Many reasons to be thankful

November is here; Thanksgiving will soon be here.

We have many things to be grateful for at the Inn, our Bed and Breakfast at St. Gertrude’s. I will ponder a few briefly and then reminisce about one of several items I have specially marked.**  I will journal about the others at some future date.

To begin, I am grateful for:

• the many new guests we have had the last year and for you that have returned for a second, third, fourth time; you come from many places and many walks of life
• the warm and creative affirmations and suggestions from you, our guests
• the warmth and graciousness of all of our guests
• the presence of your children at the Inn.

I am also thankful for:

• the effort to continue to enhance and beautify the outside of the Inn — special thanks go         to Tom and Diane Weber and Suzanne St. Pierre**
• the first ever Birding at the Monastery event***
• the generosity of the Wilson family and friends**
• the volunteer innkeepers at the Inn.**

I am grateful for:

• the immediate attention by Sr. Carlotta when there is trouble with a TV
• the awesome work of Theresa Henson — our artist and communications person — her       brochures, website, etc. are commented on by us and many of you, our guests!
• the support and interest of our Community members
• and the Support and Visionary Committee, the Supervisory Group, and Sr. Clarissa.

Birding at the Inn

Tom and Diane Weber have been frequent guests at our Inn; they have also taken a personal interest in the Bed and Breakfast as well as its future. While talking to one another during a stay they wondered if doing some “Bird Watching” would be an attraction. The Webers are avid bird watchers and so we agreed on a date and some advertising. The date was September 25- 27, 2012 and two people signed up. I found myself disappointed at first; however, this was the perfect number to start with. Some of the quotes from attendees: 

“My days with you opened up a whole new interest in my life and I also have found myself surrounded by birds.” 

 “As I move over to the Inn or climb the hill I am so much more aware of birds, their size, their sounds, and their habits. The visuals used for presentations were so informative regarding our flying friends of Mother Earth.”

Generosity Is Their Name

The following speaks of the concerted effort of our two leaders and two guests:

As a foursome they went to dinner on the first night of the bird watching event. While at the restaurant one of them noticed two people who seemed in great distress. The mother and son had serious car problems, were planning to travel a great distance and were looking for a place to stay overnight. The four birders knew that we had a vacant room at the Inn and encouraged them to come. They called and made arrangements. When the newcomers arrived at the Bed and Breakfast the four were so attentive and used their unique gifts to help the newcomers as well as the innkeepers. The travelers truly needed a good night’s sleep and comfort. The next morning one of the birders went with the son to solve the problem of the car. Soon the mother and son were on their way. It was such a collaborative effort. I am full of amazement at such kindness and generosity!

Finding Goodness on Mom's Weekend

Many years ago, when I was in my mid 20's, a woman I met taught me the value of trusting in the goodness of people. I don't know how it happened, but it did  happen. I saw differently in my journey of life. 


This trusting in the goodness of people, especially young people played itself out during a weekend at the Inn during April of this year.

Washington State University in Pullman had Mom’s weekend the 14^th of April. The particular Mom has two sons in college. Her plan was to pick up the one son in Central Washington and then for the two of them to meet the other son in Pullman. To make this a special son/Mom weekend the Dad figured that renting a convertible sports car for the event would be cool. In the meantime the youngest son in Pullman came to the conclusion that his Mom would enjoy coming to the Inn at St. Gertrude. He had read a newsletter of the minister of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries who had made a retreat at St. Gertrude and spoke so highly of his experience. This son figured that his Mom would appreciate being at the Inn at St. Gertrude rather than staying on campus for the weekend.

Their stay was filled with hiking the trails through the Monastery Wood, eating, meeting people, studying and driving their rental to the warmer river country on highways 13 and 12 which pass through Stites, Kooskia and Kamiah.  Needless to say they speeded along with their convertible top down.

When asked what they liked the best towards the end, the one thought the hide abed was the best ever and the other “grooved” on the homemade bread at our place. I mentioned to the Mom that she and her husband must have great parenting skills. She shook her head “no” and replied, “Oh, no. We have a great God!”

Visit the Inn at St. Gertrude