Dena
and Carlton Stevens
During an
anniversary celebration, Dena Stevens
spoke about how
Berry Hill Nursing Home came to
be what it is today.
On the occasion of Berry Hill Nursing Home’s anniversary, I have been
asked to tell how it got started.
I’d like to begin by saying that, although I was instrumental in
starting this facility, Berry Hill Nursing Home would not still be
around had it not been for people like you who shared in the goal of
providing excellence in care of our residents.
The work is not always easy. Not
everybody can do it.
It takes a special kind of person to even WANT to do it.
And so, I commend you for your commitment to a work that can be very
difficult at times, but can also be very rewarding. That makes you
special.
God, in His Wisdom, made us all different --- and that’s a good thing.
God has a plan and a purpose for every person on this earth, but sadly, not everybody wants to follow that plan.
We cannot all be president of some great big corporation, or even President of the United States. We cannot all be a Billy Graham or a Mother Theresa. We cannot all be famous for doing great things to benefit the world. God does not expect that. What He does expect of us is, in whatever job He calls us to do, that we do it well. Then, when we stand before Him at the Great Judgment, He can say, “Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of Thy Lord.” Matt. 25:21
Around 1961, my husband, Carlton and I felt the Lord calling us into the
ministry of caring for older people. “Stevens’ Home for the
Aged” began in a rented house with 7 elderly residents. A few years
later, the house was to be torn down to make room for a telephone
office. God provided us with the opportunity to buy a place of our own
that had a large yard and lots of room inside.
There’s a picture of that house on our dining room wall. This
place became available at the very time we needed it, and the owner
would let us buy it with monthly payments and no money down. We felt
that this was confirmation that we were doing what God wanted us to do.
With help of my mother and father and other relatives, we were able to
care for the 7 residents and work at other jobs to help meet expenses.
After a few years, we had the opportunity to operate a 15-bed facility
in a converted doctors office, and that became “Stevens’ Nursing
Home.”
We soon realized the need to expand and set out to build a larger
facility. It was necessary
to tear down the old house in order to build a larger facility and
combine Stevens’ Home for the Aged and Stevens’ Nursing Home.
In God’s time, we opened the first 60 beds in our new facility and we
became “Berry Hill Nursing Home”. It was a long time coming,
and we had many test of our faith even getting started, but through it
all, our faith in God was strengthened, and we grew in our Christian
life. A few years later, God showed us that it was time to add
another 60 beds.
The property we bought was once a part of Berry Hill Plantation, and that’s why we have the picture of Berry Hill Mansion painted on our dining room wall. The Scripture verse on the plaque beside the entry door to the Chapel, taken from the Gospel of Matthew became our motto: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”.
God has a job for each of us to do, and personally, I do not believe that we can ever find true happiness and contentment until we give ourselves over to Him and follow His guidance and His will for our lives. Life does not always take the easy road, but, God directs us in the path we are to follow, and promises us in the 13th Chapter of Hebrews: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”