Growing up in a broken home left Cody feeling lonely and neglected, which quickly turned into rebellion and anger. Raised in a single-mother household, Cody was tormented by the pains of abuse and neglect. For years, he was forced to endure that environment until he was sent to live with his grandparents at a young age. But 13 year-old Cody needed more help than his grandparents could give him. Exhausting all their options, they turned to Miracle Farm for help.
“When I first watched the video about Miracle Farm, the only thing I was looking at was the horse riding part,” Cody says. “But when I got here, it took a while to realize there was more. It was an opportunity to change my life.”
Cody arrived at Miracle Farm in September of 2012 when he was 13 years old. Despite the change of environment, Cody remained the same on the inside – wounded and broken. For the first year and a half of his stay on the Farm, he struggled with depression and even thoughts of suicide.
“I was hurting myself, and I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere in life. I felt like everything was my fault.”
He remained quiet and closed off, but through counseling, Bible studies, ranch work and roping, Cody slowly began to peel back the layers of hurt and distrust just enough to allow some of the staff members into his world.
Team Roping provides a unique approach to the treatment of relational dysfunction. The bond between horse and rider helps to teach trust and interdependence. The skills involved in roping cattle require patience and practice, skills that are useful in any life endeavor. Last but not least, the care of a horse and cattle teach job skills and responsibility that helps forge boys into men.
“Before I came to Miracle Farm, I didn’t even have a dream of what I wanted to be,” said Cody.
Cody just graduated high school and has been hired as a ranch hand at a ranch outside of Llano where he will get to put all of the skills he has learned from riding, roping, and ranch management to work.
He dreams of one day attending college and majoring in equine studies with hopes of being on a collegiate roping team. Cody has already learned lifelong lessons about faith and servant leadership and he was also one of the Farm’s best team ropers. But most importantly, he wants to continue to share his story with others and continue to learn and grow in the Cowboy Way.
Miracle Farm offers healing to teenage boys who have encountered the tougher roads in life. There, the boys are able to grow in to healthy, respectful young men who have every opportunity for success in life.
Miracle Farm provides an environment for Christ to forge young men of integrity who are firmly connected to the sense of security, acceptance, and significance that comes from an identity in Christ.
