Record Anniversary at the Hasseman House! 66 Years!!!

Glenn and Ruth from the Dayton area honored us by choosing to spend their 66 year anniversary with us on March 20th, the first day of Spring. Yes, that's right!  66 Years! In the ten years we have been Innkeepers this is certainly a record.

Congratulations to the wonderful couple and blessings for years to come! They are blessed with two daughters and many grandchildren and even great grandchildren. Glenn, 91 years old, is also a WWII veteran. God has blessed them in so many ways throughout their marriage. Ruth shared how she feels  their marriage has been nearly perfect in so many ways.

What an example they set to the younger generations! Our growing daughters, Joy and Faith, are flanking them in the picture. Jenny and I will be celebrating 17 years this May and if God gives us the health, we hope someday we will also hit the milestone that Glenn and Ruth have. :)

Living Hasseman House History

We were blessed this year to have a stop in from Mark Hasseman. Mark is from Colorado and is the son of Doyle Hasseman, one of the three children of William and Olgerita "Olgie" Hasseman. The other son's name was Thereon and their sister was Rhea. All three Hasseman children have passed on.

In the above picture Mark Hasseman stands in front of a picture of his grandparents

Mark was thrilled to take a slow reminiscing tour of the house and we could tell it sparked a lot of fond memories. He talked about the great times he had visiting his grandparents when he was young. He was so exited to see how the house has been restored and is serving guests from around the world with a wonderful stay in Amish Country.

The Hasseman House was built in 1900 by the French Serquet (Sirkay) brothers from France and was at that time the largest house in Holmes County. Both the Serquet's and the Hassemans, who bought the house in 1919, were dairy farmers on the 300 acres of lush land.

There is so much history in this house and it was great to meet a living part of it in Mark Hasseman.
If walls could talk..................................................

Sprechen Sie Deutsche?

This past day I had the opportunity to practice and remember some of the German that I studied in high school. The Schilde family from Hamburg, Germany were a delight to have as guests. 

Last night we had the opportunity to play a German game with them called Kaker-Laken Salat, meaning, "Cockroach Salad". A simple game, it was a lot of fun. And they even gave it to us which was a real blessing.

The Schilde family has been living in the States for about 6 years in the Chicago area for work. Their son Jacob wanted to visit Amish Country so here they came :) Next on the itinerary is to visit other parts of the country including Washington D.C.

We always enjoy meeting people from other parts of the world, one of the highlights of Innkeeping. We hope to see the Schilde family and others like them again.

Until then: "Auf Wiedersehen!!!"

Wonderful Guests Come to Pray at Hasseman House

We were super blessed last week to have a group of 4 couples stay with us for a few nights. They rented all four rooms and really blessed us.

They are a group of friends who about 3 years ago started meeting together weekly to pray for their church, which was at that time having problems. God intervened and moved in mighty ways to work in the situation, and through it they became close friends and decided to continue meeting regularly for prayer, praise and fellowship.

We are so glad to picked us to stay with for a prayer retreat. On the first night we heard a beautiful sound as they were in the parlor with a guitar singing hymns. We felt led to join them and were welcomed into the time of singing and prayer. It was very touching.

As you can see from the picture below, Joy & Faith really enjoyed the visit too. They spent some time playing games with the group and also Pam, one of the ladies, taught the girls how to sew a special project for them to keep :)

This was our first group of 2013 and we really felt that it was a great way to start the year! Looking forward to seeing them all again in the future!!

WWII Veteran With an Amazing Testimony!

We were super blessed this past weekend to have Don & Terry Locke with their friend Merri stay with us for a few days here at the Hasseman House B&B!

Don, who is 92, is a WWII veteran with an amazing story. He was a fighter pilot
and flew the famous Mustang P-51.

My (Jason) Grandfathers were in WWII: on my Father's side a tank commander and on my Mother
side 5th Army anti aircraft. Jenny's Grandfather was also a paratrooper. So, meeting Don was a real treat!

When Don was 10 years old he overheard his father and "uncle Charlie" talking about Bible prophecy concerning the future nation of Israel. This, before the Holocaust and world war, was at present only a dream, but Don's father looking at what the Bible has to say about Israel becoming a nation again, said to his brother:   "The day that we see Israel become a nation again you can be sure the Lord's return is near"

Although growing up in a Christian home, Don never did choose to place his personal faith in Jesus Christ as His Savior.

During the war he saw much death and the effects of evil. He landed in Iwo Jima, Japan on March 6 1945, only months before the atomic bomb would be dropped on Hiroshima.

After the war he led a wayward life and admits that he didn't have much purpose.

When he was 29, on May 15 1948, he heard over the radio the amazing news the day after Israel was voted to be a nation.

He said that when he heard this "chills went up my spine" and from this point on he began to believe that God's Word is true. About a year later he received Christ and had a radical transformation take place in his life.

Don, has an amazing joy and exuberance that really touched our hearts. He sang a song with Joy & Faith and you can see the joy in his face :)

We are truly blessed as Innkeepers to come across wonderful people like this!!

Car Breakdown - God's Faithfulness

Back in May we went on our anniversary trip celebrating 15 years! Our girls had been picked up the day before by Grandma & Grandpa and we had just gotten on the highway and had been driving for about a half hour when I started to notice that the temperature gauge was fluctuating up and down very quickly. My first thought was, "Does it normally do this?" No! So I stopped the car along the highway and looked under the hood. There was radiator fluid spewing all over the engine with steam everywhere!!
Well, we don't have a cell phone because running a B&B means when you go away you want a break from the phone :) So, for about half and hour we tried signalling to cars (had the hood up and white rag hanging out the window) and no one stopped. Some waved but I think they all thought we had a cell phone.
I got a chair out for Jenny and thought to write a sign saying "No Phone" with a picture of a phone on it. We prayed it would work.
Right away a truck pulled off in front of us. It was far away but as I got closer I noticed the word on the back: FAITH. Wow, it turns out that Glenn and Reed were both Baptist preachers and Reed runs a mission in Jamaica called Faith mission. They offered us their phone and said they would not leave us until AAA arrived. While we were waiting I shared about my music and the wanted to see my dulcimer.

My dulcimer was given to me by a guest a few years ago, Rick Meyers, who lives in North Carolina. (See earlier blog). It turns out that Glenn and Reed, who are from South Carolina, live near the border and know Rick. Amazing!
Our AAA tower was kind and also a Christian. He called a mechanic, Jim Reed, in Cambridge, who was able to get us in immediately. It turns out he is a fellow believer and he shared how he had been booked solid for the week and would not have been able to get us in but someone cancelled right before the AAA guy called. Coincidence? I think not.
Within two hours we were fixed up and on our way.
We had a great trip and were reminded of God's faithfulness and His care over every detail of our life.
A week after we got back Jim Reed called and booked a night for his anniversary and stayed with us. Below is there picture.

Another story of God's faithfulness during a breakdown happened a few years ago. We were on our way to a Dr's appointment and had just passed Lehman's Hardware in Kidron. All of a sudden the car had no power and we were just able to get it into Lehman's drive.
We had the girls with us, so we knew we would need someone to be able to take Jenny and them home as AAA only will allow two people in the tow truck.
We prayed again and went into Lehman's. I asked to use the phone as the cashier's station.
While on the phone with AAA a couple walked in the door that I recognized.
It turns out they were the only guests staying with us over the past few nights. He came up to me and asked what was going on. They were about to head to Sugar Creek so they could take Jenny and the girls and drop them off on the way. Again, amazing! What were the odds of that happening?
They could have been anywhere in Amish country or even in Lehman's and not run into us. But at the exact time that I am on the phone with AAA they walk in the door.

These experience serve as a reminder of the faithful God Who has revealed Himself in the Bible through His Son Jesus Christ. He truly is concerned about all the little details of our lives. Jesus said that not even a single sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it (Matt 10:29). These are comforting thoughts :)

International Guests Staying at Hasseman House

People often ask us where most of our guests come from. The answer is that most do come from Ohio and neigboring states. Many looking for a vacation in a beautiful country setting such as Amish Coutnry, but who don't want to drive to far and spend a huge amount, end up staying with us.
But we do have guests from farther away. This past few weeks have been very international for us.
One night we had some walk-ins who were two Geologists. Giuseppe was from Rome, Italy and was an really good self taught pianist. After breakfast he played some Bach pieces very well for not being able to read music.
The other scientist was from Germany and his wife from Vietnam.
I enjoy using my limited German and speaking Deutsche with a real native.
This past week we had Cornelius and Dorothee stay with us (picture above). They were traveling in the States and are from Holland. I asked them if there really are a lot of tulips and they said there are and they are very impressive.
They had heard of Corrie Ten Boom, a true follower of Christ, who was from Amsterdam and who helped many Jews escape from the holocaust. Her autobiography, The Hiding Place, is a great book and was also made into a movie. The Boom house in which many Jews were hidden is not far from where Cornelius and Dorothee live.
Having international guests is one of the blessings of running a bed and breakfast. We meet so many people from so many walks of life and from so many places in the world!