(Our “Young at Heart” group last year on our annual fall trip. At the Black Bear Jamboree in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.)Tuesday mornings are one of my favorite times of the week. One of Scott’s many roles as Associate Pastor at our church is senior adult ministry. And, on Tuesdays, he leads a Bible study for our “Young at Heart” group.
It is a precious time … we usually have around 20 or so … and we sing from the hymnal. Some of you may wonder why that is worthy of noting but we are one of “those” churches … with the screens and no pews. Our sweet senior adults have been faithful to support the way our church has grown and changed from a traditional country church of about 80 to a medium-sized contemporary church of about 300 … in less than 9 years. But they, like I, miss the hymnals. And so on Tuesday mornings we pull out the cart with the last 30 hymnals (kept by Scott -who is also the Worship Pastor) and we all choose our favorite hymns to sing.
I’ve noticed over the past three or four years since Scott started doing this Tuesday morning study, that they have some favorites …
“He Keeps Me Singing” definitely tops the list! I bet we sing this song 3 times a month. They also like “Sunshine in my Soul” and “It is Well with my Soul.” In fact, almost every one of the hymns they choose is one filled with great joy and a deep awareness of God’s faithfulness.
What a beautiful testimony! We sing these beautiful, strong hymns of our faith every week and then share our prayer requests. We pray for ailing bodies, wandering children and grandchildren, grieving friends and families, and a world that seems farther from God with every passing day … but it is always following a sweet time of praise. They praise the Lord with the shaky voice the years bring to us all but with a strong faith that only comes from walking with Him.
How I pray that my testimony will be as beautiful as theirs when I reach their age. I am typing this with tears in my eyes as I think of how precious these dear saints are to me … and the investment they have made in my life … and of those who are now rejoicing in heaven. Proverbs 20:29 says, “The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair.”
My prayer is for the splendor of gray hair to be as evident in my life as it is in the lives of those I will worship with this morning!
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