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Our Testimony
The vision was big, the vision was strong, and we worked at it daily to make it a reality. What seemed impossible became undeniable-this was the Living Stone "Center" He had put on our hearts all along".
We are Christopher and Rebecca Joy—devoted followers of the Lord, parents, business owners, and passionate sharers of His Word. It is with great joy that we share the testimony of how Living Stone Lodge and Retreat came to be. Thank you for joining us on this journey.
Many years ago, we felt a calling to share the beauty of our home surroundings with others. We dreamed of transforming our outbuildings into Airbnb accommodations. Though “red tape” obstacles initially hindered that plan, our dream never faded. In time, the Lord placed a new vision on our hearts—a Christian retreat center, one that would also feature an Airbnb component. The name He gave us was The Living Stone Center, inspired by 1 Peter 2:4-6:
“As you come to him, the living stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"
The Vision was to create a peaceful space for people to rejuvenate and refresh by the Lord".
It was an exciting and vibrant vision and we worked diligently each day to make it a reality. We were drawn to a particular building, formed a 501(c)(3), had an enthusiastic builder on board for the remodel, and everything was nearly in place to start the project. But just as we were about to start working on the financial details, I (Rebecca Joy) felt a clear message in my spirit: Wait. Though it didn’t make sense at the time, we chose to be obedient to that prompting. After years of following the Holy Spirit, we knew that we shouldn’t move forward until we received God's “Go.”
A month later, I suffered a severe concussion, and we began to understand, at least in part, why we had been asked to wait. Everything came to a halt. Time passed, and my healing was slow. The Living Stone Center was placed on the back burner.
Having always had an interest in real estate, one day while on a Sunday drive, we received a prompting to look at a particular house that was for sale. At first sight, Christopher fell in love with it. It took me a bit longer to align with his enthusiasm—especially with the concussion still taking its toll on my clarity of thought. In fact, I tried to put up "roadblocks," expecting the door to close on what seemed like an overwhelming project. We had previously renovated many homes, and while we enjoyed it, the results were always the same: it took far more time and money than we initially estimated. This house, in particular, needed a lot of work, and it had been used only as a weekend summer cabin for the past 36 years. We had no idea how it would handle a full winter. I voiced my concerns to Christopher, but he continued to repeat, “This won’t be like before. It won’t take long, and it will be affordable for us.” My inner thoughts? “Yeah, right...” (Definitely not the most trusting mindset from a wife! Haha!)
With no luck convincing him to walk away from this huge project, I turned to the Lord again. (To be honest, up until now my prayers had mostly been, “Please make my husband see how ridiculous this is!”) I shared my two main concerns with God:
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Christopher is disabled—how are we going to rehabilitate this place?
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How will this house survive the winter?
I opened my Bible randomly, trusting the Lord would speak. The verse I turned to left no doubt in my mind that my prayer had been answered, completely and immediately:
“For the land where you are going in to possess, it is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet (hard work!)... but the land you are passing through to possess is a land of hills and valleys, a land that drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land which the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”
—Deuteronomy 11:10-12
The answer to all my concerns, right there in one scripture! Divine!
At that moment, I knew I had to trust that my husband was hearing from the Lord. (So much for immediate obedience on my part—please don’t judge me! We’re all a work in progress!) I said yes to the project, finally aligning with the vision God had placed in Christopher’s heart. I think this part of the testimony is important because it shows how we grow into the person God creates us to be, even when our first reaction isn’t ideal. The Lord calls wives to respect and submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:22-23), but He also calls husbands to love and care for their wives (Eph. 5:33). It took me a while to get to the place of submission (I blame my slow-concussion brain!), but my husband was patient and kind, guiding me step by step, waiting on the Lord to show me the way. He didn’t rush me or take advantage of his role as the head of our household. Instead, he recognized that forcing things would not lead to the blessings we hoped for.
God is so good, so faithful, and so patient. He opened the door and held it open like a true gentleman, waiting for my heart and mind to catch up with the vision He had given my husband. Finally, Christopher and I linked arms and walked through that open door together. We didn’t know exactly how it would all work out, but we knew with God behind us, it would.
We had a vision long before we saw the place, but the Lord knew-He was leading us to it all along".
We officially closed on the property on August 1, 2024, and immediately began the work of cleaning—both physically and spiritually. It’s rumored that this house was once one of Al Capone’s hideouts, which is entirely plausible, given that Al Capone and his associates were known to be active in this part of Wisconsin, with several locations in the area tied to their visits. That being said, not everything that has happened within these walls since it was built in 1932 has been in service to glorifying the Lord!
The physical renovation of the house was monumental. We had no idea how we were going to tackle such a huge challenge, so we decided to take it one small, steady step at a time. We reached out to a few friends for help, started with the cleaning, and by the time we were done, the house had a whole new look and feel—it was bright, airy, and welcoming!
Another one of our early steps was calling in a few contractors to take a look, provide estimates, and share their opinions. During those first few days of inspection, two contractors told us, “I hope you didn’t pay much for this place!” and “I’m not interested in touching this house…” Ufda. Those were tough words to hear, especially after we had already closed on the property.
But then, the one contractor who remained offered some precious words of encouragement for my discouraged heart:
Don't Listen To Them. This place is a diamond in the rough".
Praise the Lord—did I need to hear that! With those words, the contractor felt the Holy Spirit lead him to come alongside us, becoming the hands and feet of Christopher, who knew what needed to be done but couldn’t physically do it himself. That contractor, Clayton Steines, has since become a dear friend. He has dedicated his time, resources, and prayers to this property, helping transform it into the beautiful place it is today. God is so faithful. All we had to do was say “Yes” and trust Him—and He provided, fully.
During this restoration process,
I came across a forgotten journal I had started before my concussion".
The cover featured a white walking bridge, which at the time held no meaning for me. As I opened the journal, I saw that I had originally begun the journal to commemorate our journey toward The Living Stone Center, the building we had once had our eye on. But that building had nothing even remotely resembling a pretty walking bridge.
Then, it hit me.
I will never forget the moment I realized that the house we had bought wasn’t just any house—it was a stone house. And not only that, but it had two white walking bridges on the property! This was the Living Stone “center” that God had placed on our hearts earlier! We had the vision all along; we just hadn’t seen the correct location yet! And so, Living Stone Lodge and Retreat was born.
We are deeply grateful to King Jesus for allowing us to be a part of His vision for the restoration of this house, turning it into Living Stone Lodge and Retreat.
Our heart's desire is for families to come together, for spouses to reconnect, for friends to reunite, for the body of Christ to be united, for adventures to unfold, and for memories to be made—all to glorify King Jesus!
