As unto the LORD

Two weeks ago my friend Curl Lawler and I went to visit a sweet lady in a nursing home who was celebrating her 90th birthday. Ruby Jordan and her husband had attended our church for years. Her husband has been in heaven for several years. The nursing home is a beautiful facility. As we were walking through the hall to Ruby's room, we passed through a beautifully furnished living room where the residents could entertain family members. There in the middle of the room was a large Baby Grand piano. After visiting with Ruby for a short time I asked her if she would like to go to the living room and sing hymns. She readily agreed. Both Curl and I were amazed at what happened. This 90 year old saint of God sat on the piano bench beside me and for one half hour we sang dozens of old hymns. Her voice was clear as a bell and she knew every word. When I complimented her on how well she sang her reply was, "I never learned to read notes so I had to learn how to sing." WOW! That was a new theory I had never heard...and she sang those hymns from her heart.

When we finished singing she said something that made both my friend and I laugh. She looked down at my hands and said, "you don't have any rings on!" Then looked up at my face and said, "and you don't have any wrinkles!" (The wrinkles were there, she just didn't see them.)

Have you ever heard comments that just seem to play over and over in your head. For several days after our visit I kept thinking about Ruby's statements, "no rings, no wrinkles." But the truth that gripped my heart was this; If I live to be 90, I don't give a hoot about whether I have any rings or how many wrinkles I have but "Dear Lord, please let me have your songs in my heart like Ruby." Rings get lost and tarnish, wrinkles don't matter but it would be a gloomy and sad world without God's songs in our hearts!