Sometimes when I am feeling overwhelmed with all of the things involved in owning and operating a Bed and Breakfast, I begin to question my motive for beginning this business. It seemed at the time to be so clear, like God was leading me to the ultimate decision to follow through and purchase the house and open the B&B.
My partner Jan and I met at our church. We are opposites in a lot of ways but also have a lot in common. I have a head full of ideas, and plans on how to make those ideas a reality, but at times I become overwhelmed with the work it takes to follow through and complete the task. She is organized, always prepared, and able to stay focused on the work for the task at hand. We work well together to make it all come together. One thing we have in common is the desire to do God’s work.
Our church is one of those small churches on the verge of extinction. For a while we tried very hard to do something to bring it back to life. We spent time developing ministries, getting others involved, doing outreach, all to no avail. There was too much resistance and negativity from others wanting to maintain the status quo. We both have a passion for missions and ministries but were getting burnt out from the constant resistance. We made a final attempt at a proposal for a housing ministry. It was met with the greatest negativity and resistance to date and a resounding no to any support.
Sometime shortly after our housing ministry proposal had been rejected by the church I stumbled across the opportunity, or was led by God, to purchase the house that is now Bella Fattoria Bed and Breakfast. It seemed like a good solution to provide the funding for a housing ministry to assist struggling working class families who were straddling the line between government assisted poverty and self support. It has taken much more time than expected to get this business up and running but we were excited to open our doors to guests in January of 2015.
So, here we are. On a journey, led by God, to make this Bed and Breakfast into a successful business capable of self support and providing enough funding for our housing ministry. Our hope is that in the very near future the B&B will provide the resources necessary to purchase and maintain quality housing at an affordable cost to working families in need of that one break that pushes them over the edge into a lifetime of self sufficiency and away from a lifetime of government assisted poverty. Remember all those ideas and plans that I have in my head? Our housing ministry is one of them.
God can make it happen but he needs servants to do that. Having an idea and turning it into reality are two different things. In order to make this a reality we need all four of us, God, Jan, me, and of course, you. Jan is a prayer so she will do the praying, I have faith so I will keep my eyes and ears open for God’s instructions, you have done your part by reading this, by staying with us as a guest, and by spreading the word, and God will make it happen. Thanks for being a part of this ministry and God bless you.
