New Job

I mentioned that I would update you on my new job. I am the new Executive Director of Mission Center Adult Day Service. We are a non-profit organization that provides adult day care services for clients who are not capable of spending the day by themselves. The majority of our clients suffer from Alzheimer's, although we have other medical diagnosis patients as well.

I have spent the last month under the training and guidance of the former ED, Terry Smith. She has served as director for six years and done an amazing job. The Center was in pretty serious straights when she took over and she has brought it to a stable standing with a great reputation in the community. She has many years of experience and has tirelessly drilled it into my bald head for the past month. Today was her last day. I am on my own now (he says shriveling into the corner).

Working with Alzheimer's has been an enlightening experience. It is a ministry in itself and I have learning much in the past month. These are sweet people who have been ravaged by a disease with no cure... yet.

We have one lady who has owned (and still does) restaurants in the Texas panhandle. She can seldom speak an intelligible sentence and in her mind she is overseeing her own business. We work for her. I love it.

We have another gentleman who was part of the occupation force in Germany after WWII. He was one of the men responsible for rebuilding the country after the war. He is also a member of MENSA. His brilliant mind is mostly scattered now, and what conversation is possible ranges back and forth from English to French to German.

There are many such stories. We have over 40 clients who spend the day with us in our facility and each one is unique. Our mission is not only to serve these clients, but to enhance the lives of their caregivers, most often their adult children. In some cases, it is their spouse who is aging as well but with a sound mind and frail body. Mission Center provides much needed relief.

So, while this may be the first job I've had that is not either music-related or church-affiliated, it is still very much a ministry. Keep me in your prayers.

~ Gary