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Attending Church Helps Seniors

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I want to thank Jason Lewis for contributing this piece reflecting his personal experiences in caring for his mom. As a volunteer chaplain at a nursing facility for over  25 years I am delighted to be joined by someone else who does what they can, where they are to serve those in that vulnerable chapter of their life.

Jason Lewis is a personal trainer, who specializes in helping senior citizens stay fit and healthy. He is also the caregiver for his elderly mom. He enjoys sharing his fitness knowledge on his website. For many seniors, finding ways to stay social and active can be tough, especially after suffering the loss of a spouse or during a period of recovery from substance abuse. Many seniors battle loneliness, depression, and anxiety but don’t want to burden their families with it, leaving it untreated until it becomes even worse. Others are dealing with physical issues and don’t have close family members who can help out.

Going to church and belonging to a congregation can help a senior make new friends, form a circle of support, and stay active. Churches offer a place of belonging, where people of all ages can go when they need help or want to help others. In fact, working within a community and being engaged is one of the best ways a senior can battle depression.

It’s an unfortunate truth that many seniors become dependent on substances, either because they are trying to numb emotional pain or because they’ve formed an addiction to pain medication. Belonging to a church can help them learn how to be mindful, a technique used in various forms of therapy to help individuals who are having a hard time coping with emotional or physical pain. It can be difficult to make ourselves focus on the here and now, especially if we’re going through a transition as life-changing as addiction recovery. But taking even a few minutes a day to be mindful of all we have in the present moment – and especially all we have to be grateful for – can help us feel more at peace with ourselves, our surroundings, and our circumstances.

Talk to your senior loved one about the benefits of joining a church, and click here to learn more about substance abuse recovery.

My Song

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The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation Psalm 118:14 NKJV

What I miss most about childhood is baseball.  I loved the summer memories of trying to catch, pitch and the challenge trying to hit the ball. Only once can I remember hitting a home run and it happened while wildly swinging with both eyes closed!

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But this story isn’t about baseball; it’s about music and while the thing I loved most was baseball, the thing I loved least was daily music lessons. I hated not being able to play with my friends till my clarinet lessons were done. I hated sitting trying to remember that every good boy does fine (EGBDF). I hated split and bleeding lips from the clarinet reed. I dreaded sitting Saturday mornings with my music teacher squeaking and squawking through my lesson. But gradually music grew to be less like an unwelcome intruder and more like a family member. Clarinet blended into piano and then guitar. One summer I learned to sing and then music which had always been a part of my life became my song.

 

It is the same way in our relationship with the Lord. Every day we squeak and squawk through the notes to His song. Sometimes it seems like it would be fun to just run off to do our own thing. But if we commit to Him a little every day we will find that slowly we are being changed. Little by little, note by note He begins to teach us the musical score which He has created just for our life. Learning that melody by heart changes His music into our daily strength and song.

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The Sound of the Shofar!

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Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet…  Psalm 150:3

In Bible days what they called trumpets were actually made of ram’s horns which they called a shofar. Specially chosen priests blew the shofars during the reading of certain Psalms. Priests blew their shofars before Jericho’s walls fell down. Shofars blew when the priests called the people to a meeting. The prophets were told to warn the people about sin by blowing a shofar.

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There was a shofar of praise, a shofar of meeting, a shofar of battle and a shofar of warning. God links all these with the sound that one day every man, woman and child will hear.

The Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the arch angel and with the trumpet call of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Imagine when not a priest or even an angel will blow the shofar. The day is coming when God takes Heaven’s shofar, puts it to His lips and blows. The clouds will tear apart, Jesus will come down and we will be caught up to meet Him. That resounding note will be played. In the blink of an eye God’s final shofar will sound and we will meet Him and be with Him forever!