An Unexpected Opportunity – Part 2

Being our first time hosting an Airbnb, I knew I needed some guidance, so I reached out to my good friend, who also happens to be an Airbnb Superhost. I picked her brain and she gave me a lot of sound advice, including something I didn’t know was an option – blocking off room(s) of the house to store personal belongings. Brilliant! I knew I didn’t want guests having access to our master suite or our office/homeschool room, so we added locks to those doors and piled those rooms with anything we needed to store away from guests while away. This worked out well for us because those rooms also doubled as housekeeper workspaces.

We knew that we’d need to hire a local housekeeper to make this idea work, but we had no idea who to hire. That was, until my close friend told me that her Aunty was volunteering for so many roles but needed money and was having a hard time finding paid work. This was God’s providence, because we needed each other and didn’t realise it until it lined up so perfectly. We asked Aunty to be our housekeeper, and she happily accepted! As true to Māori culture, my good friend also took on the role of housekeeper. Both our friends are incredibly talented at decorating, so they were the PERFECT duo to help stage our house once we left. I tried my best to stage the house for preliminary photos for the listing, but when they came and staged our house for real, they put me to utter shame! I couldn’t even recognise our home – it looked like a cosy retreat.

After a burnout-paced week, the house was finally ready, the listing was live, and it was time to move to Auckland. We took Matt’s work ute (truck) and our car; I followed behind him the whole way. We split the kids between us as well. It was a welcome drive, as I was exhausted and able to be still while the car was in adaptive cruise control behind Matt, who was setting the pace. The drive ended up being a well-needed break. Our Airbnb was 6.5 hours away on the GPS, but we made it there in 10 hours.

When we arrived, we checked out our Airbnb, and it was everything we dreamed of! A brand new, 3-story townhouse backed up to a nature reserve, tucked away in a quiet suburb on the outskirts of the city. It was perfect for us, and we fit nicely. There was a room with bunk beds for the girls, Jack had his own room, and Louis stayed in a cot in our room, which was nicely tucked away in the passageway to the master bath. On the main floor, there were two enclosed balconies, which were amazing for the babies. They could get their sunlight and fresh air while we homeschooled at the dining table.

We had a great time in Auckland. We were there from mid-June to the end of August. While there, we were able to do a lot of exploring with the kids. We visited the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT), Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium, Crystal Mountain, and Rainbow’s End. We visited friends we hadn’t seen in ages. We made new connections at C3 Churches in Ellerslie and Manukau. We visited the Avondale Sunday Market and Silo Park Night Market. We finally got to check out the new Costco (it was a let down), Sylvia Park Mall (it was incredible!), St. Luke’s Westfield Mall, and Martha’s Backyard (the American store we heard so much about – it was big but I didn’t find many gluten free options – Johnsonville’s US2U is better, in my opinion). Matt and I had a date night (thanks to his friend offering to babysit!) in the CBD and got gelato at Island Gelato Co.

Homeschooling went down without a hitch. There was no disruption to our schedule, as we moved over the weekend and started back at it on Monday. The setup was different from our home setup – we learned around the dining room table, because that was the only space we had. At home, we set up a homeschool space in the office. I quickly realised that I preferred homeschooling around the table, so when we got home, I changed our home setup to resemble what we had in Auckland. It’s been a great change! In the office setting, we each had a desk to work at, but this didn’t leave a proper space for the babies. At the table, there is a chair for everyone, and while the big kids do their schoolwork, the babies are able to do their activities. When it’s nice outside, we are able to open the French doors and let them outside while we work and see them in perfect view. I am so grateful that simply changing settings opened my eyes to this!

Matt really enjoyed his Auckland job. Being a specialised project, Matt got to undertake tasks he wouldn’t normally get to do on his regular jobs back home, and he was able to learn some new things as well (he always enjoys expanding his electrical knowledge). His job took place in confined spaces, so Matt gained another certification and skill set through this. God knew what he was doing and brought in some wonderful co-workers to help with the project from a company in the same electrical group as B&M. The cherry on top – Matt’s temporary boss would almost daily spoil them with food (he’s a major foodie).

The most incredible part about this story is that as we were having fun, our Airbnb was being booked almost fully out. We had guests every single week. This is a miracle, because if you know anything about Palmerston North, then you know there isn’t much to do here, and it isn’t a tourist destination. Just days before our return to Palmerston North, we were able to pay off our credit card, which was close to being maxed out (with necessary expenses) before we arrived in Auckland. Jesus rescued us in the most literal sense. We were drowning in our finances, with seemingly no options to help. But then He swept in, gave us an opportunity we weren’t expecting, and allowed us not only to finally have fun for the first time in a long time, but also to go back home debt-free. And all the while, He was also providing for our friends through the housekeeping opportunity. What an amazing provider our God is!

As far as our Airbnb venture went, during our time away, our house became a guest favourite (top 2% of homes in our area) and we became Superhosts! We weren’t expecting these accolades. In fact, we also weren’t expecting that Airbnb would enable us to wipe out our debt completely. But here we are, and it’s all God. We couldn’t have accomplished any of this on our own.

We’ve been home for a few months now. When we got home, we donated even more. We even cleaned out our shed (it was bad). We realised during our time in Auckland that we can live with much less. Being up there forced us to be minimalists and taught us how to live with just the basics. When we came home, we realised how much we have that is simply excess to our needs. It felt amazing to watch bags and bags of unneeded items leave our house. Less clutter = less time cleaning.

Thank you, Jesus, for this incredible opportunity you granted us, and the much-needed time away as a family.

Much Love,

The Cullums