A Beautiful Song

This past Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to join a group of people from church and spend the afternoon at a local nursing home. Some of the group played bluegrass music for the residents while the rest of us talked with people or visited their rooms if they didn't feel like getting out. I enjoyed listening to the bluegrass music because I could tell that the elderly folks enjoyed it, too. But what I loved the most was talking with people, hearing their stories, listening to them, and praying with them. I'll never forget the sweet squeeze that one precious lady gave my hand as I said "amen."

There was a slight miscommunication among the group as we transitioned to a different nursing home for the later half of the afternoon. Apparently many people didn't realize that we were visiting another nursing home, so many members of our group didn't show up at the second location, including the singers for the bluegrass band. The band waited a few minutes to see if their singers would arrive, but as time went on, they became more and more restless. Finally, they turned to my friend and I. "Do you sing?" they asked us. We shyly glanced at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and timidly replied, "Only if you really need us that desperately!"

So my debut performance as a rock star was singing old hymns with a bluegrass band in a nursing home!

I'd never sang with a microphone in front of an audience before. I'm sure I was awkward as I held the hymnal in front of me and glanced down at the lyrics between every eight counts. I'm sure I was off pitch some moments, and I know I sang the wrong words a time or too. But after the first few choruses, I looked out into the audience and realized who I was singing for. The sweet elderly people bobbed their heads, clapped their hands, and smiled as they enjoyed seeing us young people take the time to serve them in some small way. They didn't care that my voice cracked or my cheeks blushed, they just enjoyed the simple act of love. I remembered that I was there to serve them - and by doing so, to serve the Lord. The hymns we sang were a gentle testimony to each person in the audience that Jesus is our source of salvation and joy, the music of our hearts and lives.

I know I won't be the next American Idol candidate, but I had the time of my life singing for those sweet elderly ladies and gentlemen. I never would have volunteered for such a position - a singer in a bluegrass band! I never sing in front of other people! But God often calls me out of my comfort zone, and it's only when I answer, "Yes, Lord," that He uses my discomfort to display His strength. God can use us all in big ways when we allow Him to take us outside of our comfort zones and into His greater plan for us. And it's there that other people are touched, too, as they hear the music we sing as we proclaim how great God really is.