A couple weeks ago, a group of women from Shepherd’s Door, our life recovery ministry for women and children, were invited to spend time with residents at The Springs Assisted Living facility in Wilsonville.
The moment our ladies walked in the door, they were greeted by a beautiful room set for tea – and a host of elderly women excited to have company there for no other reason than to invest time in them.
Minutes turned into hours as our residents talked and laughed with the ladies, realizing they had so much more in common than they had previously thought. They compared what it was like to live in community – our ladies describing the bond they’ve formed as they unite around life transformation. Addictions and broken relationships individually tore each of our ladies apart: now they are teaming together to heal from the pain and damage, each looking forward to the next step of their lives here on earth.
The women at The Springs have weathered the storms of life, empathizing with our ladies’ pasts. Most of them have a different story, but they share the same eager hope for the next phase of living. Just like the women at Shepherd’s Door look forward to graduating the program and moving onto a bright future, the residents at The Springs look excitedly ahead to Heaven.
As one of our residents played piano throughout the event, we saw several very elderly residents who’d been immobile and unengaged for quite some time joining into the songs, mouthing the words with a glow on their face.
“We all came away with far more than we expected,” says a Shepherd’s Door staff member.