It is a rainy, chilly morning here in Vero Beach, with the temperature being around 45 degrees. Not too bad for a crew out of Indianapolis during this time but, for those in Florida, downright cold.
74 year old Ron has lived in Vero Beach for some 30 years. He was raised in Michigan along with his 4 siblings. His brother Wendell and sister Karen are making the arrangements for his transport. Their father was a physician and delivered a set of twin girls whom his parents adopted as infants. After their parents retired, they wintered in Vero Beach for several years before finally making it their permanent residence. With Ron so close he began to care for them as they got older. Their father passed away several years back and their mom just this past April.
Ron is a gifted artist by trade making signs often donating a lot of his work. His significant other of 28 years was recently diagnosed with cancer and her family took her back to California to be near them. Without her and his parents, Ron is alone now in Florida. His dementia is beginning to get worse and now he needs someone to look after him.
When we arrived at the memory care facility to pick Ron up we were sweetly greeted by Karen, her husband Bob and by Wendell. Ron was up in his wheelchair and they were feeding him breakfast. The staff had gotten him dressed and ready for the flight. I introduced myself to Ron and explained that we would be the crew flying him to Arizona. Although he did not verbally acknowledge me, he seemed to with his eyes.
Karen and Bob are retiring to Arizona and Ron will be going to stay at a facility near them. They are flying back commercially later this morning and should arrive in
Arizona shortly after we do with Ron. Wendell will be flying with us today.
The rain had let up briefly by the time we arrived back to Nellie allowing us to pray outside before boarding.
Despite the length of the flight, Ron did great sleeping on and off and looking out the window on occasion. We had great conversation with Wendell who also took advantage of this time to do some reading.
He is an attorney and is trying to get use to his recently new retired life. He almost finished reading the book he brought along.
At last we have arrived in Phoenix. We transfer Ron into the ambulance that will now take him to the facility near where his sister Karen will live. We prayed once again and all said our good-byes to one another. I told Wendell that I would definitely be checking on his family.
I did speak with Karen just 2 days later and she said, Ron was doing very well. The new staff were very welcoming to him. He was already beginning to eat better and she said the food even looked better. Wendell will be heading back to Michigan in a few days. They are very happy to have him close.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:12-14
THIS SERVICE THAT YOU PERFORM IS NOT ONLY SUPPLYING THE NEEDS OF THE LORD’S PEOPLE BUT IS ALSO OVERFLOWING IN MANY EXPRESSIONS OF THANKS TO GOD. BECAUSE OF THE SERVICE BY WHICH YOU HAVE PROVED YOURSELVES, OTHERS WILL PRAISE GOD FOR THE OBEDIENCE THAT ACCOMPANIES YOUR CONFESSION OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, AND FOR YOUR GENEROSITY IN SHARING WITH THEM AND WITH EVERYONE ELSE. AND IN THEIR PRAYERS FOR YOU THEIR HEARTS WILL GO OUT TO YOU, BECAUSE OF THE SURPASSIN
G GRACE GOD HAS GIVEN YOU.
Thank you to Hal and Chad for sharing this mission with me.
A special thank you to a fellow believer, named Scott who drives for Uber. He picked us up and during our conversation we shared about the ministry. He immediately stopped our charges for the ride as a gesture to give back and support us, in his words, “in a small way.” Once we arrived at our hotel we thanked him for his generosity and Hal prayed for him and he in turn prayed for Grace on Wings. It was a wonderful unexpected ending to an already great day.
Many blessings
Shelli Engle RN
