If any of you have ever run a hotel or been a manager you might be able to understand a bit of how our days are filled. We are basically the manager of a little hotel. We are the ones that handle the reservations, the maintenence, the projects, the staff, the visitors and we live where we work so we are handling our home life at the same time as well. Our day starts around 6 or 7 am once our kids wake up. My morning is filled with breakfast preparations and clean up, laundry and chores at the same time checking in with our cleaning staff and guests. Then at around 10 am my babysitter comes and I am free to work on different projects with our cleaning staff such as sorting and cleaning the kitchens, doing office work or helping guests.
Each day is so different. For instance today: I helped welcome Jacob’s language helper and get things set up so Jacob could study with him, I helped get the iron worker set up who is installing a new door, and I showed another contracter the rooms we needed new windows in and waited till he was able to show me his estimate ( all stuff Jacob would normally do but he was in French session). I was calling various people, talking to our house help about what needed to be done and when. At the same time I was also responding to my kids questions and working alongside my househelp to get grocery shopping done and lunch on the table. Luckily, it was just left overs. 🙂 The afternoons and evenings my househelp is gone so it is up to me to make dinner, get the kids to bed, straighten things up in the guesthouse and make sure things are locked or turned off for the night. (Jacob does help with these things as well.)
Jacob’s days are full as well. He is in the office right after he gets up to catch up on emails (this is the way we reserve rooms) and touch base with our maintenence man. He spends his days partly in the office working through reservations and billing, and the other part working with our maintence man, spending time helping or talking to the guests, refilling the soda fridge and water coolers. He just started French this morning so most mornings he will be with his language helper from about 10am-1:30pm. The bigger projects Jacob have been working on are many. To name a few: this week he has been replaceing our clothesline, cleaning up our maintence shop, organizing the replacement of the metal door on our roof and replacing screens and windows.
It is hard to describe all the things we do to keep this place running physically and the to do list seems to never end. But in the straigthening of cushions and chairs to the fixing of doors we are reminded to be praying for our missionaries in the village. For instance yesterday where we were called to prepare a room for one of our missionaries who was traveling to Dakar by bus to be treated for some eye problems that needed to be seen immediately. We prayed for safety for his travels all day and for his eye. We woke up this morning to hear he had finally arrived at 2 am this morning. We feed him breakfast this morning and listened to snake and scorpion stories from the village before he headed off to see if he could get a doctors appointment. We are praying that his eye will be ok and at the same time we are praying for his family that he left in the village.
Our guesthouse has been a place to come to get better from illness, to stay while your kids get settled into boarding school, to stage short term missions trips, a vacation spot, or a place to stay while you find a new place to live after coming back from furlough. It is used for various purposes and by many different people and missions. But all so that the missionaries in West Africa can keep serving so that people here may know our great God. Thank you for helping us serve here.
