Halcyon House Washington

Title: WesleyLife 70 Year Celebration
Time: 5 min 16 sec

Description:

WelseyLife Week 2017 celebrates 70 years of christian compassion. Web: : : : :

Transcript:

I am excited to have the opportunity to spend a few minutes with you and share an update about our upcoming Wesley Life week and a special activity we'll be doing together as an organization my name is christy van der Wiel and i am privileged to serve Wesley life and all of you as your vice president of people and culture every year we set aside a week to celebrate our organization its Christian heritage and good works we also take time to recognize individuals and teams for their special contributions this year Wesley Life week will kick off on our actual birthday which is July 7th and it will extend through the following Friday on July 14th this is a particularly special year for Wesley life in that we also celebrate our 70th year anniversary seventy years ago Wesley life began serving Methodist ministers and their spouses at the Chamberlain mansion on Grand Avenue in Des Moines over the past seven years we've continued to serve people right there at Wesley acres and we've extended our ministry across the state of Iowa as a part of each Wesley life week we choose a scripture verse that helps us Center our theme for the week of celebration and it's particularly fitting this year that our theme is based on Deuteronomy 6 verses 10 through 12 we like the paraphrased version which reads we build on foundations we did not lay we warm ourselves at fires we did not light we sit in the shade of trees we did not plant we drink from wells we did not dig and we prop up from persons we did not know we are ever bound in relationship as that verse tells us each of us as team members residents and clients of Wesley life would not be here and benefiting from this organization's mission if it weren't for the people who went before us they served faithfully they demonstrated Christian compassion and hospitality and they helped people live in to the purpose that each of us has been given over the years employees have come together as teams and contributed in many individual ways to make certain we're the best we can be in every generation before us saw opportunities to serve more and to help people in many different ways so as a part of the celebration of our 70th anniversary we want to remember those who came before and we want to think about the footprints we all want to leave for those who come behind us so what impact can each of us have that will leave a legacy so that Wessling life can serve for another 70 years and beyond with this in mind we decided to do something special to bring our mission to life starting on April 28th and for the next 70 days leading up to our anniversary date we are encouraging each and every person at Wesley Life to leave a footprint make an impression and do the good work we were given to do how do we want you to do that by helping us complete as many random acts of kindness as we can possibly think of let's all work together to pay it forward and set the stage for future generations of servant hurting people the great thing about this is that every one of us can participate we can all equally contribute just by finding ways to bless others it might be buying someone a cup of coffee holding open a door or taking an extra five minutes to listen to someone who needs an ear it could be noticing a person or a need in a grocery store line or at the gas station and taking steps to fill that need what if you just made sure you greeted every person with a warm hello or made an effort to get to know someone you don't already know very well write a note bake some cookies give someone who needs it a hug do it for a co-worker for a leader for a resident a client or for a complete stranger this isn't just for our team we want to extend this beyond our walls as well so for the next 70 days we're going to work hard together to leave a positive impression of Wesley life and sow seeds of kindness to the people around us we hope that the people you positively impact will then pay it forward and leave lots of footprints and the communities we serve and then tell us your stories we just want to know how you are continuing our heritage of Christian compassion and hospitality we want to know what it means to you to give and maybe what it meant to the person who is blessed by your gift so to capture your stories I would love to hear from you directly send me any stories you want to share about your experiences by email or give me a call or send me a handwritten note whatever works best for you your leader or your people and culture representative have my contact information and so that you can reach me whatever way is easiest for you I am so looking forward to being inspired by all of you over the next several weeks and I am definitely looking forward to celebrating our organization and all of our people in July many many blessings to each of you as you carry out the good work of Wesley life [Music]