There are journeys within journeys and accidental insights within thoughts. Surprises are never far away with some bringing great joy. Following is a description of such a serendipitous event.

Lincolnton, NC is a seven hour drive from my home if you drive without break or interruptions on the road. That means my wife and I were on the road for eight or more hours one way. Lincolnton was the place of family, friends, and a high school reunion this past weekend. We decided to stay in a bed and breakfast we found online called White Rose Manor. We had never been there before or even heard of it. Now we intend to stay there anytime we head to Lincolnton. We met the hosts of the manor and realized that we would have been friends all our lives if we’d only met them sooner.

The manor was an old home with as many stories about its physical being as you would expect of an old man in his eighties. You could tell where the porch of the early building had become the exit from the “great” room and entrance to the dining room. Entrances and exits from rooms were punctuated with large or small steps to remind you that you were changing space and possibly shades of environmental differences. The hosts allowed us to wander from room to room. They explained what we saw until, at some point, we realized we were staying in a personality as much as a building.

All the furnishings had stories as well. We met parents, grand parents, and other ancestors through the treasures they kept and the stories related to the treasures. Our hosts loved their families, the stories shared with them and passed on with visitors. It was a place of ongoing lore of life lived, sacrifices made, courage experienced, and traditions of love and celebration. Cup and saucer sets represented travel and life from around the world in a way that could be shared with tea or coffee at a table where meals and life are shared.

Our hosts are deeply rooted in the past with a love of history, and they are engaged with community events and groups from Hart Square Festival to teaching Girl Scouts how to have tea. Their skillsets function in the independence and freedom from all the machine made, mass produced items that lack personality and life. We spent three days living in the environment in which the people in the home were the value to be enjoyed with the surrounding reminders of life, family, and personal creativity. They are life artists who share a testimony of values in caring. It was easy to experience God’s presence there without pretense or pressure. Thank you John and Allison.