going. A self-inflicted financial stretch would be painful, I thought.
This was a serious decision and we earnestly prayed about it. Within three days we put a contract on the place contingent on the sale of our Fort Worth home.
Ninety days later it had not sold, so we asked the landowner if he would extend again for 90 more days. “OK, just once,” he agreed. At the end of the 90 days, nothing changed. Marianna’s dad, an attorney-farmer in Tennessee, had an idea: call the seller and ask if he would set the closing for a firm date in 60 days?… “because we would have money by that time.” So that’s what we did. With this hard deadline, we asked God daily to bring a family who needed our home to come look at it. As our closing date came close, it happened. A family gave us a contract and and both closings happened within days of each other. After closing, we met the family and found out our home was a huge answer to their prayer as well.
YOUNG LIFE MINISTRY
"I joined the Young Life club at Eastern Hills High School in 1973 and I’m so happy I did. This ministry made a difference in my life." -- Jim Wilson, Mainstay Farm Park
This is why Mainstay Farm is a financial supporter of Young Life (YL), a Christian outreach mission focused on adolescents in all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. The ministry was started by Fort Worth’s Jim Rayburn in 1941 at Carter Riverside High School. Rayburn, as a church youth minister, saw the high school as a mission field. Rayburn believed “Every teenager has the right to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He felt that if kids weren’t coming to their local church, someone must go to them. And YL has been doing just that ever since.
Mainstay gives to Young Life because we feel an urgency for kids to trust Jesus Christ as their personal savior. We know that Jesus is relevant for every situation, every person, every adult, every day of their life.
We personally support the work of YL staff member, Kent Williams. Kent has the title of Senior Mission Specialist, which might be a bit confusing. Think: Speaking, Training, Supporting & Loving YL kids and leaders whilst helping them to fall more in love with Jesus. Kent says, “My job is simply to make people laugh and tell them about Jesus.” While there’s a bit more to it than that, there is a winsomeness to Kent that helps to break down walls and build connections quickly fostering an openness to the Good News of Jesus.
A Bit of Kent’s Story:
Kent trusted Jesus as his Savior as an 8-year-old, yet it was through relationships formed with the Young Life Staff & volunteer leaders during high school that he came to grow his relationship with Jesus in a real way. Largely due to the impact those leaders had in his life, Kent has devoted his life to helping others the same way he was cared for. After years of volunteering, he joined the staff of Young Life in 1994 and served as Area Director in the Pacific Northwest for 17 years. Kent accepted the position of Special Assistant to the President (now Senior Mission Specialist) where he is able to leverage his gifts of serving staff, leaders & kids via the mission of Young Life. Kent loves to make people laugh while sharing the Good News of God’s love. He and his smart and fun wife, Janie, married in 1992 and have a grown son and daughter.
