Family Ventures

Avery's Branch Farms  is a first-generation farm created for the purpose of working alongside our children and offering them the opportunity to cultivate their interests in agriculture. We offer all natural eggs, grass-fed poultry, pork, seasonal produce, and rich, creamy milk from our cows through our cowboarding program. We also offer freshly ground, whole wheat breads, and a variety of other delicious baked goods. 

Sullivan's Tractor Service was started so the children would have an opportunity to develop work and business skills. It was named after Sullivan, who, as a 3 year old toddler, absolutely loved tractors. Having begun in 2004, Sullivan's Tractor Service has become a thriving business for the kids. Although they primarily offer monthly bushhogging in undeveloped neighborhoods in the area, they also occasionally clear lots or offer services such as culvert installation. The boys are the main tractor operators and they handle weed-eating as well as tractor maintenance. Although Meredith was the primary bushhogger for years when she lived at home, she has since married but continues to do all of the marketing, bookkeeping, and billing for the company. "A wise youth works hard all summer, a youth who sleeps away the hour of opportunity brings shame." Proverbs 10:5

 
Anchor Real Estate and Development is a business started to primarily service our family's real estate endeavors. 

BEFORE & AFTERS

Our family has really enjoyed fixing up houses over the years. Here are a few of the before and after pictures from some of our favorite projects.

Livingston Oak Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 

When we were the successful bidders on this house, we were quite nervous about our ability to fix it up. It was in such disrepair and so very filthy inside. We scrubbed, painted, and replaced and the house cleaned up nicely. It became a great place to live.

Hardwood Drive, Chesapeake, VA  Joy was especially thankful to get this house because she was four weeks away from Sullivan's due date.

Rainbow Run, Chesapeake, VA  We were so happy to buy this house from VDOT because we had been staying in an extended-stay hotel for over two months waiting to find a bargain.

Homeward Drive, Virginia Beach, VA      God miraculously gave us this house. There were over 100 people at the foreclosure auction--more than we had ever seen before. Amazingly the bidding slowed before the house's assessed value was even reached and Joy, who attended the auction alone that day, and one other lady were the only competing bidders. After our family was awarded the house as the highest bidder, the other bidder approached Joy (with no indication that Joy was a Christian) and said she felt that God told her to stop bidding against us. Joy thanked the lady for obeying the prompting of the Lord and then turned to a group of men who were neighbors to the house and who were eager to share details about the structural soundness of this fine home being occupied by a recluse in this very nice neighborhood. This investment property turned out to be one of the biggest financial blessings God ever gave us although it was also one of the most emotionally draining as we had never before had to use police assistance to remove someone from a home. This is a picture of the "move out" day - an especially difficult day as the previous owner, in days past, had a very intimidating presence as he would lean on his shotgun in the corner of the property when we would come to the house.

Atkins Way, Hertford, NC

This was our family's first new construction project. We did the layout, entrance road, footings, foundation, siding, hardwood floors, front porch, deck, concrete, driveway, and sidewalks. It was a very educational and rewarding experience.

Cedar Lane, Amelia, VA

This house was already in good shape, but we enjoyed painting and decorating it to match the time period it represented.

Rutherford Drive, Chesapeake, VA

This house just needed an exterior face lift and was probably our easiest renovation ever.

Dillard's Mill Road, Tyner, NC

This was the only home we've lived in where we could plug the vacuum cleaner cord into any outlet and vacuum the entire house! Although it was in need of much repair and it was our smallest home ever, it cleaned up nicely and suited our needs very well.