Month: July 2021

Singing With Seniors – reprise

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We had a wonderful time Thursday morning singing. This is my special memory care group ( though some do remember my name). We talk about grandchildren, talk about old times, laugh and sing a lot. It is amazing how close we are and how much they are just like everyone else in many ways. No one sings with more joy even in church!

If you have opportunities to serve in memory care in your community don’t miss out on the blessings both for them and for you. It is a happy day as we now pack our bags to leave for a visit with our grandchildren this Saturday. But I will also be sad to miss my memory care choir till next month. Have a blessed day all!

God’s 911 Number

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Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. Psalm 31:21-22 ESV

When we lived in the inner city it was not unusual to have to dial 911 once a month. Though the reason for the call was rarely serious crime, there were many traffic accidents in front of our home, and the sound of crunching metal sent us first to the window and then to the phone. We didn’t call our pastor, our family or even our best friends, because we knew that if we dialed 911 that they would pick up the phone right away. In this Psalm, King David’s problem was that the city he was living in was being attacked by an army. Now I would say that’s a real emergency. David wasn’t just a little worried, he was scared to death, but instead of running away, he ran and dialed God’s 911 number because  he needed help and he needed it right away.

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Whether we are facing a critical health issue, a family emergency or a desperate financial situation, our assurance is that if we call on God that He will always answer. David tells us, “He heard the voice of my pleas.” and “he has shown His steadfast love!” Those two great promises were not only for David, in Bible times, they are also for us today. God still loves His people with a steadfast love and He is waiting to answer Heaven’s 911 if we will only call on Him!

Senior Voices Still Sing

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To the chief musician upon Muthabben. A psalm of David. I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart – I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1 NIV


For over thirty years I have been blessed with the fun as well as the privilege of singing for seniors. One challenge in singing for seniors is to get them to sing along. There are multiple reasons why that becomes more difficult over the years, such as our vocal chords weaken, our ears begin to miss some of their range of hearing and our lung capacity diminishes. Of course I did not realize any of this at the beginning. I simply loved singing for my friends and even more, hearing their voices joining in on their favorite hymns. It is ironic that after all these years I am now finding myself up against the wall facing these same obstacles. Each time I tune my guitar and put together a list of hymns I know that the battle to sing them lies just ahead. But what gives me the greatest joy as I put the key in the ignition, start my car and head for nursing home is that I know that I am not Heaven’s song leader and God only asks me to join my voice with that of the chief musician and with all my heart tell in song again all the wonderful deeds of the Lord!

If you are in the same boat with me, you may notice that we are surrounded by younger voices and that those leading worship are unaware that our desire to praise is no less than that of our younger brothers and sisters. So, if you struggle with participating in corporate praise or just wish you could better enter in with those stronger voices around you, be encouraged. God is listening to your heart, and He will not only help you to keep on singing to the end, but His hearing is excellent, and His ears are listening to even our weakest notes of praise!