[RivCompanions] An email gone astray?

Wed Jun 25 23:38:22 UTC 2014

Having a majority of votes affirmative for the tractor and not a single
vote against it, we bought the tractor yesterday. It has been delivered
today. Now, the discussion is not about buying a tractor, but how are we
going to manage our finances when Virginia moves.  She and I are in
discussion about this.  The trouble is that we approved at GC the budget
for the coming year before recommending that V move to Houston. There are
details that only she and I can work out, which does not mean we don't want
to hear from others about the financial future!

Love,
S

On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 6:23 PM, Barbi Click <bgclick at gmail.com> wrote:

> I hesitated to speak to this issue any more than I already did simply
> because ... our personal financial commitment to Rivendell seems lacking in
> my eyes and as that is the case, I hate to jump into the middle of
> discussions of what should be bought. Therefore, I was going to abstain.
> With the opening of the discussion, I offer this thought.
>
> Tractors are not like cars. They do not get the same type of day to day
> wear and tear that a car or pickup would get. A ten or twenty year old
> tractor would still be a viable work horse. And given the idea that
> Kubota's hold their value, that means reason for the value.
>
> I do not at all deny the idea that we need a new tractor -- merely that
> "newer" might be better than brand new (although far less cool!!).
>
>
>
> *Barbi *
> *www.linkedin.com/in/barbiclick/* <http://www.linkedin.com/in/barbiclick/>
> *http://feathersandfaith.blogspot.com
> <http://feathersandfaith.blogspot.com> *
> *http://facebook.com/bgclick <http://facebook.com/bgclick>*
>
>     *“For surely I know the plans I have for you,… plans for your welfare
> and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon
> me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you
> will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, …
> and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and
> all the places where I have driven you, … and I will bring you back to the
> place from which I sent you into exile." *Jeremiah 29:11-14
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 3:36 PM, Virginia Brown <
> mothervirginiadb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear Companions,
>>
>> I spoke with Cathy a little while ago and learned that she attempted to
>> send out this email to the Professed list, and while some received it, some
>> apparently did not.  As she suggested, I'll try sending it again and we'll
>> see if it works.  Cathy raises some significant issues which I think have
>> been on several minds in various forms, so please do read it and join in
>> the conversation.
>>
>> Love,
>> V
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 8:13 AM, <susanna601 at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I voted YES - but I have some different questions that were not clear in
>>> my mind, and which I posed to Susie.
>>> Susie and I have discussed this. V and I have talked briefly as well.
>>>
>>> But Susie said that she did not receive this when I sent it to all the
>>> professed, so I have corrected the figures and am sending it again.
>>>
>>> Please, let's discuss this as unemotionally as possible - and on this
>>> list. This is NOT a concern that the novices and postulants need to be
>>> engaged in at this point...
>>>
>>> We now owe ourselves $80,000.....That nearly empties the "development
>>> fund" that Virginia set up for Rivendell when she received a large chunk of
>>> money from her Aunt's estate. That just means we have spent nearly all of
>>> the $100,000 she gave to the Community after her Aunt's death, and it means
>>> there is no more to be had - so we need to husband whatever resources we
>>> still have carefully.
>>>
>>> My concern was/is simply this: How do we repay ourselves without
>>> increased, steady income?
>>> Our monthly repayment is now not just the $365 Susie mentions, but with
>>> the other loans, the total repayment is close to $1,500/mo.
>>>
>>>  The financial aspect of this is essential to consider, since Virginia
>>> is also looking to move to Houston and her *retirement income will need
>>> to go with her* to finance a small apartment. She needs the quiet and
>>> privacy of her own space. She has already researched cost of living
>>> there. She and I talked briefly about this yesterday. Her income will
>>> NOT remain in Dunnegan when she moves.
>>>
>>> Once we take Virgina's income out of the equation, is there enough*
>>> regular* income from Susie's retirement, from retreats, from
>>> Companions, to pay this amount AND keep up the other expenses of the house?
>>> (We have, of course, lost also the Diocesan support for room/board and
>>> Virgina's leadership of George Herbert)
>>>
>>> There will be $15,000 left in the "development fund" and approximately
>>> $6,000 left in the savings account (Susie couldn't remember exactly how
>>> much, and I don't know) -       Is that enough reserve in case of emergency?
>>>
>>> I am still concerned about the long-term financial viability
>>> of Rivendell (the house) without a real plan for its long-term use and
>>> income. I know we have dreams and ideas, but that is not quite the same as
>>> a plan.
>>>
>>> Again, please, *I am not attacking Susie, who is my friend; I am not
>>> denying the need for a tractor. I am not "siding with" anyone or against
>>> anyone. *
>>>
>>> I am asking questions we need to be *able to discuss* without just
>>> saying to Susie, "whatever you want is fine" - because that puts a huge
>>> burden on her to make all the right choices when she is not sure what
>>> Virginia thinks or, for that matter, what God intends -
>>> OR to say to V, "whatever you say is fine" - which puts an identical
>>> burden on her to speak up when she is unsure, but reluctant to disagree
>>> -  and is herself unsure about God's purposes in all this - and when the
>>> two of them do not see quite eye-to-eye it leaves them both struggling to
>>> decide how to proceed -
>>>
>>> Everyone needs to engage in this conversation, because it affects all of
>>> us - The question of planning, actual, hard planning for our future in
>>> Dunnegan HAS TO HAPPEN, and preferably first among us.
>>> The consensus at Chapter was that we should keep the property and there
>>> is now a consensus that we should incur more "debt" or spend most of our
>>> remaining resources - whichever way you want to put it -
>>>
>>> But it is not fair to leave all the details about how this ACTUALLY
>>> works out to Susie and Virginia alone just because for the moment they are
>>> the only ones who live there and it is easier to dump the whole thing in
>>> their laps.
>>> And no, I do NOT have any answers, either. But that does not obviate the
>>> need we *all* have to have a serious conversation about this -
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>> From: susanna601 <susanna601 at aol.com>
>>> To: RivCompanions <RivCompanions at justus.anglican.org>
>>> Sent: Tue, Jun 24, 2014 8:49 am
>>> Subject: Re: [RivCompanions] Vote needed
>>>
>>>   *I vote yes, but I do want to be clear about the internal loan status
>>> -*
>>> This is my understanding from what Susie wrote: When we buy the
>>> tractor, our debt (to ourselves) will be approximately
>>> $80,000.
>>> We will have approximately $15,000 left in the development fund which will
>>> only slowly
>>> recover.
>>> That leaves us no financial wiggle-room should something else come up.
>>> What I do* not* see is the *total *amount of the MONTHLY loan
>>> repayment, for all three loans.
>>> I'd like to be reassured that whatever it is, that the monthly total
>>> will not exceed what we can comfortably re-pay ourselves.
>>> Cathy
>>>
>>
>>
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>
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