As a belated Christmas gift, I took Mark away to Peaceful Oaks Bed & Breakfast this weekend. We arrived on Friday evening, and the first thing we noticed when we reached the deck that led to our suite were twinkly lights and soft music playing. In the room, we discovered the fireplace was lit and the same music from outside played quietly. The room was beautiful, and so cozy. We immediately ditched our plans to go back into the city for dinner, and chose instead to go instead to the smaller town just down the road so we could return as quickly as possible. We got lost looking for the restaurant we were looking for, and stumbled upon the quaint Catarinas Italian Bistro. It was perfect. The next morning, our hostess Johnnie served us caramelized apple French toast, thick slab bacon, and the best hash brown casserole EVER. Getting to know her was a highlight of the weekend. The rest of the morning was spent in a sleep-talk-snack-read cycle. Mark perused a Gardening Wisdom book hed found on the dresser (how perfect that was!), while I devoured Same Kind of Different as Me, a book Id meant to read for several years now that happened to be on my nightstand. I was able to finish it by the end of the weekend. Fantastic, timely, and challenging in the best way. In the afternoon, Sharon, a local massage therapist, came and gave us both essential oil massages. After mine, she and I spent some time talking and sharing, and she even asked to pray with me before she left. And she knows how to pray! Unreal. My body AND my spirit were refreshed. That evening, wed planned to dress up and go into town for a nice dinner, but we were so enjoying our time that we opted instead to do take-out nearby. Mark allowed me to stay in pjs and read in the room while he went to pick up our dinner. After dinner and a quick dip in the hot tub on our screened-in deck, we slept hard with the windows open, lulled by the sound of the rain... until the smells of bacon and homemade biscuits woke us yesterday morning. I cant explain how perfect the weekend was. What began as an impulsive plan last weekend turned out to be the most amazing set of blessings Ive experienced in a very long time. We didnt know we were coming to the home and arms of such genuine, Christ-loving, servant-hearted people. I had simply found a place online that looked nice and booked a (very affordable) room... I didnt know it would be - in every way - a retreat. But God knew. Right down to the constant rain, the accidental dinner find that first night, and the book in the nightstand, His hand was ALL over our time there. We cant wait to return!
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:59:02 +0000
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