Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Scribner.
Michelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I thought we could do a little meet and greet with some fun facts and to just brag on my incredible Mom!!! Michelle was raised on a cattle ranch in Denton, Texas, with four brothers! Graduated Denton High School class of ‘81, where she met her high school sweetheart, my wonderful Dad, Steve! She ran track Baylor University and then was a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader from 82-84! Was a contestant on The Price is Right and Auditioned for Magnum P.I. & Days of Our Lives in LA.
Placed in top 15 in Miss Texas USA pageant! Was a Flight Attendant for 25 years for American Airlines and then went on to Invest and design in Real Estate for the next 20 years! Raised a set of Triplets in Aubrey, Texas! Loves traveling and collecting vintage pieces to incorporate into her designs! After we went off to college she became a Certified Biblical Counselor from Southwestern Theological Seminary and Enjoys counseling on her prayer porch and has a special heart for couples! Not to mention she can’t wait to take on this new adventure, The French Farmhouse Venue, with her favorite daughter Kelsey!!
I now Michelle to tell her story: married my high school sweetheart, Steve at 32 and became a mother of Triplets (two boys and one girl) Cole, Collin, and Kelsey. During their senior year of high school, I fell pregnant with a new adventure on the horizon!! I know that sounds crazy, but I felt an internal spiritual stirring and knew something exciting was about to happen!! That summer, The Lord sent me to a ranch in Colorado to experience a prayer trail. The next fall, my triplets all went away to College!
So I decided to go to school myself and enrolled in Dallas Theological Seminary to get Certified in Biblical Counseling. This would take several weekends over two year period! My husband bought a bulldozer and said, let’s buy land, clean it up and flip it while the kids are gone! We are both in real estate and thought it would keep us busy!! I sold a 20-acre piece of land on CR 215 in mnt springs to a lady from Dallas who in turn needed electricity from a neighbor. After contacting the owners, they said if you know anyone, we would like to sell our 20 acres of land! Steve and I made a low ball offer and they took it!! We stuck our real estate sign out front to see if anyone wanted to buy it while we were clearing the cedars away, exposing the large oaks trees!
One day while Steve was up the hill in trees on bull dozier, I boldly declared to the Lord that He would show us where The Land is that we had always wanted it wouldn’t be for sale. It would be word of mouth. Then I would know it was from Him. Within 2 min, an old Mercedes came down the dirt road and stopped and honked!! I remember saying wow, that was fast!! I ran down the hill and met Nancy and Charlie. Charlie leaned forward and said I have some land I want to sell You!! I said, I know and told him what I had just prayed. He said it’s 56 acres just down the road look for white pipe fence!! They left, I jumped into Steve’s truck and headed to find a white pipe fence. I came over the hill, saw the long row of white pipe fence and was so excited. Better than I ever thought!!! Oh and one more thing it has a prayer trail all around the water!!!
So we designed and built a home w detached cabins, bedrooms or cabins we call them so people could come to stay and rest “Be Still and a knowledge that I am God” I just didn’t know who was suppose to go on my prayer trail. One day my daughter, who graduated with an Event Planning degree from A&M, said mom, we should build a wedding venue! My ears perked up and my spirit said oh wow, yes it’s couples that will go on my prayer trail!! Devils’ greatest victory Is breaking up the family!! Just so happens the little white church we started going to the pastor and his wife worked under Tommy Nelson at Denton Bible as Marriage reconciliation pastors for 17 years!! So he is going to help me set up a prayer trail with benches all along the trail for couples to go on on their own and at each bench, they discuss what Bible says marriage should look like. Mans role and woman’s role! The trail ends at a wooden cross where they dedicate their marriage to the Lord and then pass through Red Covered Bridge, which represents the blood of a Christ and forgiveness of all of their sins and start fresh!! This trail is open to our couples to journey at any time it’s needed. I have a private screened-in prayer porch that I counsel couples or individuals. There is never a charge for ministry. My passion is to keep couples together.
We also designed our venue w vintage pieces that all have a spiritual meaning. Just so happens that behind our venue are two huge oaks trees that are joined at the base. Genesis 2:24 Two shall become One!! The oneness keeps marriages together!! We also have the 3 Ring Door as a focal point in our venue 10 ft 1,000-pound-foot from 1,800’s that’s had three hand-carved intertwined rings that represent Ecc 4:12. “A three-ring cord is not easily broken!!” These two scriptures are our venue’s message on marriage to share with our couples! The Lord has had His hand in this all along. We are just obedient to do His will taking one step at a time!! Loving couples and sharing the Lord’s way so they have a blessed marriage.
Has it been a smooth road?
If the Lord is moving, the Devil is on it!!! The Devil wants nothing more than the squelch the Lords will! From the beginning, he has tried to discourage me with Fear! “Why you want this on your property? You’re almost retired Why you want to start something new,” or Main fear was that it won’t get done in time for our first wedding!! But God. I just kept taking the next step in faith and sharing with our couples about our journey and prayer trail even when I felt they wouldn’t want to hear that. I would push through and share and those were the ones God touched their hearts in a mighty way!! One Christian author always says, “Do it Afraid,” so I just kept doing it and Lord lined up all subcontractors even when we didn’t know how it was going get done they would appear. Even dealing with coronavirus, our subs never slowed down!! Yes, our first wedding is in two weeks and we will be fine next week!! Right in time and it turned out better than I thought it would!!
We’d love to hear more about The French Farmhouse Venue.
What sets us apart is loving and caring for each couple, not just on their wedding day but their entire marriage. We want our couples to return anytime to our property where they made the most important covenant and revisit the prayer trail, counsel with me or renew their vows to each other. We plan on having yearly couples retreat to encourage and reconnect with each other and get to know like-minded couples and remember the covenants they made. All the pieces in the venue have a story and I have loved searching all around to find the perfect pieces to be built into the venue!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The old saying “if you build it they will come” has been nothing but true as we have couples from down the road all the way from Wisconsin coming to north Texas to have their destination wedding in Texas!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1415 CR 215 Collinsville, Texas 76233
- Website: www.thefrenchfarmhousevenue.com
- Phone: 9407653303
- Email: info@thefrenchfarmhousevenue.com
- Instagram: @thefrenchfarmhousevenue
- Facebook: @thefrenchfarmhousevenue
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