singing diary
These are interesting times!
So much is happening; so much is at stake! It’s an extreme thing (to begin with) to move country in your 50s, which is what Marcia & I have done. While we’ve come a long way, adjusting and getting to know this ‘so very different culture’, we still have a long way to go, to find our place in this great & crazy ‘new world’.
My conviction to go into the Retirement Homes in the area (of Tampa Bay- through Lakeland) to sing & story-tell is as strong as ever. A few interesting accounts here of special and not-so-special times that I’ve had in the last 6 weeks or so, but first a couple of thoughts regarding ‘these interesting times’.
The economy is down; a massive political struggle is taking place over who will be the next USA president (I hope it’ll be Obama {see the latest ‘From an Angel’s PoV’}). There’s a restlessness in the air; people are ‘on edge’.
Marcia & I are happy together, pressing ON as much as we can, and pressing IN (to heaven) even more.
Marcia is in a (more then) full-time job where much of her energy is given to tasks that she’s not interested in. She needs to move on badly!
While she’s almost desperate to get out, we understand that the fact of having the job (at this time and in this area) is a huge blessing; a mixed blessing, I suppose. Pressure makes us grow, and she certainly is growing (in inner strength, in her gifting & skills, and also in her conviction that she needs to move on).
I keep very busy trying to put hands & feet on a vision that much of the time looks like ‘pie in the sky’. We have so much vision. We believe God for SO MUCH! (See our web-site: www.entertainingangels.us) This is both exciting and exhausting. While (we believe that) God has given this (vision) to us, daily we give it back to Him; we don’t have the strength, the resources, the connections, the know-how, the support. So we go One Day at a Time’ like the song that I sing.
So what about my singing in the Retirement Homes?
While we are consistently spending more money then what comes in, I give a large part of my weekly time & energy to providing entertainment (of a special kind) to Retirement Homes in the area (around 60 in all), without receiving any realistic pay. Interesting times indeed. 2 or 3 Homes per week.
Occasionally I wonder ‘how long will I be able to keep this going?’. I read somewhere, that if what you do (and keep doing), doesn’t pay, it really amounts to no more then a hobby. According to that definition I’m keeping myself busy with a time consuming hobby.
Obviously this is much more then a hobby; it is a ministry. However, if it really is a ministry, then ‘the worker is worthy of his pay!’ , as it says in scripture, and I should see funds in return for my hard work. (I have stood on this scripture since I’ve been going into the Homes, and continue to stand on it).
So, I’m looking for a break-through here, of some kind. In my communication with the Activities Directors of the Homes, I have become a little stronger on wanting to be paid. Some places have an entertainment budget, and I must not allow them to treat me cheaply as ‘that volunteer who never needs to be paid’. The difference between NO PAY, and a little pay is HUGE!!! First of all, it’s appreciation. Second, it puts gas in my car!
Going into the Retirement Homes under the label of entertainment is a great way of getting past the usual barriers, and reaching many lost souls for Jesus almost unhindered. It’s like an under-cover operation. I walk right into these places, set-up my PA, start playing (the soprano sax) and singing, and the wonderful Holy Spirit begins to move.
Often there are 1 or 2 born again Christians there, members of staff, and I can see that their spirit is activated through the presence & work of the Holy Spirit. Usually I can clearly see it happen. Other members of staff are touched too. Often all kinds of people (working there or visiting) appear behind the little audience of residents, and are being ‘blessed’.
If I had time, I would connect with those people and work out a strategy of how to best reach the residents, on a regular (say weekly) basis, with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Winding back a little in this ‘chain-of-thought’, I have written about the Spirit moving while I minister, about being paid or not, about vision (without vision people perish), and about insecure times in a new & strange culture.
Meanwhile,
I continue to visit 2, sometimes 3 Retirement Homes per week. This is a good rhythm; it keeps me on my toes, constantly learning to push my voice and my expression, to learn lines, learn new songs, learn new stories (to tell) etc.. There’s also a deep learning process taking place by stepping into all kinds of extreme situations and standing in front of all kinds of audiences, and delivering while under pressure. I am constantly learning to stand strong (while ministering) in the face of opposition of all kinds. (I can assure you that before hand, I take authority in the Spirit over the situation, what-ever that might entail.)
Just once, so far, has it happened that the Holy Spirit could not move; there was too much opposition.
I was singing, first time, in a posh Retirement Home on Bayshore in Tampa. I had contacted the place for a booking, and they got back to me, wanting me to sing just a few days later on a Monday morning. This seemed odd to me. No Retirement Home (that I know) would seriously consider providing entertainment to their residents in a Monday morning! However, they were looking for someone to come in to entertain weekly, and in this way they could ‘check me out’, sooner rather then later.
When I arrived at 9 AM the following Monday, the Activities Director didn’t have a place for me to perform yet. Again, it struck me as odd! However, it was quickly sorted and I could go into some small dining room on the second floor. She accompanied me there, and kept commenting on my PA: it was SO MUCH equipment. I kept re-assuring her that to me it was normal, and nothing too much.
However in the tiny dining room that she took me to, where I was to perform for 12 people, it did seem out of proportion. This is a large Retirement Home (bigger then most), and here I was giving my al to 12 people, half of whom were either asleep, or simply ‘not there’. I’ve learned this lesson before: when I get ’set-up’ for something the Activity Director wants to do, it ends up being the wrong event for Holy Spirit action. (And if the Holy Spirit is not welcome, I’m not interested in coming either!)
During the ‘gig’ several residents are constantly moaning & groaning, others want to be entertained with Frank Sinatra kind-of songs, and one lady, who is sitting right in front of me, keeps crying out that she wants to be taken back to her room, but none of the staff want to oblige.
This one lady (with the help of a few others) made so much noise, all the way though, that the Holy Spirit would not move. Meanwhile several members of staff were standing there, to the side, being judgmental of my (hard) work. Twice I stopped, asking the staff to take the screaming lady right in front of me, out of the room, but they just wouldn’t.
On reflection I can say that the Spirit did move, because 3 people came up to me afterwards pleading for me to come back.
The staff clearly wasn’t interested in me coming in regularly, and I was neither (in the regular slot). Speaking to the Activities Director afterwards, she suggested I come back sometime on a Sunday afternoon (the God-slot). I’m open to that. When I asked what she could pay me for such an afternoon (my appearance here today was voluntary and therefor unpaid), she said she couldn’t afford anything. I have difficulty accepting this; this place is clearly wealthy compared to most places; surely they can pay me something! The lady is willing to continue this conversation, and we both repeat our views, looking for a way forward.
In the end, she asks me if I can possibly do a Christmas Special, and she would pay me for that. I will have to think & pray about this carefully; it could be another TRAP (like today’s appearance clearly was…).
I guess the struggle that I’m going through here (with the Retirement Homes), is the struggle to make a meaningful connection with this US society. Not easy.
So here a few paragraphs about recent visits to Retirement Homes:
Performing in a new place in Lakeland: a magical hour! Several members of staff stood there, all the way through the hour, being touched!!!
Performing in another new place in Lakeland: telling much of the story of Moses, a very different, but equally magical hour. I spent most of the hour telling the story of Moses; the Holy Spirit was moving in deep & beautiful ways! They can’t wait to have me back!
Performing 2nd time in a difficult place in Lakeland, doing the same program again, with good results! The staff in this place gives me very little attention and the hall I’m performing in is also a corridor. Much traffic; staff talking loudly together; noise coming from the kitchen etc. etc.; many residents completely out of it, unable to move or speak. Still the Spirit moved beautifully. Some very seriously handicapped people profoundly touched here today!
Going into Park Club, Brandon; the people come out to the hall early. I’ve not been there since the spring of the year, even though I’ve been there several times. As soon as I walk in I’m greeted by a lovely very elderly man, who starts singing ‘One day at the Time’ to me; how precious, he remembered the song from previous occasions (I sing it every time that I sing).
The new activities director, who doesn’t know me says:” the people LOVE YOU!”. A lovely crowd came out to hear me. A few minutes into my set I’m told that any moment now the fire alarm will sound; no need to worry, and no need to be leaving the building. They’re just checking the system. Indeed a few minutes later the alarm goes off making a screaming & blaring sound; it’s almost impossible to do anything. I’m in the middle of a song, and manage to complete the song; it’s crazy.
I try to wait it out while the sound hurts the ears. What madness! Still, when eventually the silence returns it is more precious then ever, and as I carry on, soon the Holy Spirit begins to move.
We have a great time again, as before; the people are touched & refreshed! What a precious little crowd in this place! As much as they love me, I love them to: they bring the best out of me! Thank you Lord!
Performing upstairs in some small room (part of the corridor); the Activities Director had forgotten that I was coming (even though I had rung her earlier in the week- she’s being careless with me). At first it seems impossible to climb into this corner, upstairs; but once the playing (of the sax) & singing gets started, the Spirit moves in beautiful ways. The Lord keeps surprising us al!
EVERY OCCASION IS SPECIAL! THE HOLY SPIRIT ALWAYS MOVES, AND PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS TOUCHED!
Woow, what a privilege, to be doing this. I feel, every time I sing (& tell stories) something shifts in the heaven-lies! I supposed the earthly realm just needs to catch up with that, and once that has happened, I will have all my answers I trust! Interesting times indeed!
Tags: Add new tag, Holy Spirit, Retirement Home, singing, story telling
