JULY Birthdays THE ARBOR Marjorie Daniels...................2 Evelyn Cue............................7 Leon Berandt........................8 Ruth Coulter.........................9 Jetta Currise..........................9 Joan King.............................10 Gregory O’Neill..................10 Bill Staples..........................10 Mary Mercer........................11 Juliette Faatz........................15 Natalie Pillion.....................17 William Currise..................18 Elaine Bredeson...................20 Karin Allen..........................21 Melvin Bauman...................22 Pauline Staples.....................22 KING’S CROWN Harold Moore.........................1 Elizabeth Dougherty...............2 Pauline Kennedy....................5 Dorothy Beard........................9 Eloise Bennett......................11 Caroline Wolf .....................16 Claudia Upper......................18 Ellen Parmeter.....................26 Betty Clucas.........................28 THE SPRINGS Elisabeth Farris.......................2 Robert Reeb...........................2 Maurice Ernst.......................11 Martha Hutchinson.............12 Jeannette Guernsey..............30 IN LOVING
Memory
OF OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS Mary Woodworth (The Arbor)..... May 17 Elmer Taylor (The Springs)............. May 17 Ruth Borgen (The Springs)...........May 24 Angelina Paillex (King’s Crown)...June 13
4 | July 2018
God Bless
AMERICA By Bonnie Palmquist, Assistant Chaplain
T
he speech is over; the president looks directly into the camera and says, “God bless you, and God bless America.” We have heard this from many different presidents, but what exactly does “God bless America” mean? That’s a valid question as we celebrate the birth of our nation with pride and gratitude. I think most of us connect blessing with being safe, being well, and being prosperous, and I think we can say that this is the way in which the President is using the term. We do depend on God to protect and care for us, and we should be thankful to Him for those gifts. However, in the dictionary, the first definition of “bless” is “to make holy.” In the New Testament, there is no mention of prosperity or perfect circumstances as a result of God’s blessing. In fact, in Matthew 5, Jesus says that those are blessed who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and who even are persecuted, insulted and slandered. He says these people will be shown mercy, see God, be rewarded in Heaven. He places value not on the material or temporal, but rather on the spiritual and eternal, and calls those things blessings. In other words, it seems that we can never be truly blessed if we live self-centered lives. True blessing comes only in relationship with God, our Creator. One definition of blessing I have seen is to be “fully satisfied in God, regardless of circumstances.” If that is true, we might even find that hard times help us see the insufficiency of the temporal to satisfy, to hold more tightly to the eternal, and to acknowledge that real blessing is found in God alone.
May God truly bless America!
July 2018
CanvasCreativity T By Amanda Pendergrast, Springs Activities Leader
here is something special that happens when putting paintbrush to canvas. Inspired by International Museum Day in May, assisted living residents recently got their creativity flowing by creating their very own canvas masterpieces. Staff members assisting with the project loved watching the
creative process take place from start to finish. It can be quite intimidating to stare at a blank canvas and wonder what will come of it, but assisted living residents were up to the challenge! Some residents simply chose a subject and started to paint, while others learned from the techniques of others by emulating
a sample piece of artwork. No matter the source of inspiration, the final products are a beautiful, unique tribute to each artist and the special touch that set their masterpieces apart from others. By the time everyone finished, each resident was left with a colorful, hand-painted work of art to hang on their walls in their residences.
Published monthly for assisted living residents at Shell Point.
THE ARBOR
8100 Arbor Court (239) 454-2292
KING’S CROWN
3699 King’s Crown Court (239) 454-2175
THE SPRINGS
13901 Shell Point Plaza (239) 600-6400
Shell Point is a nonprofit ministry of The Christian and Missionary Alliance Foundation, Inc.