nursing homes

Singing With Virginia

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments

O Sing unto to the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 96:1 KJV

I have been praying for God to open doors at the long-term care facilities I visit, but I wasn’t prepared to see them swing open quite so wide. Today seemed like just any another Thursday morning at the West Wing which is the memory care portion of one facility I visit. I got there at my usual time and found about a dozen folks seated in the TV area by the nurse’s station. They seemed happy to see me as we started singing “Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man who stilled the waters!” As the chorus rang out I noticed behind them a lady named Virginia who was pacing aimlessly back and forth hunched over her walker. I paid little attention to her until she suddenly turned towards us and shuffled in our direction. Being concerned that she might fall, one of the nurses jumped up and gently redirected her back to the hall. But just a minute later Virginia was back and this time walked right up to me and stood quietly for a moment, then reached out her finger and touched the strings of my guitar.

Curious to see what she would do; I assured the nurse that it was fine and I watched to see what she would do next.  I had not been able to see Virginia’s face because she was so completely bent over her walker but on the next hymn she looked up at me and began to sing. Her face lit up with a smile as she stood next to me and our voices joined together, “Jesus – Jesus – Jesus – Sweetest name I know. Hears the every longing of my heart – Keeps me singing as I go!” Oh yes doors began opening today but the doors that swung open wide were not the ones I expected, they were ones to my heart and hers. God sent Virginia to remind me that everyone in all the earth needs to sing for you!

A Little Firefly

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:15 KJV

One of my favorite old time songs from church is “This Little Light of Mine. It reminds me of a night when our boys were small, and we lived in a tiny second floor apartment. One night my wife thought she heard a sound coming from the children’s room. Since our flashlight was buried somewhere in a kitchen drawer, she just carefully worked her way through the dark towards their door. I half woke up as she got out of bed, but when I heard her voice suddenly pierce the night with “Oh! Oh!” she had my undivided attention.

“What’s going on?” I shouted sitting bolt upright ready to rush to her rescue. By this time though the startled little scream had been replaced by peals of laughter. “You wouldn’t believe it!” Nancy said as she quickly slipped back into our bedroom. “I was in the right middle of the kitchen when a firefly lit up no more than an inch in front of by nose!” That tiny bug had everyone’s attention, not because of how impressive the candlepower of his light, but because he chose the darkest night to shine it.

With all the problems going on in the world around us we can easily get discouraged and feel like our little light won’t make much of a difference. But it just may be that God has called you to give just a little flash of His love to someone on the darkest night of their life!

Through the Great Waters

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

The closing of the door to nursing home ministry during Covid reminds me of this verse. 14 months ago the doors closed to in person visitation and frankly I was unwilling to continue putting myself and others at risk. Then came long uncertain and often confusing months of terrifying statistics and our world shut down to silence.

During that time I began producing weekly videos and put out a devotional newsletter as an effort to stay connected and to bring a little cheer. These were not professionally done nevertheless the residents seemed to like them. What a joy it was today to step out of those great waters today as I began singing again for my dear friends in memory care at Sunshine Christian Home. This is the second of three facilities where we used to have services to reopen.

A few even remembered me! I say all this to encourage you to never give up on what God has given you to do or the field of service he has called you to. No great waters are too great for God! In fact God delights in making a way through impossible obstacles because just like the children of Israel we can rejoice on the other side of the sea. For the record, the first song we sang after 14 months was, This is the Day. Yes this is most certainly the day the Lord has made!

Tomorrow the third place where I used to hold services has invited me also so I’ll update you on how that goes. If anyone has been involved with ministry at Long Term Care facilities and you have questions let me know.