After my 3rd week of Reckoning at the Lighthouse in OX, I do have one story from there. I'll call this oldest woman in the group - estimate at least 60 - Ann. The first week Ann came with her head down, defeated and sad, and she was uncommunicative and seemingly unresponsive. She did minimal work on the cracked pot. I wondered if she would be able to learn because  addiction, as you know, tampers with the brain. The second week, she drew a beautiful pot with green leaves. The women all commented on her beautiful art. She was still reluctant to participate, but she did respond a little to the enthusiastic comments of other women. Yesterday she made a collage and it was extremely positive and actually playful. We had been talking about the character quality of responsibility and the need we have for friends to support us. We framed responsibility with  the scriptures of Proverbs 31 and the story of Lydia to show the women what they could become through God's help and the support of friends.

Ann's collage had a picture, dead center, of three old ladies in a swimming pool with big smiles. She included other pictures as well. All of them had positive quotes about old age being the time when you don't give up and when you are your most productive. Hers was the first collage on the wall. She shared her collage with Lynne, smiling throughout the presentation. Obviously, each week these art pieces were provoking her to think about her life. Really, I couldn't imagine the first day that Ann would come to this place.