Extra, extra . . . extraordinary

Remember in the old movies there would sometimes be a newspaper boy standing on a street corner hawking the newspaper, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”  This meant something special had happened – something out of the ordinary. This was special news!  It was extraordinary news.

Well, just like the little newsboy, I want to tell everybody about my day!

I never know when an ordinary day will become extraordinary. Today was one of those days; just a routine day, going to the nursing home to visit hospice patients. I wasn’t expecting it to be anything special.  It turned out to be a day I don’t want to forget!

I have a new client who loves for me to play the piano. For her privacy, I’ll call her Fran. Fran was in the dining room; had refused her meal except for desert and she wanted me to play the piano. So, I did. I played hymns. Several other people in the dining room responded to the music with clapping and thanking me. There was a man sitting behind me in his geri-chair (sort of a special recliner on wheels) and he kept saying, “That is beautiful!” I turned to see who the man was, and it was a fellow who is usually yelling “I want another ice cream bar,” while pounding his spoon or his fist on the table. Well, let me tell you, that is the nicest thing to come out of his mouth. It’s usually cursing. But not one curse word came out of his mouth while I played the piano. No yelling. No pounding the table with utensils or his fist. I played about 20 minutes. He thanked me so graciously and told me how much he enjoyed it. I was amazed at the change in him.

Back to my new client. Fran was tired and needed to go to her room. I waited until she had been put in her bed, then went in and asked if she felt like visiting.  She did.  Fran is on oxygen, so after a little small talk and some life review (talking about her life or family) she said I needed to do the talking, as it was too hard for her to talk and breathe. I talked a little bit, then decided to sing.

“Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Je-sus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.”

There is a name I love to hear

I love to sing its worth

It sounds like music in mine ear

The sweetest name on earth.

She said it was beautiful, so I continued to sing the verses I knew. I had a great audience. She wanted me to sing! And so the songs came. If I could not remember a word or phrase, she would help me with the words.  Songs came to mind:

If the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you

Face to Face with Christ my Savior

Amazing Grace

Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I adore you.

And, then Fran requested:

Tell me the story of Jesus

I wasn’t singing for her entertainment. I was singing as worship to the Lord and to bless and comfort her as well. She could not sing, though she did try to sing a few words to “Oh, How I Love Jesus.” But worship was happening in that small room. After a song we would be praising God and thanking him for his love.

Fran asked me to sing songs made famous by George Beverly Shea that he had sung for Billy Graham Crusades…

How Great Thou Art

Oh Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds your hands have made

I see the stars; I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout

the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee;

How great thou art;

How great thou art.

Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee;

How great thou art,

How great thou art.

* *

The Love of God

“Oh Love of God

How rich and pure

How measureless and strong

It shall forevermore endure

The saints and angels song.”

There were more songs. I can’t recall them all right now. But each word came from deep in my heart and I could feel the spirit of the Lord as I sang.

Fran kept saying, that is so beautiful. And between songs, we worshiped the Lord. It was one of the most wonderful worship events I have ever experienced. I would not have been surprised if the Lord had come to get her during that time of praise and adoration.

Suddenly, Fran raised up and asked, “Where are we?”

Without thinking, I said, “In the nursing home.”

“It is so beautiful here! Everything is so beautiful!”

Then I began to realize that she might have been seeing beyond the veil. I asked, “What do you see?”

“I can’t describe it. It is so beautiful. This is so lovely.” She was radiantly smiling, as she looked around the room, seeing things I could not see. Oh, how I wished I could see what she was seeing!

She leaned back into her pillow. Then just as suddenly she turned to me and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m visiting you,” I responded.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I am your friend.”

“When did I know you? Where did we meet?”

“I met you here.”

Then as if something switched inside her mind, she seemed to recognize me and started talking about how much she enjoyed my visit and my singing. I said, I enjoyed it too.

“The three of us had a very good time,” she said. Then Fran quoted, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Jesus said that in Matthew 18:20.

Yes, indeed, the three of us. Jesus promised. He was there. I was and am so greatly blessed! Fran was greatly blessed and I believe she saw visions of heaven.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for turning an ordinary day into a day when my heart was full and I felt your presence – a very extra-ordinary day!

© Geneva Jean Moon and The Passionate Heart, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Geneva Jean Moon and The Passionate Heart with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Tags: hospice, Jesus, nursing home, Praise, worship