We have just completed this order and have mailed it to the Brookdale Home.
Special thanks to Kim Reed and Jan Paron for their contributions. Between them, and myself we sent them 77 items for their elderly residents.
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We have just been in contact with Brookdale Concord Parkway in North Carolina. They have 75 residents at their assisted living home. We will be making bookmarks, tags, atc cards, etc. for their residents.Sterling Park Nursing Home is located in Waite Park, MN. When they were contacted about us making Scripture cards, Tags, Bookmarks, etc. to distribute to their residents, they were so excited about it...saying "Yes Of Course We Would".
I mentioned our ministry to them, explaining that we feel led through prayer to reach out to the elderly, that there are so many elderly people who feel alone, depressed, unworthy, etc. That it breaks our hearts....and we would love to be able to give some encouragement to them, brighten up their day a little, just to let them know that we are thinking of them. They have 43 residents there, so we delivered 45 to them. They were so happy to receive them! It was so very heart-warming. We are excited to be reaching out to God's "Seasoned" adults in this way. My Nana, Marion, resided at an assisted living facility. For Christmas, I gave her a bookmark I made with a Scripture verse on it, as well as some cards with lyrics of some of her favorite hymns. She had a request for me!
She loves telling people about Jesus, and she asked me if I'd be willing to make more so she could hand them out to her friends, and then she asked for quite a large number, so that staff could deliver some too. It was a tall order! With the help of two other members, we were able to come up with a total of 70 items in just a few days. I spoke to the activities director there. She seemed happy about the donation at first...until I told her they Scriptures on them. Her tone changed, and she said they would accept 35 donations only, to be distributed by the chaplain. My Nana was still most grateful! I was a bit discouraged by this. My other grandmother, Dorothe, lives in another nursing home in the same town. She is in the end stages of Parkinson's disease. Most of the time she is bed ridden and can barely speak above a whisper now. She is almost completely blind, and sometimes, she doesn't know who I am. She's precious. Before her illness progressed to that extent, she shared Jesus with many, many people there. Of course now, she is physically unable to do that. So, I called the activities director there, and this time, the woman I spoke with (Lynette) was ecstatic! She said she'd be happy to hand them out herself, and that for people with poor eyesight she would hold the cards up close and read the verses to them. What a blessing! I learned a lot from this experience. sometimes, when we share the Gospel, we most definitely are going to hit a closed door. Some people are more open than others. Does this mean I give up? No. God only asks for faithfulness and obedience, and I must trust Him to take care of the rest. It was a blessing to honor both of my grandmothers in this way! Debbie Reed has graciously agreed to take over an exciting element of Salty Sidewalks, ministering to the elderly.....our Seasoned Salt. In her first outing to see if there was an interest, an assisted living home asked for 45 salt leaks!! This is quickly getting filled by our salty participants, praise God!!! Check back often for news, pics and stories from those that are often overlooked. Seasoned through a lifetime of heartbreak and joy - our elders have so much to share if we slow down long enough to listen....help us love them today and remind them that they still matter and they are still important.
News on one Seasoned Salt Leak- that turned out to be a waterfall! "Good afternoon, friends! I just contacted the assisted living facility, .... where my Nana resides. As some of you know (not our newest members perhaps), I made her some of my Scripture cards and bookmarks for Christmas. She loves to share Jesus to those around her. She asked me if I could make more for her to distribute. Then, she asked if I could make enough for everyone living on her floor! Well, that was a tall order, and because I am new to this, I posted a prayer request here that same day. Debbie Reed and Diane Marra both sent me such beautiful contributions. I thought with what they sent and what I made, we would have 60 salt leaks, but it looks like, we will have 70. YAY! I am so grateful to everyone, both for contributing and for praying." and one more exciting upcoming leak: "I just came back from my neighborhood nursing home (a block from my house), they would love us to make things to pass out to their residents! They have 43 residents in there now." |
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