Peace, Joy, and Rest

There is something very special about Roseland. You can literally feel a change in atmosphere as you drive through the brick gates. Time stops. There is a peace beyond understanding and explanation. While it is very real and tangible, it’s hard to pinpoint. We feel it every day, and our guests often remark about it. Such comments are not uncommon from our guests; let me recount just two recent incidents and propose an explanation:

     The Couple

One couple came to stay at Roseland a few weeks ago. This was to be their first stay in a B&B. They searched the internet; they looked at B&B after B&B, but something kept drawing them back to Roseland each time. Finally they decided to come. They were looking for a quiet place to get away and rejuvenate. One had recently lost a parent.

When they came, we ended up talking for hours about family, relationships, and loved ones. We talked about loss, grieving, and joy. We talked about The Lord, how good and loving He is, in spite of our shortcomings. We discussed how He walks us through our trials, and shared thoughts to some tough question such as, “How can a loving God allow pain and suffering?” It was a most delightful and refreshing visit for our guests and for us.

Next morning when our guests left, they mentioned that they had known the presence of the Lord at Roseland; that they felt His peace and joy in the midst of all their travails; that He must have drawn their attention to Roseland’s web site whenever they looked at other options because He wanted them to come here.

We parted not just friends, but family. They look forward to returning and I look forward to continuing our conversations…

     The Family Gathering

A group of sisters came to spend the night. One of the sisters was battling cancer and had just completed a course of chemo. They sat on the porch, had a wonderful picnic dinner, and reminisced. Then they walked and enjoyed the serenity of Roseland’s pristine forest.

After their walk I happened to bump into them talking on the porch, and we struck up a conversation. In the course of that conversation they remarked, “It is so peaceful here. We felt the Lord’s presence the moment we arrived. Most places we visit aren’t like that. We have to call on Him repeatedly, because He is not there.”

“My wife and I purchased Roseland mostly because we felt the Lord calling us to be there,” I replied. “So, when we opened the business, we dedicated Roseland to the Lord’s glory. Since then we’ve had missionaries and prayer warriors unexpectedly visit us several times – saying they were called to come and pray over Roseland, to come and bless it.”

When asked if we own Roseland, we replied, “No. The Lord owns Roseland. We are the caretakers.”

One sister's comment in our guest book says it all:

“Thank you for a beautiful and peaceful retreat for my sisters and I. We were blessed with the joy and rest of the Lord in this place.”


Clearly, based on our guests’ and our personal experiences, the Lord is not an absentee landlord. We have witnessed too many miracles at Roseland for it to be otherwise. We have felt His healing touch too many times for it to be otherwise. And clearly, our guests feel and remark about that special peace beyond understanding, that quiet joy which one experiences only in the presence of our glorious God.

So now, finally, it’s clear why The Lord brought Debbie and me to Roseland: He needed a special place where His people, His warriors, can go for R&R from the daily spiritual warfare of this world – just as our soldiers need a place for R&R away from the travails of the battlefield.

It is The Lord’s presence that makes Roseland so special. His presence is the source of that change in atmosphere our guests feel as they drive through those brick gates. It is the peace of the Lord, a peace beyond all understanding. Praise God!

And thank You, Lord, for allowing us to be Your servants and the caretakers of Your property, Roseland.