Good Morning,
This past weekend, Karen and I celebrated our 5th and 6th Wedding Anniversaries by visiting a bed and breakfast just outside of Berea, Kentucky. (The day prior to our 5th Anniversary, I had my leg operated on and was not much fun to be around). The bed and breakfast we visited is called Snug Hollow (http://www.snughollow.com/). Folks who knew we were going wanted to get our feedback on it, so here is the short version. It is a slice of heaven. We are planning on returning with the family next year. The place is scenic, peaceful, relaxing, beautiful with food out of the this world, and southern hospitality off the charts.
The most amazing part of Snug Hollow is its inn keeper, Barbara Napier. She is an outstanding woman who is pursuing her dreams of running an amazing bed and breakfast in secluded mountain retreat which reminded me of Shangri-La, nestled among 300 beautiful acres. During our second dinner, which was, of course, amazing (and you can get the recipes in her cookbook), she shared the story of how Snug Hollow came to be and what she endured and overcome to make it happen. As we were leaving, I asked her if I could write about her and Snug Hollow, and she said yes. To tell everyone about this wonderful place.
Life for Barbara was not always so enjoyable. While she dreamed of where she is today, she started from a much harder place, being a single mom when her husband just did not come home one day, and being left with a struggling retail business and bills, no car, and walking miles to and from work every day, and all sorts of other challenges.
Through it all, Barbara kept her eyes on her dreams. She had made many friends along the way, and she treated everyone, like she treated Karen, myself and all the other guests…like family. She forced herself to do what she could, and continued to help others along the way.
She got the land where the bed and breakfast is today, and moved into what is now called the Cozy Cottage. She lived there for over 20 years. She had the main house built over a 10 year period. Breaks in the building were due to challenges she continued to face. It is hard to build without money or resources. As she trudged through the challenges which at times seemed insurmountable (tax debts and accounts receivable in the hundreds of thousands), she found small signs of hope and she grabbed onto them.
Her friends encouraged her to follow her dreams. Each little thing added to her achieving her dream, and while others told her she was crazy, she kept her eye on her dream.
She applied for a job with a local college and was flatly turned down. She refused to accept the rejection, and called in requesting an interview, even though she was not qualified for the position.
After her interview, the staff saw all of her drive and experiences and against all odds she got the job (even though she lived 20 miles from the college with no car).
She found a way to make it work.
Through friends and resiliency which has served her well, she had the main house built, after 10 years, and moved into it. Once in, she started her bed and breakfast. She still had her full time job and found ways to juggle the two.
She never stopped moving toward her dream, and many bad things continued to plague her, she built an army of friends who love her and helped her achieve her dreams.
Her relentless pursuit of her dream through trudging miles through winding mountain roads, facing banks and government tax collectors, raising two boys after her husband left, is a testament to all of us that we can and should pursue our dreams.
There will be hard times, but if we give up, then we know we will arrive at our destination.
By being dedicated to succeeding and pouring our love into others we can overcome what may seem impossible.
I look forward to our next visit to Snug Hollow, and I hope each of you will consider it as well.
While there this weekend, I had a chance to reflect on many things, and will be sharing some of those in future messages.
One of those is something I would like to do now. In closing, I would like us all to pray for World Peace. Barbara asked us to each time we said Grace. And why not? It would be a good thing.
Enjoy!
Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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