Having served in Nursing Home Ministry for most of my adult life I have written a few books as an encouragement to others. This weekend I am delighted to offer a devotional specifically for Caregivers as a free eBook Saturday through Monday. Though I have seen a lot I surely don’t have all the answers but I do hope these simple stories and scriptural gleanings may be a blessing to you.
Thursday Morning Sunshine is a revised version of The Sunshine Newsletter which three of us who are involved in Nursing Home outreach publish weekly. Our writers are Pastor Janice Burnett, who is a Nursing Home chaplain in Western New York as well as my friend Rob Keller who is both a graphic designer as well as the writer of some of the devotionals. Our free publication goes into about 9 different long term care facilities in Florida and New York. Each We purposely are not copyrighting the material so as to make it freely available to as many people as possible. If you know anyone in the long-term care community including, staff members, family, residents or volunteers, please feel free to either contact me for future issues or copy and share our weekly issues with people you know.
God Loves You! By Peter Caligiuri
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 ESV
Marie* wants to see you in the cafeteria after the message” they told me. As I went in to sit with Marie, she began to cry and took hold of my hands saying, “God hates me!” Marie suffers from Parkinson’s and that afternoon she was so depressed that she hadn’t come in for our song and prayer time at her nursing home.
She felt isolated from the world outside because no old friends ever came to visit, no family came for her birthday or Christmas. But there was still good news to share with her that afternoon – “God loves you Marie! Because the Bible says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…” I told her as I struggled to communicate the love of Jesus in a way that would touch her at that very moment.
As we head towards the holidays this year, remember that just as God has not forgotten Marie, He has also not forgotten you. He has not left you alone. You may not be the richest person in the world, but if you know Jesus as your Savior then you have the best hope in the universe because you have received God’s gift of love and His promise of heaven. Now we need to remember that there are people named Marie or Betty or Bob or Joe all around us. They need the hope that only God’s love can give and in the same way that He has helped you to hope, why not pass that hope of Jesus along to them?
The most thrilling thing about heaven is that Jesus Christ will be there. I will see Him face to face. Jesus Christ will meet us at the end of life’s journey – Billy Graham
Every Christian who keeps looking up, stretches their heart’s capacity for Heaven – Joni Eareckson Tada
Thanks-Living by Pastor Janice Burnett
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV
Many years ago a friend and I travelled to New York City for a wedding. One night on a whim we decided to treat ourselves to dessert in a restaurant in one of the World Trade Center buildings. The driving directions to get there were fabulous; we arrived with no problem. We enjoyed our dessert and cup of tea – that is all we could afford! Then it was time to drive back to our hotel. Little did we know that the way out was different from the way in. We didn’t have a map, and this was in the days before electronic GPS directions. Yes, you guessed it – we got very lost. Late on a Saturday night we ended up in parts of town that were – well, let’s just say we didn’t belong there.
This would be one of those circumstances where living and breathing with a thankful attitude doesn’t sound normal, does it? Can you think of other situations where you wouldn’t naturally feel very thankful? Go ahead and name them. God and our friends are not put off by our honesty. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he told them, “In everything give thanks!” in other words – LIVE THANKFULLY!
Wow, notice the absolute words related to an action on our part – Evermore – Without ceasing – Everything. I guess that we cannot shy away from God being definite about this point! Not sometimes – when we feel like it or when things are going great. It is true that we need to remember to be thankful when good things happen and throughout our average daily life. I know I do, and this is a reminder not to take anything for granted.
Also, to be thankful in the sad, scary or painful times goes against what we feel like doing. Yet, not only is this God’s will, but it is healthier for us to live grateful lives. Remember our trip leaving NYC? Yes, we made it out safely, obviously. This was with help from a couple of helpful people and God’s provision of safety. Not to mention that or one-hour drive going in took three hours for us to get out! We may have forgotten in the thick of the moment to be outwardly thankful, but you can be sure we thanked God each time we met helpful people and especially when we had reached our hotel! Let us set a goal to think and live more gratefully in the midst of our circumstances! And, let us get practical and make a commitment to thank God OUT LOUD for three specific things every day!
Sunshine News – It may be hard to believe but we are only six weeks from Christmas! I am excited to say that this year our small prayer group has helped with the purchase of over 50 large-print Christmas Devotional books to give to residents at the three communities which I visit. I would love it if someone could come when we give these out and are also in need of people to help sing Christmas carols. If you can help let me know. We have song books and will sing easy traditional songs. I would also ask if you could to pray that God would provide one or two other volunteers to help throughout the year. If you are interested we need help with serving communion, singing, visiting, writing for the newsletter and filling in when I am away. Have a blessed week all!
For more ideas on Nursing Home Ministry, you might find this 2021 edition of New Frontiers in Nursing Home Ministry a helpful resource. This is available on Amazon in both a print and eBook format.
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Yesterday I shared a little about preparing a Christmas outreach into Senior Living communities in your own town. Today I’ll be presenting some practical suggestions that you can use, or re-configure to fit your own situation. Most importantly is that we try to find ways to carry the love of Christ into facilities that are just beginning to open again. Why shouldn’t Christians be the first ones in the door willing to bringing tidings of comfort and joy. this Christmas?
We need to think about how the same old goals of nursing home ministry can be done in brand new ways. When Sunday services in a nice comfortable chapel at a retirement village where I used to visit were cancelled, one of the residents went to the administration and received permission for us to meet outside at a little park area around a fountain. Someone ran a long extension cord out of a nearby building to power the microphone and while others brought beach chairs to supplement the few park benches, we had available. We printed out flyers to advertise our little gathering and prayed it wouldn’t rain. It was both amazing and wonderful how being outside allowed other residents of the village to see that they had somewhere they could go for fellowship, singing and prayer. Some people wore masks, everyone socially distanced and no one became infected by it. Most of all we discovered that the difficulties encouraged us to work together with everyone and that together we could bring the hope of Christ to our community. One woman did the organizing and scheduling; while two retired pastors took turns moderating our meetings, and I only needed lead the songs.
Eventually we were granted the use of a recreational building where we had air conditioning during our hot Florida summer but the lessons we learned at the fountain were precious and will remain with me forever. We are a family and every family has to work together to find unique solutions in different situations. At another facility, the recreation director eagerly invited us to come sing Christmas carols.
Our Florida solution was to do the caroling around the swimming-pool! Residents from the assisted living building overlooking the pool area could hear the music and as we went on our small group grew in numbers considerably. At the end of our time after we prayed, we turned around to leave and were surprised by one of the staff people with a food-cart serving everyone hot chocolate and ice cream! It reminded me of the scene at the burning bush when God called Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelite people go. As you can imagine Moses was less than thrilled about how that was going to play out and God asked him a simple question,” What is in your hand?” and Moses answered, “A staff.” (See Exodus 3:2). In that same way, as we stand in front of our own burning bush, wishing we could pass through those flames to answer our own call to serve and God is asking each of us; “What is in your hand?” What opportunities do you have? Who can you ask to help? What abilities and talents has God given you? The answer may be something as insignificant as the stick in Moses’ hand, but God is not as concerned about what we have, but in how able He is to use anything and anyone that is given to Him in order to share the love of Christ with others.
These are the Sunshine newsletters that we distribute free of charge in several facilities
praise2worshipdotnet 
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