Day 8 - God's Mercy, Twue love & Praising in the Storm

In the morning, we loaded the vans and did our devotions by van. Ours talked about what we could share during our trip and if we had been sharing. We made a quick Starbucks run. Our only stop today would be Parkwood. This facility houses three different populations, assited living, nursing home, Alzheimer unit. 

The first stop was nursing. The residents were really excited (and rather confused) to see the mimes. They paid very close attention the whole time, never got distracted. Even the nurses were paying close attention; one was all the way down the hall, and when she heard one of the songs about God having mercy, she called out "AMEN!" One lady, Virginia Lee,

had never seen mime, and was very lonely as her husband was gone as well as her sisters. She heard the message and cried at the end, saying that she needs to focus on God more.

The next stop was the Alzheimer's unit. This would be a little more difficult. This unit was for very advanced stages. We quickly set up, as the mimes talked.   This would also be difficult because of the distractions. During the first song, one man walked through the mimes, and stood next to them, watching from the stage. One woman came half a song late. She was devastated, thinking she missed it...thinking she couldn't belong. Patti assured her she was fine and at the woman's request,  sat with her the entire time. One woman was very familiar with the Bible and its stories, and wanted to tell everyone. Steph talked between each song, and so did she. She was certainly more articulate that the rest, and intro'd the songs as well, explaining Stephanie's talk a little more. The mimes were solid; even with people calling out for help, trying to grab Andy, unappropriately-timed clapping, and nurses walking back and forth, they stayed solid

During "Not Guilty" the demons were much more gentle that they had been in the post, almost playful (as not to scare the residents) The adults and crew thought it was funny, but the residents were intent. During "Your Great Name" we sang acappella and incited the residents to song along. It was just a great time of worship.

 At closing, our preacher woman, Helen had to call out "This might be a little unappropriate, but you have a lot of good looking boys in this group!" We laughed and went to talk with the residents. One saw our ladies-man Tanner and got excited, "oh.... Here he comes!" So fun. One woman (Wanda) says just been traveling with her husband and was so tired but still came. it was great to learn all the stories.  Our lunch was a chill time of puzzles and sandwiches. It was just a good time to fellowship.

Our last stop was the assisted living wing. There were not that many people but the mimes mixed anyway. The residents were excited. It grew as the performance went on. One lady happened to be walking down the hall, and paused to watch. Suddenly, she stormed off; I thought she was angry. In two minutes, she returned with her daughter and her mother who she was visiting. It was awesome.    The residents, nurses and the like all stopped to watch.

After we mingled with the residents and heard their stories. Phillip Fairhead had the most beautiful love story. He was drafted at 18, and risked widowing his true love by marrying her before he went off. They had such a happy marriage; they got through the war, had kids, and traveled the globe. Later, his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and was sent to the unit. Phillip then decided to move into the assisted living unit to be near his wife. He stayed all day with her until he went to bed in his room. She died last year. He broke our hearts. He misses her of course. He's lonely. His friends have died as well, so he called their wives every now and again to make sure they were fine and not lonely. Patti promised to be pen pals with him. Such an awesome blessing.

Once we got back, we has plenty of time to get ready for El Fenix. The gals got nice and purtied up and the guys plaided up. (And aviator'd it up.) Dinner was going to be fun. Between bites of chips and salsa, we chatted and laughed. Suddenly, the boys needed to go to the bathroom, and called all the boys to go with them. (makng fun of the girls) So the girls decided to do the same. The instant the boys set at the table, the girls stood and walked quietly into the bathroom before bursting into giggles. Only two of us had to actually go. So we had a dance party in the bathroom.

~

Chatting was interrupted. Laughter ceased. We just got the news that the fire jumped the ridge. Some have friends, some have family whose homes have been emptied. Whose lives have been turned upside down. Dinner turned solumn as texts and phone calls started to pour in. Most didn't even have the appetite anymore for dessert. We are praying hard for you, Home. We are praying hard.
Its amazing that we had originally planned to have worship after dinner. Originally as a comfort, a breath of renewal. Now, it was a necessity. We went to Zach's church so we wouldn't bother the hotel guests.

 When we arrived, there were some kids coming out for VBS. It just made everything seem so far away...everyone elses life was just...as usual. We prayed. We praised. We called out. We cried. We read, we recited, we hugged, we held hands. It's hard, to be away, Colorado. Not because we feel as if we could do something if we were home, but because its so hopelessly far away. After another prayer, we climbed into the vans and headed home. Patti's van had good fun. For some reason, we ended up on a freeway that took us through the airport. We joked the entire time as we went throug, making fun of my bad navigational skills, and the pleas of the tollbooth operator to not come back. It was a good time to take a breath because all our kids were so depressed. We all needed it.