Newsletters

October 6, 2008

What a year 2008 has been!!

I thought retirement meant we slow down! For the David Squiers it meant a new beginning in Oregon, while maintaining work and family ties in California plus following the Lord’s Lead into new places in the world.

I guess we aren’t ready for the rocking chair yet, eh?

Despite all of Judy’s Henny Penny shouts that the sky was falling, as they left their SF Bay Area home of 40 years, we both love our life in Grants Pass, our home, our church, our many new friends. God is Good! He has given us the best of both worlds!

AND MORE!

In early May we enjoyed seeing our Midwest family and attending the tulip extravaganza in the USA’s version of The Netherland’s Tuliptime. What a treat to visit the new home of Judy’s sister, Tina and her hubbie, Paul, in Holland, Michigan and enjoy some of the 600,000 tulip bulbs in full bloom, the parades, the Dutch-themed shops and restaurants. Can we come back every year, dear? Add to that - precious family time with sisters and aunts and cousins, truly the ingredients for a perfect vacation.

2008 marked our 40th anniversary year - with a grand celebration cruise to St Petersburg and the Scandinavian countries on Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas. (Story:Cruising: My Ticket to the World)

And yet the TOPPER was our Wheels for the World (WFTW) mission trip to Rio de Janeiro. Fitting the disabled of the world with America’s refurbished wheelchairs and sharing the Love of Jesus Christ is the most purposeful vacation I know and truly the best way we have found to experience a culture and its people. We count it a privilege to have been members of Joni’s dedicated team - David carrying 100 pounds of tools to serve as a mechanic alongside a physical therapist to customize wheelchairs for recipients of all ages; Judy, with the aid of a translator, mingling among families, giving out God hugs and being a part of goose bump stories. (See story: The Reward at Midnight)

 

 

Cruising: My Ticket to the World

       What does a body do to celebrate forty amazing years of marriage? We had already explored the East Coast for our fifth anniversary, toured Europe for our tenth, enjoyed a western Caribbean cruise for our twentieth, went all out on an African safari for our 25th, and made a pilgrimage to Israel for our thirtieth. Ultimately for our 40th we booked passage on the Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas for a 13 night cruise to Lithuania, Estonia, St. Petersburg, Russia and Scandinavia’s Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

        Prudence Hoffman, our local AAA travel agent/travel angel, became our answer lady, having clocked years of experience with cruise vacations plus disability travel. Her vigilance resulted in a no surprises vacation, as well as a cruise savings of $500 per person.

        A wheelchair accessible van, hired by Royal Caribbean for just the two of us, met us at London’s Heathrow Airport for the two and a half hour transport to Harwich. The mammoth, 2500 passenger Jewel of the Seas truly dazzled us as we entered England’s port of call. Our ADA compliant balcony cabin put our cruise over the top, providing fresh sea air and a panoramic view round the clock. Our cabin’s location at the front end instead of the middle of a long passageway guaranteed hassle-free access with no need to maneuver my wheelchair around the porter’s cleaning cart.

        Pre-cruise, we made selections from the Royal Caribbean’s Explorations! Shore Excursion Guide containing a total of 142 choices, with each one ranked according to physical demands - mild, moderate or strenuous. We passed on the option of hiring wheelchair accessible vans at $1500/day settling for regular buses. At 63 I was still able to crawl in and out and I became bold in asking for a front seat even if it meant an already-seated passenger had to move.

        We chose three excursions in Russia ranging from mild to moderate physically. Day One we toured the St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, which rivals the Louvre in Paris and the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Unfortunately the elevator was out of order and the accessible bathroom was locked. So up the Grand Staircase we went – all seventy stairs. Half way up we were rescued by a member of our group, who in fact was the Jewel of the Seas Tour Coordinator. Mirca, from Romania, insisted on navigating my wheelchair, not just up the remainder of the staircase, but throughout the nine hour tour and on Day Two in Russia he had a sign with the name Squier reserving the front seat of the bus. His TLC was representative of the ship’s staff and crew throughout our voyage.

        The trip’s greatest challenge proved to be the canal cruise on St Petersburg’s Negev River. Our major worry was stairs on the dock but those proved manageable. What we never could have anticipated was the peculiar way the boats were docked – side by side instead of front to back, requiring we climb through three others to get to ours, the fourth. Unfortunately, the wooden plank connecting the small boats was narrower than my wheelchair, necessitating a second plank to accommodate my wheels. By the grace of God, we made it on and off, however the enormity of the effort was validated as fellow passengers de-boarded, then turned back and watched, cheering us on as we disembarked.

        By Helsinki, Finland, we had had our fill of excursions. Timidly at first we ventured out on our own, gaining confidence as we explored a colorful waterfront market, the downtown with its ‘too expensive stores,’ McDonalds, a Rock Church, even a flea market. From then on self-guided tours were our modus operandi, thanks to my husband’s indefatigable stamina and map reading abilities. Despite hard to navigate cobblestone streets, we covered every inch of Estonia’s charming Old Town and Stockholm’s Gamla Stan. We enjoyed seeing Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid, the colorful buildings and bustling downtown. But our delight was when we docked in Oslo, Norway and found a medieval castle looming outside our balcony. We were reminded of the magnificence of the Jewel of the Seas as we watched castle visitors excitedly snapping photos of our home away from home.

        All in all, our anniversary cruise was off the charts, reminding me that cruise vacations are my number one favorite with their ‘heaven on earth’ onboard accessibility, stay put lodging and endless sightseeing choices.

        With four cruises under the belt of my life vest, I have tweaked my personal travel kit to include

 

 

The Reward at Midnight

       It was the last day of our wheelchair distribution in Brazil. We were all exhausted. Friday's work had begun at 9AM. It was almost midnight. We'd been at it for 15 hours. Over 150 times during the week our team members had performed the exercise - welcoming a family, gathering information, assigning a therapist/mechanic to take measurements, selecting and modifying a wheelchair, and for many customizing a seat cushion, or a head support, or seat belt. All of this, from start to finish was wrapped in the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Healer. Often I acted as a greeter welcoming the families with - "The wheelchair you will receive is a gift from Jesus," but the crowning touch was the evangelists presenting the plan of salvation which produced a harvest of ninety three individuals born into the family of God.

        Our hearts vacillated between amazement at what God had done and jubilation that we were near the finish line. Co-laboring beside Brazilian mechanics, therapists, plus the dedicated-to-the-cause Rotary Club members and our interpreters, we had all worked hard with uncomplaining smiles. In four days time, 151 wheelchairs were given out with today's tally alone being a record-breaking 50 plus.

        Quickly the waiting area had filled to capacity. Family after family - some of whom had arrived at 8 AM - sat in silence waiting their turn for the miracle of mobility. Their not-sure-what-to-expect, expressionless faces lit up with hope as they were singled out of the crowd. A man, who two years earlier had fallen from a scaffolding, was accompanied by a devoted wife, his sole caregiver. A dozen elderly men and women sat lined up against one wall. They would be easy to fit with an adult wheelchair, a 2 inch cushion and a seat belt. It was the children and adults with twisted bodies, who provided the greatest challenge. Customizing a chair could take one seating specialist most of a day. Our hearts warmed as we witnessed the dedication of mothers cradling their disabled children as Mary cradled the Christ Child. Our watches read 6PM as we assured each other - surely no more recipients would come. At that instant, six more families arrived. Our team leader called the team to a circle of prayer, as was his custom in times of trouble. Together we held hands and prayed for God’s resurrection power to finish the course.

       Therapists and mechanics focused only on the person in front of them, afraid to guess how many were yet to be seen. One at a time, the masses were given a wheelchair - a chair which had been prayed over and even anointed with olive oil the day it arrived. Working steadily into the night, finally at 11:30 only three families remained- each situated around their severely disabled loved one who lay comfortably on a thin green rubber mat inside the fitting area.

        It was almost midnight - five minutes to twelve when I noticed a gaunt, stiff-as-a-board figure on the mat. Wheelchair Recipient Number 151. "He had no stately form or majesty that I should look upon him. Surely he was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief." His helplessness. His brokenness drew me in. Suddenly I sensed the unthinkable. "It's Jesus. It's Jesus in disguise." I told Matt, the physical therapist who had just given a thumbs up - the wheelchair was ready. I told Maiya, the blue-eyed therapist who was his wife. Like the Little Red Hen who shouted the sky is falling, I announced to everyone in the room - "He’s Jesus in disguise."

        As three team members gently lifted the fifty year old man, who was crippled from birth, into his first-in-his-life wheelchair, our work site became holy ground. Greg, our team leader choked up, as he thanked the family for the privilege of serving them. Another team member prayed and praised the Holy name of God, Whose only begotten Son became handicapped in our place. And as the clock struck midnight, our team members who had given and given all week became the recipients of a holy thank-you as our last wheelchair recipient moved his lips ever so slightly, and blessed us with what his family described was a kiss.

        As the family exited, my wheelchair and I followed them out the door into the darkness. Raucous music intruded upon the sacredness of the moment as a band entertained 1300 guests in the club’s ballroom nearby. And even from the distribution room, I could hear our team break forth into a jubilant "Happy Birthday" as Greg, our fearless, faith-filled leader turned 50 years young.

        Too quickly I would be swept up by the temporal. Yes, life would return to normal, but my life would never be the same. I had seen Jesus. True to His Style he had not come atop a white stallion, but humbled himself as on a donkey. Jesus had shown up, not as the Commodore of the Clube Naval but in a mute, gnarled figure on the floor. God's Lamb without defect had come in bodily form to take upon Himself the defects of mankind.

David and Judy Squier

NOTE: Here is one of Judy's talks called "Living In Christ". Click on the speaker.

Contact Judy to be added to the mailing list at JudyAnn777@aol.com

 

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