Vacancy Light is On

Our friend Kim and her 3 little ones are leaving today for Lincoln after spending the past 3 weeks with us. They have joined the litany of friends and strangers that have been invited to find respite, comfort and sanctuary at Jeff and Kris's "Appletree Inn" over the years.

Our guests have been those who are “in transition” in their lives, those who simply need a place to stay for an extended period because of a job or education, and sadly, those who need shelter from an abusive relationship.

They have been family like our niece Angie and her family who live in Bolivia. They have been seminary students doing an internship at Heartland Regional Medical Center. There have been others like the young lady with her daughter leaving a husband who was abusing them. Our pastor has sent us strangers who just needed a place to stay for the summer. This list goes on.


I remember that when I was a child, our family would on occasion take in people to stay with us. One I remember was Dr. Nelson Trout, a pastor who later became the first black bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a seminary professor at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He would stay with us whenever he came thru town, However, these were all very short stays. I don't know where Kris and I picked up our inkeepers role.

However, we have always been richly blessed over the years by those who have stayed with us, and we hope that they have been blessed by us. We only had one guest who really, I mean really outstayed her welcome.

We will miss Kim and the kids. The neighbor girls have certainly enjoyed the extra kids to play with over the past month. They have provided additional distractions for our dogs…. Cooper and Moses, as well as our doggy guests, Bailey and Gibson who belong to daughter Jenni. The house will be much too quiet when they leave.

But there is a downside to all of our company.

There are two basic reasons one owns dogs. The first is companionship. Our dogs do companionship very well. The second is often security. Dogs are supposed to be good “watch dogs”. They are supposed to alert you when someone comes to the door. Our dogs do that very well, thank you. The issue is that once you are in the house, our dogs are probably so accustomed to the many others in their lives, that they basically know no stranger.

I guess that should provide solace to the next guests that we have.

Come on in. The upstairs is ready for you. Make yourself at home. Just turn off the lights when you tuck yourself in. Don’t mind the dogs. Lock up when you leave.