Summertime at Baptist Homes
By Spencer Hutson, Church Relations Specialist
For many of us, this past winter was one we would consider mild, especially when you remember some of the winters over the past decades. However, for many of our neighbors in the Baptist Homes, it probably seemed like a long time from celebrating the seasonal activities of Thanksgiving and Christmas to finally having warm days and the opportunity to go outside. Spring allows us to celebrate the beauty of God’s creation that has just come alive with flowers, birds, green grass and picnics.
Many neighbors have now come to make their home in one of our six Baptist Homes communities. They come because of the need to be in a safe, cozy environment where they receive Christ-centered care from our competent and caring staff who minister to them with dignity and love. In this environment, we provide not only for the physical, but also the soul care of individuals. Our neighbors are cared for and prayed for. Many of the neighbors are prayer warriors themselves, praying for others and their families.
We staff our homes with life enrichment directors, or activities directors, who work to engage each neighbor in a variety of activities outside of their room or apartment. The goal is to allow them to interact with others, which keeps them healthy in mind, body and soul. Several times each week, the activities planned are soul care activities, including Bible study, worship, singing, and games with a spiritual focus.
At the beginning of spring, even when it might seem to be too cold to do much outside yet, our neighbors began to get involved in planning and looking forward to activities that are a part of springtime. Long before it was time to go outside, volunteers from our churches came to our Homes to help with projects that bring our thoughts to God’s creation and new life. Once the weather was agreeable, our residents planted gardens and flowers on our campuses in our raised garden beds. Volunteers from local FFA groups, school groups, and church groups have helped to clean and spruce up our outdoor living spaces.
Summertime is a time of enjoying the fruits of our labor in our gardens and on our outdoor patios and lawns. On more than one campus, multiple groundskeepers are kept busy mowing and grooming our lawns so our neighbors can enjoy them.
Our Homes also have day trips to interesting places where neighbors can shop. Many of those trips will include a summertime favorite—ice cream! Fishing, lawn games and picnics are a part of our summers too. This year, we get to celebrate 250 years as a nation, and fireworks and other festivities will happen.
Just recently on one of our campuses, a visitor from the local Baptist church was there to fellowship and minister to some neighbors. As this church member came in the front door, she noticed the lawn furniture wasn’t in the best of shape. Rather than complain about it, she talked to her pastor, the activities director and the Home administrator, and the next thing we knew, the Home had new furniture because of the generosity of this caring church member, her church, and another church in the association.
A Baptist Homes summer would not be complete without Vacation Bible School, or VBS as we call it. VBS is rooted in most of our resident’s minds from their childhood. Memories of marches and pledges, Bible stories, memory verses, and maybe cookies and Kool-Aid.
The tastes in snacks and our neighbor’s mobility might have changed, but their desire to worship and learn together is still there. We are so thankful for local church participation to help make this happen.
Pray for your Baptist Homes across the state. Consider contacting one of our campuses about a tour. Bring a group to volunteer for a project or for an activity. This can be coordinated with the life enrichment director (activities director) and the administrator’s office on each campus.
