Assisted living

Listening at the Nursing Home

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
James 1:19 NLT

When my wife and I were learning Portuguese, from our friends at the Brazilian church where we served on staff, we found that listening was key. We had to be quiet and pay close attention as people were speaking. Another fun way was to join in as we saw the words for the worship songs, heard others singing around us and finally a tiny bit at a time ventured to join them with our own voices. Then, little by little, as we increased our vocabulary and improved our dreadful accents, we were able to enter into conversations with our friends.

The same kind of listening is important when serving in a long-term care facility. It does little good and sometimes much harm, to simply come in with all of our own ideas of what we think the people need. Life in long-term care, whether it is assisted living, memory care or a traditional skilled nursing facility is an entirely different world from living in our neighborhood. Just as when we were learning Portuguese, it is hard for most of us to be quiet long enough to hear what the people, who God has sent us to serve, are saying. In spite of the fact that we have two ears and one mouth, I find that talking is far easier than taking time to listen. But only listening long enough to know the hearts of our dear friends will teach us how to share the message of the love of Jesus Christ in a language that they can understand! So, lets close our mouths more and open our ears wider and ask God to help us to listen. Only then will we be able to know what to say, when God calls us to share with others the message of the hope of Jesus Christ.

Lively Praise at Assisted Living

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Not long ago, one of my fellow seniors in our Bible study group remarked that when the youth from the worship team do an occasional hymn, they sing everything soooo slowly! They must think that because we are older that we just can’t keep up a faster pace. Here is a pretty lively selection from a meeting a couple of weeks back at an assisted living facility that ought to put that idea to rest! I hope you tap your feet, clap your hands and sing along these three favorites which my fellow senior saints have no problem keeping up with!

Clap your hands, all you nations;
    shout to God with cries of joy.
Psalm 47:1 NIV

The Picture Frame of Life

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 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. John 11:25 ESV

Somewhere between “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.” and “Yet shall He live” each of us must live in the picture frame of life given to us by God. Yesterday I preached at a memorial service for my friend Mary ay one of the nursing homes I visit. It reminded me that even our best plans matter far less than the people with whom we are passing through this life. While we have sorrow when a friend’s life is suddenly gone it makes us realize how just much what they did to touch our life matters. The limits of each of our years on earth give meaning to the things we choose to paint inside our frame.

Our friend Mary was quite a character and a memorable lady at Life Care Center. Almost everybody knew Mary because she talked with anyone who would listen, from the cleaning lady to the facility director and they all showed up for her memorial yesterday. What I remember most about her is how she not only participated in singing hymns, but she also wanted to give and would slip a few dollars into my hand on occasion. We remember how she wore bright red hats and gave her opinion on everything, but most important was that because Mary put her faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, He became her resurrection and life. His grace painted what mattered most inside the picture frame of Mary’s life. How appropriate that after our service, we joined in the courtyard to plant a Purple Glory Tree. Now, when it flowers, we can catch a glimpse of the glory the life she is experiencing in the presence of Jesus today. Are you struggling with the limits in your life? Do you wonder what will matter at its end? Why not simply allow the hands of Jesus to take control of your life and ask Him to paint the picture that He had in mind for you? God bless and keep you always in the palm of His hand!