Seniors

Senior Voices Still Sing

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

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!

Free Caregivers Devotional

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As we move further into the new normal of Corona life more and more people may find that they are becoming a caregiver in a new sense of the word. Children are home and with even the parks closed we are being forced to come up with new ways of engaging with them, encouraging them and even helping with their online class work. For others who have a senior in the home, the reality that the senior centers, churches and restaurants are now closed means spending a lot more time with mom, dad, Aunt Linda or Uncle Bill. Though being a caregiver is a part of what we are designed by God to do, it can also be exhausting, intimidating and frustrating. When I wrote Grace for the Road it never entered my mind that it was for more than just people with friends or family either in Long Term care or with special needs at home. My small contribution this week is a free down load from now till Monday of a 30 day devotional written just for you. It is a combination of true stories from my several decades of ministry in long term care facilities, memories of our own family and a simple Bible based encouragement for the day. If you are suddenly a newly minted caregiver then my prayer is that this free resource may be a blessing to you.

Grace for the Road by Peter Caligiuri is available on Amazon and you can either search for that title or go directly to the listing by clicking on the link below.  So the until we break out into the sunshine from under this Covid-19 cloud in the words of Tiny Tim; “God bless us every one!”

Grace For The Road

Grace for the Road image

How Nursing Home Volunteers can respond in the Corona Crisis

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I was sick and you visited me…Matthew 25

Being in the grip of public health emergency it is important to know how we as volunteers can help. Our first order of business is not to panic. Our precious friends in long term care already are dealing with serious personal medical situations as well as depression and loneliness. We need to find out what we can do to lift their load.

Secondly we need to face the Corona virus not as some mysterious plague but as another in a yearly cycle of serious diseases. Use common sense. Follow the directives of the facilities you are visiting. I go 3-4 times a week into different homes to sing. Each time I shower and change first then still use the hand sanitizer at the door as I sign in. I use another sanitizer between wards and then again on the way out the door. Once home I wash with warm soap and water. If all this sounds like a lot of trouble remember that sickness can be whole a lot more trouble than soap!

Last of all we need to not only pray but also be creative and upbeat. Keep in touch by text with staff or other volunteers who are out sick. A phone call or even a card can do as much as any medicine in the face of discouragement. We are serving on the front lines of both a medical as well as a spiritual battle. We must keep our heads about us and trust the Lord. He has sent us to bring a message of hope and life and this is the time to buckle up and be ready for anything. He has promised to be with us and He just might want to use you to remind someone else of that today!