The Office: An Easter Break

Thank you to Cathy Harvey, Administrative Assistant to Shepherds College, for writing today's blog.

It is not often that I attend the Wednesday chapel services for the residents of Shepherds Ministries, the parent organization to Shepherds College. But today Gloria Dahlberg, the Day Services Center Supervisor, announced an Easter production they had practiced and prepared.  Even though it is the week we process the students' report cards, I decided to pause for 30 minutes, attend this chapel, and support the residents in their efforts.

It continues to amaze me, the amount of care and intentional planning the Program and Day Services staff members take in planning special events for our residents.  All the Day Service residents were given parts, costumes, and props: 

a burst of sunshine, 

flowers covered in sparkle dust, 

butterfly masks, 

bumble bee cut-outs, 

a cross, 

a tree with a full green canopy, 

large pink hearts, 

and bunny ear headbands. 

The loving staff and faithful volunteers who helped are so copious in their care of these special folks who have made their home here for many years.

There were parts for narrating, numerous solos, holding up of props, and group songs that all focused on the Easter story. 

I was surprised that the residents knew so many songs by heart - precious hymns and choruses popular before contemporary Christian radio!   

Here are all the songs they used to sing their way through the Easter story:

Heavenly Sunshine

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Thank you Lord

Jesus Loves Me

His Name Is Wonderful

Oh How He Loves You and Me

For God So Loved the World (chorus)

My God Is So Big

He Is Able

Isn’t the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful

He Arose

Every Promise in the Book is Mine

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

The Old Rugged Cross

Praise Ye The Lord

He Lives

Happy Easter (sang to tune of Happy Birthday)

 

Toward the end of the program, my heart was touched by the beauty, simplicity, and sincerity of their efforts and heart message.  It brought tears to my eyes to imagine what the Lord thought as He viewed the love given and received in the making of this little production in Union Grove, Wisconsin.  I imagined their voices reaching heaven, and the Lord stopping all activity so the angels could listen to His special children singing His praises.

After the final prayer by a volunteer, the residents on stage all shouted “Happy Easter!” to the audience. 
  

Happy Easter indeed!

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

A Check in My Spirit

I’m a slow starter when it comes to Christmas spirit.

I suspect it’s because, as a type A personality, I’m too busy making lists – this year’s successful Thanksgiving recipes, cookies I want to bake, gifts I need to buy (organized by store), events I need to attend, mailing lists, grocery lists, menus, and eventually, my favorite list – things I want to do to get in the Christmas spirit after I’m done checking things off my other lists.

Some years, Christmas has passed before I realize that I didn’t check one thing off of my favorite list. I was too busy getting ready to be in the Christmas spirit to actually get in the Christmas spirit. This has happened for more Christmases than I care to count. Year after year, I’ve been packing away the unopened Christmas puzzle I wanted to put together with my husband, the still shrink-wrapped board game I buy to play with the kids, the Christmas DVDs and CDs I planned to enjoy on quiet nights with the family. I sigh over the Christmas lights I didn’t get a chance to see, friend’s Christmas parties I didn’t attend, service opportunities I wanted to volunteer for but didn’t,  and phone calls I didn’t make to friends and family that I haven’t seen in years. Every year, I vow to do a better job of getting it all done next year.

This morning started off like any other morning. I made my to-do list for the day and looked forward to seeing all the check marks at the end of the day. I have a lot to get done before I take my Christmas break and I’m determined not to have one task hanging over my head during the holiday. 

I had a phone conference scheduled with my boss at 9:00am and I was making a list of everything I wanted to talk to him about. At 8:50, I received a phone call from Cathy Harvey. “The student choir is singing in chapel this morning!” she exclaimed. “They’re all wearing crowns and the guys are in robes. You have to come see!” Well, chapel was at 9:00 and my teleconference was at 9:00 so I started telling her of my sincere regrets… and then stopped.  I suddenly wanted to go to the student’s performance more than anything.

I ran to my co-workers office and asked her to contact our boss to explain why I was unavailable for the meeting, grabbed the camera, and sprinted to chapel chanting “Wait for me, wait for me, wait for me...” under my breath.  

And I’m so glad I went.

Upon entering Chapel, I was greeted with laughter, cheers and a few groans of, “Oh no, she brought the camera.” I looked around and saw students dressed in suits, in dresses, in Christmas clothing. On the stage, the choir was nervous and trying to cover their faces with their song books.

The men in the choir were dressed in robes and crowns and the women were all wearing tiaras. I asked Steve and Sandy, the faithful volunteers who practice with the students every Wednesday, about the headgear and they smiled, “The students decided that on their own. The guys wanted to wear crowns and knew Mrs. Cyr had robes, so they arranged to borrow them. The girls wanted to look like royalty too so we picked up some tiaras at Party City.”

For the next half hour, I had the pleasure of listening to our students sing, and photographing their special moments in the spotlight. Their earnest voices dipped and rose to Steve’s conducting. Sandy alternated between playing the keyboard and manning the stereo equipment. 

The students sang ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain,’ ‘We Three Kings,’ ’Oh Come All Ye Faithful,’ ‘Come On, Ring Those Bells,’ ‘Amen,’ and ‘Star of Bethlehem.’

It was beautiful. Not because every note was in tune – they weren’t. Not because the production went off without a hitch – it didn’t. Not because every choir member was classically trained and professionally dressed – they weren’t. 

It was beautiful because smiles were bright with excitement, and the eyes of the singers sparkled as cheerfully as their tiaras. 

 It was beautiful because no one felt the need to camouflage the students singing with canned, professional voices singing along. The choir owned every nuance of each song.

It was beautiful because the students love Steve and Sandy, and Steve and Sandy love the students. It showed.

 It was beautiful because it was in the hearts of the students singing to bring joy to everyone listening. It was in the hearts of the people listening to encourage the students singing. It was in the hearts of Steve and Sandy to please the Lord with their service to our people with intellectual disabilities. 

And it was beautiful because finally my heart was right. I put aside my busyness, and for a half hour thought only about celebrating the joy of my Savior’s birth – in the place I was at and at the moment the celebration was occurring. I didn’t try to squeeze “Attend student chapel to hear choir” on my to-do list. I went because that was what the Spirit called me to do.

I wish you all spontaneous moments of Christmas joy as you celebrate the love of God through the birth of our King.

 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

Goin' to the Chapel

Day 21 of the 31 for 21 Challenge

  

On Wednesday mornings, the residents of Shepherds Ministries attend chapel while our college students are in class. Usually chapel is led by a staff member, a volunteer group or a visiting pastor. But this past Wednesday, our first year students in Personal Development 1 practiced their newfound skills in public speaking by leading chapel for the residents with their teacher, Mrs. Kolkman.

I attended this service believing that I was going to take notes for this blog. That I was going to be an objective observer, someone watching from the sidelines.

But that’s not what really happened.

If you’ve ever visited Shepherds Ministries, or walked into Shepherds Enterprises while the employees were working, you already know that being just an “observer” isn’t really possible. The residents envelop you in hugs and big handshakes. They want to know your name and where you’re from. They invite you into their activities and interests immediately. 

Cathy, the woman sitting next to me near the front, asked me to tell her all the students’ names. I did, then thought, “I should be quietly taking notes,” so I moved to stand against the side wall, a great position for observing.

Mrs. Kolkman opened the service with a loud and joyful “Good Morning!!”  and the residents greeted her and the students with applause. A resident prayed and the singing began.

I was okay for a minute, still observing, silently listening to the voices around me – some singing Come, Now is the Time to Worship, some speaking the words, some droning, some tunelessly humming. I saw eyes closing, heads tipping back, arms going up in praise. 

Then Mrs. Kolkman started singing Yes Lord. I watched as our resident Tara, who’s maybe four feet tall, stood up and began swaying to the music. In the five years I’ve been here, I’ve only seen her sitting down. I started to really hear the lyrics:

“I’m trading my sickness.
I’m trading my pain.
I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.” 

I realized as my eyes were watering and my heart was doing funny little twists in my chest, that I was witnessing genuine worship. That most of the residents understood these words in a very real and personal way and suddenly I wanted to feel that joy with them. I wanted to stop observing.

Mrs. Kolkman asked the residents, “Who prays? Who do we pray to? What is prayer?”  She explained that the first year students were learning about prayer and then she invited the students forward.

Each student had drawn a picture about what prayer meant to them. As, one-by-one, the students came to the front of the service, their picture flashed up on the screen in back of them. 

I heard, “Prayer is a sword fight with life.”

“Prayer is calling out the name of the Lord.”

“Prayer is asking God for protection.”

“Prayer is talking to God about problems”

“Prayer is peace of mind and reassuring myself that God will provide.”

Students read Bible verses to support their beliefs about prayer, and Crystal added, “I pray because God loves me.”

I heard shy voices, confident voices, sincere voices and one voice that I’m sure belongs to a future pastor.

After each student taught the residents what they knew about prayer and Mrs. Kolkman wrapped up the service, the residents shook their hands and called out, “Hey, you did good! Real good!”

I lingered. My hand scribbled some unintelligible notes, but my mind was on something else – prayer, disability, God, adoration of Him in its purest, simplest form…

I had stopped observing and started participating … and I wasn’t ready for chapel - for worship - to be over.

“Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord, Amen.”

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.