Rebecca Lavrenz, owner of Rest and Restoration Bed and Breakfast, started her business in 2008 as a place for married couples to stay while they work with a local ministry. Three years later, she has expanded to include lodging for other out-of-town guests.Lavrenz said she has always had a desire to serve people and her community. She worked as a registered nurse in Omaha, Neb., for 20 years. She and her family moved to Colorado Springs in 1997 so she could go to Bible College. “I needed an income to keep us going out here,” Lavrenz said. “I found a job managing a mobile home park, and we lived in a house on the property.”While working at the mobile home park, Lavrenz began buying and fixing up mobile homes. Once she graduated from Bible College, Lavrenz said she knew she wanted to do something with the ministry. “I ended up finding out about a ministry called Caring for the Heart here in the Springs that helped people really connect and get solid in their marriage,” she said.Through a friend in the mobile home industry, Lavrenz found out about the property off Garrett Road, and purchased it in 2005. She decided to help the ministry by opening the Rest and Restoration Bed and Breakfast for their visitors. “I saw that I had something on my hands to offer,” Lavrenz said. “A view of the peak, several rooms: This was an avenue for me to touch other people’s lives in a positive way.”She hosted her first guests in 2008. “I can provide a place where there is peace, and they could feel the presence of God while they work on their marriage,” Lavrenz said. Each month, several people came through from the ministry and stayed at the bed and breakfast.”I have a gift of hospitality to offer people, and it branched out from there,” she said. “Since there’s nothing out here, I thought ‘why not make it available to other people?’ We’re out here a ways from the hotels in Colorado Springs, so neighbors here could have relatives come and stay close by.”The property offers two rooms for guests, each with its own private entrance; a large sitting/meeting room; and a deck with an unobstructed view of Pikes Peak. Lavrenz said many guests have chosen to eat breakfast on the deck.Guests can also visit with the goats on the property.Two of Lavrenz’s four children help with the bed and breakfast. She said her daughter, Jennifer, is her right hand, helping with the lawn and office work and other tasks. “She loves supporting people and helping them however she can,” Lavrenz said. Her younger daughter, Laura, is heading to Amsterdam through the International House of Prayer to be a nanny for three months.Lavrenz said her favorite part of running the bed and breakfast is getting to know the people she hosts. She said she also enjoys “putting the small touches on things” like serving a homemade breakfast on her fine china and ensuring that each room has fresh flowers.”I want people to feel unique and special, and to treat them with value,” Lavrenz said. “I want them to leave feeling rested and restored, that’s my goal.”
