“There’s a guy who hires college-age kids to work on his ranch in Colorado…”
I turned my head and heard something similar to those words in a conversation behind me. I was in my sophomore year of college at the time and wanted nothing more than to get to the mountains. Previously, I had been passed over for a job in Alaska, and now, here was an opportunity that came within earshot.
After querying those individuals and discussing what they called the /LD Ranch, I was certain that this must be my summer plan. In no time, Skip Crowe drove up from Austin to meet another friend and me to interview us to see if we had what it took to work on his ranch during the summer of 2001. Instantly, I knew I wanted to work for Skip.
He offered me the job on the spot, and I accepted. Off to Colorado…off to a new adventure. Our abode…the cabin below. Our view…the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
As we arrived that summer, I didn’t know that Skip Crow had been bringing young men to his ranch since 1985. I quickly realized that I would be different after spending this summer with him, his wife, and two other ranch hands committed to working at the /LD.
However, I was ready to leave when we began. Of course, I didn’t share that thought, but it was in my head just the same. The work started in earnest just about as soon as we arrived. Using tarps and Rocky Mountain boulders, we flood-irrigated his property to prepare the fields for fall grazing and the winter calving season.
The best way–in one-word descriptors–for me to explain those first few weeks was: Early. Late. Hay. Mud. Wet. Cold. Boring. Shovel. Monotonous.
Every day (except for the weekends), at the end of the day, we would have to wash up and come to Skip and Jane’s for dinner. They lived in a gorgeous log home about one mile from our little shack down in the valley. Jane was an excellent cook, and Skip expected manners to be fully displayed.
After pulling chairs for the women in the house, offering a toast for the day, and praying over the meal, we would eat dinner together. Evening after evening, our meals followed this pattern. Week after week, guests would visit the Crows, and we would listen to stories and share in conversation. Occasionally, Skip would lead a Bible study, and I sat soaking what I later learned was Bible exposition from his inductive Bible study methods.
The summer ground on, and I learned much about myself. Staying-power was a theme that kept coming up in my mind. And then came the branding days. Cowboys would show up from all over the valley to help Skip and his crew brand, vaccinate, tag, band, and dehorn his calves. Those were exhausting days but some of the most satisfying. Close to a hundred calves at a time would come through Cowboys’ ropes and the ranch hand’s grip to be ready for a summer of grazing in the BLM grasslands. Below is a picture of such days:
After branding, we moved the mommas and their calves by horseback through the alpine forests of Colorado to their summer pastures.
When I left the /LD, I returned to A&M with a perspective I’m only now beginning to understand. It was life-changing. I couldn’t define why. I couldn’t describe how. But I knew I wasn’t the same. Old passions and desires were being changed. My focus on Christ was coming more into view. My life was beginning to reflect that shift. Staying-power had paid off.
Looking back over two decades, I see that the /LD was a fork in my path in life. God used my three-month ranch hand experience to give me many things, but the one stands out: a vision for hands-on experiential biblical discipleship.
Last weekend, February 3, 2023, I joined a /LD reunion to honor Skip and Jane and their nearly 20 years of bringing over 75 young men to their ranch to pour the Bible, work, and their lives into us. I’m not the same because of Skip Crow and his commitment to biblical discipleship.
Something Skip shared at our reunion, I wanted to share here. Skip asked us what it means to “Ride for the Brand.” He listened to a few answers and then provided something simple yet so profound: “To ride for the brand is committing to something bigger than you.”
Thank you, Skip. God bless you. Thank you for living the Christian life, “Riding for the Brand.”
May you finish this adventure of life well.
— February 9, 2023