Finding Treasures at the Hospital & Nursing Home	< Back to the Blessing Bowl
Submitted On: December 10, 2009 / By: Trish / Church Affiliation: St. Joe's  / Somers Point , NJ
This year at Christmas, Hearts Afire singers from many churches in conjunction with our church Choir of St. Joseph's from Somers Point, NJ went Caroling at Shore Memorial Hospital and Our Ladies Residence Nursing Home, and the experience will always be a treasured memory to me. Our dearly departed and beloved Father Leonard was strongly present in spirit and loving us from heaven. I will treasure everything... the new born babies, the nurses, the new young Mom who had her baby in the crib by the doorway listening to the singing, with her husband on the phone saying he wished he were there with us. Then there was a Mother and Father who waived us into the room of their sleeping daughter and, with tears in their eyes, told us they are from Bethlehem, PA... the town named after "O Little Town of Bethlehem", that we had just sung about as we caroled. Another gift was the smiles on the faces of the hospital staff, when we stopped to sing to them and my friend Marybeth gave them each a candy cane. And I can't forget the priest who was in isolation and asked us to come back and sing to him. He came out of his room and sang with us, chatted with us, and gave us His blessing; and how we always seemed to end up right behind good Father Peter, who was there visiting patients and making his ministerial rounds. When we next visited Our lady's Residence, a nursing home in Pleasantville, NJ, Carl as our music leader encouraged us to spread out through the room and sing in around and with the residents in their wheelchairs. I will always remember seeing their smiles spread from ear to ear, and hearing them sing with us. I will treasure the memory of holding a resident's hand and how she sighed so lovingly like the Holy Spirit was filling her with God's incredible LOVE; and how I gently and slowly touched the side of her face like baby Jesus touched His Mother's face, and she melted in my hand, and my heart melted with her and Jesus! The KING was present and He gave me my Christmas present on that Sunday! I am so filled with THANKSGIVING! With the love of Jesus in my heart, I pray that you and all who participated continue to be filled with HIM, all of HIM, and we continue to be HIS instruments and share His love. Trish