Feb. 11, 2007

   

Posted in Innkeeping

I am still unable to log in from my normal computer, so I apologize for the rare update!  I have to wrestle the laptop away from DH and since he recently spilled a Pepsi on the keyboard, it's annoying to use!

A couple of weeks ago, we had all of our prospective buyers who were supposedly ready to submit offers - completely fall through.  UGH.  So we decided to go ahead and list with an area realtor.  We signed with him and he got our listing up on Monday.   He showed the property on Wednesday and we received an offer on Thursday.  [Offer information edited out at the advice of our realtor.]  We have submitted a counter-offer (as of 2/14).

My mom was here for a week and we did a LOT of cleaning and declutter, but I still have a lot to do.  I am trying to get rid of what I don't need and I'd like to pack up what I'm not using.  I did pack up all of my scrapbooking stuff already and my craft area is MUCH improved over the chaos that reigned a few weeks ago.

What we are able to leave here with will determine whether we have to obtain a mortgage and go to work full time on the other end.  Our current plans are to buy a home with several acres in the NE Georgia mountains and build a five room inn.  We are trying to estimate our costs high - but I'm sure there are going to be many things that crop up that we have not even considered.  So this sale represents every penny that we have to put in to the next property and business.

That's the news here for now!  I'll update when I know anything else.

 

 

 

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Aug. 22, 2006

   The Gift of Hospitality - and using it!

Posted in Innkeeping

Ministry:

 

"Service," that is, the responsibility and work that God commits to believers in Christ, each according to the special capacity that God gives for instructing and helping others. Service for Christ is not to be done out of a desire to achieve merit or on the basis of a legalistic obligation. It is to be done out of love and gratitude to God for what he has done for us in Christ (Romans 12:1; John 21:15,16; II Corinthians 4:1-6).

 

Ministry is the use of a person's gifts and talents, time and energy, in the service of others.

 

A ministry is a way of serving and caring for others in Christ’s name.

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I'm having a sudden "AH HA" moment - a paradigm shift somewhat gradually over the past couple of weeks. That innkeeping and caring for our guests is a ministry.

We had some people show up that were not very friendly. It always tends to annoy us when people show up with a total attitude and are jerks to us from the get go (who wouldn't be annoyed by rude house guests?) At any rate, after they were checked in and DH was fuming about how rude they were, I just out of the blue said "I wonder if something happened before they got here? I wonder what they are going through in their lives? Maybe their behavior is not just that they are rude jerks, but maybe they are in the midst of a crisis and that is causing them to act this way." And I prayed for them that night.

The following morning, they were like different guests. Super friendly and thankful. They were here for three nights total and when they left, they wrote a nice note in the room journal.

Since then, while I am cleaning each cottage, I pray for the arriving guests. I pray for their drive and their state of mind and that getting away to stay here will be a blessing to them. And interestingly, since I began praying for them, they have all been super nice.

This has made me think back to how things were in Georgia. How we would periodically have guests who really were in crisis. I remember praying for and WITH them. Lots of hugs when they would leave and follow-up cards and letters. Here, we do not have as much guest interaction due to having cottages (and the guests who want to stay in cottages tend to be big on privacy and being left alone.) This is one of the main reasons that our next B&B will NOT be cottages, it will be four rooms in one structure with common areas to promote guest interaction.

I'm rambling. At any rate, what I am slowly coming to realize is something that our guests have been telling us since the beginning. Our business is also our ministry. We provide a safe haven and respite for those who need it - be it couples getting away to get back in touch with each other, newlyweds just starting out, mothers and sisters spending time together, someone visiting a family member at school or in the hospital, even corporate travelers. We invite them into our home and we do everything we can to take care of them. But the most important part has just been added - we PRAY for them. I can see this being something that we do around the diningroom table each night as a family - praying for each of our guests, without them ever even being aware of it.

Another important key that we've not been in a financial position to do before is providing deeply discounted or free accommodations for those in full-time Christian ministries. Pastors, missionaries, etc. With always being strapped to a mortgage, we've needed every reservation's revenue to make ends meet. If the Lord allows us to go forward debt free, we will finally be in a position to truly be a blessing to others in this regard.

 

I've always wondered if we were supposed to be active in some ministry - and it appears our "ministry" has been in front of us the entire time without us ever really realizing it.

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Aug. 12, 2006

   Planning for the future

Posted in Innkeeping

It's funny how what feels "comfortable" for each of us is so different.  Yesterday I spoke with the woman we sold The Village Inn to.  I was lamenting the lack of family and support network and she said she understood how we feel.  She is originally from Minnesota and all of her family is there apparently.  She said she dislikes Georgia due to the humidity, heat, and bugs. 

 

I suppose I was never bothered by the heat and humidity due to growing up in the Central Valley of California, where summer temps can reach 115 degrees.  I always thought Atlanta at about 95 degrees felt comparable to 110 or so in Fresno.  And I actually loved the humidity - it reminded me of all of the summers I spent in Oklahoma as a child, visiting extended family.  Something about the atmosphere also prevented me from sunburning as severely as I do in California.  When we bought the home that Ashley (the owner) is now living in, it didn't have air conditioning!  We had it installed 3 years later and felt like we were spoiled rotten.  At any rate, she is planning to retire in 2 years and sell the B&B.  I hope that the next owners love that property the way that we did.

 

The past couple of days, I have found myself once again, planning for our future.  I edited the home plan that we have been looking at for the B&B, made a list of features, and sent both along with a letter to two home builders in North Georgia.  One of the builders actually builds that home plan.  The other is able to build any plan you provide.  I am praying that they come in lower than I anticipate because since sending the requests for quotes, I have throught of two or three things additionally that I would like to do (expanding the dining room, adding a deck, wainscotting and chair rails, etc.)

 

I contacted the state to see what we need to do to keep our corporate name active.  I printed off all of the zoning requirements in that county, as well as the counties to the north and south.  I went through two gardening catalogs that came in the mail and clipped out many of the plants that we loved to grow in the South.  I went online and researched moving trucks.  My binder of information on the move is getting quite thick.

 

I also registered a domain name - because despite going over many ideas for possible inn names, we keep coming back to one.  I wanted to snap up the domain name while it is still available.  But I'll keep that name to myself for now. 

 

Please pray that the Lord's Hand will be upon us, guiding and directing us each step of the way.  Pray that He will lead us to the perfect property - zoned appropriately, positioned perfectly in the county, with an ideal building site and a suitable home for us already in place.  And please pray that He will change our thinking and focus so that we see our guests as those in need of respite and our business as a ministry.

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