Summer is ending and Fall is here.

I guess it's true, as one gets older time seems to go by faster. There must be a formula in physics that can actually prove this phenomena. One of you doctors of physics that happen to be reading this blog, put way all your other less significant work and get right on this won't you? :-) I recently read in several articles that the Speed of Light is slowing down. It's true. It's proven and it's measurable. What it means - no one knows. But every since I found this out I've been telling my husband, "Hey Love, it's 3:00 PM and the Speed of Light is slowing down, we should go take a nap."

Actually, I think we can all agree that time goes by faster when you're busy. Roseland is always busy. We're a seven day a week business and frankly, we could use a few extra hours in the day and another couple of days in the week. The preparation involved for our Bed and Breakfast guests, Wedding Events and Afternoon Teas is a big deal to us because we want every detail to be as perfect as possible. But I must say, it is so cool to see everyone running around, doing their job, and seeing everything coming together in an extraordinary way. What a team we have here! Whenever there is that rare down time, we all look at each other and say, "It's too quite. What's going on?" Then my husband says, "Enjoy the moment, because it won't last long." Then invariably, the phone line and the fax line rings just as someone walks in the front door! Ahh yes, back to normal. :-)

We've been blessed to host several church/Christian ministry sponsored Afternoon Teas this summer. The next one coming up is by Grace Baptist Church in honor of a Philippine missionary. This is very special to Steve and I as we have been to the Philippines ourselves on a mission trip. This is how it happened - Our church in Denver has a practice of bringing in missionaries once a month to tell the church what they, the missionaries, are doing to reach people for Christ and what we can do as a church to help them. We were always amazed to see what the missionaries had to struggle through to get even the littlest of things accomplished. Most requests were the same, prayer and funds. When Mark and Fredda Alston, missionaries from the Philippines came to speak to us however, their request was a little different. Fredda Said, "Yes, like most of the missionaries you hear, we covet your prayers and we need funds. But we are asking for more, we need you. We need you to come to the Philippines to help us with the training center. We need carpenters, framers, plumbers, and electricians. The work is great and the laborers are few. We need you to come help us." My husband turned to me and whispered, "We should go." I smiled at him and said, "Yes, we should go." My very next thought was, "God, why couldn't these people have been missionaries from France, Italy or Hungary? Why did they have to be from the Philippines of all places?" We stayed with our new Philippine missionary friends for three weeks, ate the local foods, participated in their outreach program, made repairs to one of their training centers, and Debbie even got to speak to a local cancer survivor group. It was an honor to participate for a short time in the work these amazing missionaries do every day. We were blessed far more than we bless them. Isn't that the way it usually works out though?

The fall/winter months are very busy around here - just the way we like it. The Bed and Breakfast, Wedding and Afternoon Tea business is wonderful. We love to meet all the fabulous people that come through our doors. What a blessing - thank you Jesus!

Love, Joy, Peace,

Debbie

Christmas Teas and Tour

Christmas time! Christmas time! It's Christmas time in Texas!
Decorate the outside! Decorate the inside! It's Christmas time in Texas!
Bake the scones! Brew the tea! It's Christmas time in Texas!
Guests are arriving! Family is coming! It's Christmas time in Texas!
Be of good cheer! Our Redeemer is here! It's Christmas time in Texas!
Christmas time! Christmas time! It's Christmas time in Texas!

Our annual Christmas Afternoon Teas are next week (December 15 - 19) and we are madly decorating our buildings for the events. Lights on the eves and wreaths on the doors outside. Christmas trees, garland, flower arrangements, nativities and poinsettias inside. Granted, there is a fine line between "Oh, how beautiful" and "over the top gaudy!" I believe being selective as to what is put out on display and restraint from putting out absolutely everything is the key to success. If so, we've hit the mark. Everything will be lovely.

Jennifer, Donna and Marta are working, working, working getting ready for the Christmas Afternoon Teas. We have our Christmas linens ready to put out and the Bed and Breakfast house is immaculate - as always.

Our servers for the teas are lined up and they are just as excited about the teas as the guests are! Several of the ladies that serve at our teas have been doing so for years. They enjoy our guests and our guests enjoy them. We are very blessed to have all our ladies, old-timers and new members, as part of the fabric of what makes the tapestry of Roseland Plantation a real ministry of love and service to our guests. Thank you Lord for each and every one of them.

December weddings? Most certainly yes! December is a beautiful time of year to have a wedding in Texas. Besides all the Christmas teas, we have several December weddings going on at Roseland Plantation. A couple of them are going to be big events with 250 or more guests. One will be an Intimate wedding, and another will be the more normal and average size event of 150 guests. All of them will be spectacular! There are few moments in life as beautiful as when a Bride and Groom look into each other's eyes and say their wedding vows to each other. True, it's not uncommon to see women cry at times like this, but I've also seen some big ole rough tough cowboys with tears in their eyes at just such moments - and it make my heart sing!

I pray peace, joy, love, forgiveness, mercy, healing and hope for you (and for me) in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Debbie

Calm before the storm.

I shouldn't use the word "storm" in my title right in the middle of hurricane season. Everyone will think I'm talking about the weather. Actually what I'm thinking about is the fact that this is the last quiet week and weekend for the rest of the year. Every weekend after this, we have a Saturday wedding booked and sometimes a Saturday and Sunday wedding. Not to mention the Afternoon Teas, Bridal Showers and catering we're doing. I'm sure the next time I have five minutes to look around, it will be January 2009!

Well, let's get back to this weekend, before it vanishes away...

We had a good visit with my brother Mando and his wife Gladys. They live in Humble, TX and came to Roseland Plantation on Saturday afternoon along with their daughter Alisa and her husband Aaron who live near Waco. Their timing for the visit was perfect. The weather was sunny and warm but not oppressive. No scheduled events at the Plantation. No other guests in the house and I have been off of chemo for a couple of weeks and feeling quite well. My other brother and sister-in-law, David and Betty, came up from Elkhart and Mando took us all out to dinner at Edom's Bakery and Grill. Most excellent! We caught up on family news, talked about Mom (she is 88 years old and lives with our sister in Houston, TX), talked about Roseland Plantation quite a bit and talked a little politics - just a little. Fortunately, we all seem to be on the same page in the political arena, so the topic was a no stress affair. Mando, Gladys, Alisa and Aaron stayed the night and we all had breakfast in the morning and visited for a while afterwards. A very nice, relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Thank you God for that blessing.

It is now Sunday afternoon and Steve is mowing, I'm working on the computer and we have one of our October brides here with her mom and photographer taking bridal portraits. I love to see the brides in their gowns - they all look so very beautiful.

When the bride and her party leave, my honey and I will call it a night. Wow. It may even be before dark! It's not often we close shop before dark. I believe this may be the last time before January 2009! Not that I'm complaining - no, not me! Having many events and being busy is a very good thing. Too much idle time and we'll all just get lazy. Our team works much better when we're busy, busy, busy!

God is good all the time!

Debbie

Full Week

We are almost to the finish line with our new website. I talked with our web designer today and we're cleaning up the details. God willing, we'll be live with the new site by the end of this week.

Roseland Plantaion is a hopping place this week.
Business Meeting: We had the wonderful pleasure of hosting a Brookshire's business meeting in our ballroom this afternoon. Everything went well for the Brookshire's folks and that makes us very happy.
Bachelor Party: The Clarkston party is gathering at Roseland Plantation this evening enjoying a relaxing dip in the swimming pool. Tomorrow they will be having an all-out bachelor party under the stars and under the carport here. They've rented out all the rooms in the Bed and Breakfast for two nights, so this place is "theirs" for the duration. We think it is very thoughtful of the Clarkstons to make sure their guests have a place to crash after their event without having to drive the long dark roads home.
Afternoon Tea: On Friday we have an afternoon tea scheduled for the volunteers of Pine Cove Christian Camp. We've hosted Pine Cove before and it is such a pleasure to have them here again. What a blessing!
Wedding: An early evening wedding is scheduled for Saturday. It was going to be an outdoor event but with the heat index rising and rising, the bride decided to move it inside our historic chapel. God bless her. Now everyone will be nice and cool in the air conditioned chapel and the groom and his men won't melt in their tuxes.

My honey just came in and told me to sign off or he will pull the plug! :-) Hope the next blog post is sooner than this one.

God bless,
Debbie