Excited. Exhausted. Grateful. That’s how we (Laressa and Eric) are feeling after the last few months of building & opening Paradise Acres.
We’re not exaggerating when we say that we hear this from guests every single day: “We’re so glad you did this!” and “We needed this in our community!”
Community. It’s been a community effort. We’ve headed things up, but this project has been a success because of the enthusiasm, support, and HARD WORK of literally hundreds of people in the area: advisors, investors, prayer warriors, volunteers, tradespeople, inspectors, our incredible group of young employees (+ Roddy & the Barker’s), and our wonderful family. Laressa’s parents spent uncountable hours on the farm helping us get ready since the beginning of August. Her siblings and their kiddos have rushed over to help when we got swamped with guests. Eric’s parents came in from Georgia to provide “laundry ministry” on opening week. His brother offered free in-person landscaping expertise during a really busy time for him personally. Our girls have worked tirelessly (often without pay) and dealt with mostly absentee parents since mid-summer.
Our amazing guests have gone out of their way to encourage us both in person and in their online reviews. Speaking of guests, over 4,000 people have played our mini-golf course! Around 3/4 of those have enjoyed ice cream, cotton candy, putt dogs, popcorn, etc. 400-ish have played outdoor laser tag, and a couple hundred carried pumpkins out of our pumpkin patch. And we’ve only been open for a little over 5 weeks.
There are so many good things happening that can’t be quantified—friends and family laughing together, kids running free in the open fields, parents & grandparents kicking back in the Adirondack chairs, young couples starting relationships, youth groups bonding. One of our favorite moments was when one of our guests from a local children’s home (we used to work at a children’s home, so this is special to us) walked away from the laser tag field and said, “That’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my life!” How many people have said that in 2020? That’s a short list.
In the past, our family has seen some difficult days and many of you have helped us through some of those troubled times. But these are good days, and we’re grateful for them. It’s with full hearts that we say “Thank You!” to God and to all of you for these many blessings this Thanksgiving Week.
