Lawrence Community Matters November 2016

Commun ty Matters Lawrence Presbyterian Manor

November 2016

Why we’re all thankful November is a month to give thanks for all of our blessings.

We appreciate these residents for sharing what they’re grateful for!

Pete & Joan Anderson: ·Living on ‘hummingbird alley’ (between town homes D, E, F and G); each day we are bombarded with hummingbirds to watch · Morning patio coffee with David and Emily · Sharing sweets with Ken and Pat · Racing yellow rubber duckies with Bower and Mary (that’s when it rains and we have a river/lake in our backyard) · Life goes on at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor Jean Stokes: I am thankful for family, friends, a good book and chocolate!

THANKS, continued on page 2

Army chaplain honors God by serving veterans In the 1960s, Gary Sanford was an Army private and medic at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. He enlisted in the reserves after college, but he felt called into ministry, especially with young people.

Gary told his chaplain, and he was surprised by the chaplain’s response: “The biggest youth group in the world is the military. They all need faith, and they all need the Lord, even the big guys, the colonels and the admirals.”

He took his words to heart. Gary went on to a 30-year career as an active duty Army chaplain, retiring as a colonel. But even in retirement he has remained involved in the lives of veterans and others seeking God, from the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth to shelters for homeless veterans to prisons.

“I wasn’t even out of the army and the VA grabbed me. They said, ‘You VETERANS, continued on page 3

Pat Blair: I am truly grateful for many things: Julia Cordill: I am thankful for my caring family and a loving spouse and family, friends, freedom to worship openly, good friends and that they are safe, happy medical help, a safe and comfortable and healthy. home, manor help available when Jim Stokes: needed, a freezer and pantry full of Best retirement home in Lawrence. easily prepared food, a good place Just the correct size with an excellent to exercise and one of the most administration. On top of this the important items, safe water to drink. supervisory personnel do their best We are so fortunate. to make the manor very enjoyable.

Mary Ann Strong: I realize some of our friends “fuss” This is a wonderful bit of history I from time to time about the food. saved from some manor paper long Patrick and those in the kitchen have ago. Plus a Thanksgiving prayer also a big job, but I like the food, and the saved long ago from “Dear Abby.” Both personnel in the Main Dining Room still wonderful and inspiring! are doing an outstanding job to make everyone happy.

THANKS, continued from page 1

Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org.

Christie Patrick, executive director Angela Fonseca, marketing director To submit or suggest articles, contact afonseca@pmma.org.

Telephone: 785-841-4262 Fax: 785-841-0923 Address: 1429 Kasold Dr., Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

LawrencePresbyterianManor.org

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Community Matters November 2016

From the Manor paper: Five women served the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621 at Plymouth. Of the 18 adult women who arrived aboard the Mayflower the previous winter, the five were all that remained. About 50 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans attended the three-day feast.

Thanksgiving Prayer: O, heavenly Father, we thank thee for food and remember the hungry.We thank thee for health and remember the sick.We thank thee for friends and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us for others. Amen.

Give voice to your vote “I became eligible to vote in 1941. Since that time I have voted in each and every election.

I consider it a privilege to vote.

Please vote in this election!” Hazel Nitcher “Our voting memory is of an election in which we did not get to cast a vote. Our trip to the polls on November 6, 1956 was interrupted by the birth of our son Mark, thus denying Adlai Stevenson of two votes he could’ve sorely used. Mark now has a doctorate in education and is principal of Forest View Elementary School in Olathe.” Emil & Bette Heck

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VETERANS, continued from page 1

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spent your whole life working for soldiers, and we need chaplains who understand them.’”

Chaplain Gary Sanford will return this year for Lawrence Presbyterian Manor’s Veterans Vespers service on Friday, Nov. 11, at 3:30 p.m.

When Gary enlisted in 1965, he had just graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in zoology.

The Army needed people who understood biology to be medics.

Later, he attended Bethel Seminary in St. Paul and became a chaplain in 1970. Two years later, he went to Vietnam.

“I knew why I was there. I was there for the troops, whether they believed in God or Jesus, to be a pastor to all of them,” he said. Later, as a supervisor, he encouraged other chaplains to do things side by side with their troops, so they would be open to hearing about the Lord.

“I still do that over at the VA. We have some really tough Marines and veterans there,” he said.

He counsels men as young as 18 who have been injured in Afghanistan all the way up to World War II veterans in their 90s. They suffer from grave war wounds, alcoholism and addiction, PTSD, and estrangement from their loved ones.

One of Chaplain Gary’s favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Thanks to his ability to envision a future in the military, countless veterans have been restored to faith, and to a purpose greater than themselves.

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Lawrence Presbyterian Manor 1429 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 Return Service Requested

New beginnings in 2017

We will focus on new beginnings in an upcoming issue of Community Matters. As we approach the new year, what resolutions are you making?

Have you ever made a resolution that changed your life? What are your hopes for 2017?

If you’ve got a story to share, contact Marketing Director Angela Fonseca, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.

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Community Matters November 2016

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