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Food for the Soul

Food for the Soul, devotionals to help you in your busy life, written by NEWIM board members and staff.

Filtering by Tag: love

Going Door to Door Singing Love Songs

Tina Teng-Henson

My hospice patient’s husband passed some years ago. They didn’t have children. Her niece visited over the holidays. When we opened the Bible, she directed me to read the 23rd Psalm. She said it gave her the sense that God protected her. 

She didn’t want to hear me play my violin, but when I offered to sing for her, she agreed. I pulled out the “Fifty Most Beloved Movie Hits” book and started singing some of the songs I recognized. It felt a little strange to be singing love songs to this elderly widow who honestly hasn’t always been that friendly or receptive to chaplain visits. So, after three songs, I offered to leave. 

Somehow, I got the sense that she didn’t want me to go. It was the briefest little pause she made right before she said, “It’s okay, you can go.” That bit of hesitancy gave me pause, so without saying a word, I flipped to the next page and started singing the next love song. 

Suddenly, I felt overcome with a surge of compassion for her. But it was more than that. I felt like something deep within me was tapped–-the sadness over a world that isn’t right, where I can start the year on a good foot, but around me there is anxiety about the new national leadership, devastation and despair caused by the fires in the Los Angeles area, and multiple sets of friends who have been unable to conceive. 

I started tearing up as I sang the Titanic theme song, then the song from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Something within me broke, but not in a bad way. I just felt the power of what I was doing, even as I felt its inadequacy. I am a hospice chaplain who goes door to door, singing love songs to lonely older folk who deserve to come to the end of their lives feeling loved. 

My patient fell asleep beside me with cold ankles and cold hands. I had wrapped the blanket around her. Her body told me she was more than just a little cold. I seriously wondered if I would get to see her next month. I might not. She was frailer now, her face looked gaunter.

There is mystery in this work and profound wonder. I cannot tell you how often I wake up in the morning excited to start my day. My prayer is that as you read about my patients, you can lift them up to the Father with me. Many are going home to his embrace. It's a gift to walk with them as they prepare.

Tina grew up on Long Island, New York, in an intergenerational home of ethnically Chinese parents raised in Taiwan. After studying English literature at Harvard College, she went on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and served the multi-ethnic chapter for 6 years. In this capacity, she also ministered to the broader community as one of the Harvard Chaplains.

Over the course of 12 years of local church ministry in the Bay Area, she ministered in a variety of ways as she completed her Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has served as a pastor overseeing life groups, outreach, and discipleship.  She has also had significant seasons serving as an interim pastor in various contexts.  

As a wife and involved mother of three elementary-aged children, she is now focusing on the ministry of spiritual direction and serving the broader community as a chaplain. She loves to write, play volleyball, and puzzle with friends. She has benefitted greatly from several NEWIM retreats during her years of service.

Connect with her at christinetenghenson@gmail.com.

Christmas, A Time to Praise

Kim Johnson

“My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"                                                                                                   Luke 1:46-47 (NIV)

Yes, it is that time again. Seems like we just put the decorations away from last year and here we are, getting them out all over again. Tradition means we’ll do it just like we always have. That’s also the way it is with the Christmas Story. It’s been told and retold for thousands of years. So how do we read it again and expect to get something new from it, year after year?

That is the risk we take we if allow the tradition of the season to be our only focus. Every 364 days we are going to rejoice in God’s love sent to us in the form of the baby Jesus. We all plan on that. Yet, God didn’t just stop sending His love and mercy to us when His Son was born. He has shown up every day since. That means He has been there for us every day this past year as well. Traditions are a good thing. However, if we only concentrate on those, we rob ourselves of the opportunity for something new and spontaneous.  

These verses in Luke are an inspiring reminder as we prepare for Christmas. Mary’s praise in this scripture is an unconstrained response of a thankful child of God. She was overwhelmed by the Lord’s goodness and she sings one of the most beautiful and profound songs of worship.

We, too, can allow this time of year to create that kind of response within our hearts. Contemplating the boundless love and mercy our Heavenly Father showed us over the year will no doubt bring something to mind that can cause us to feel the same kind of overpowering gratitude. When we remember His goodness, praise is the best response from a grateful heart.  

Even as we move through the chaos and busyness naturally created by this time of year, let’s take time each day to praise the One who came as well as the One who sent Him.

“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!”
—Stuart K. Hine, 1949