Make A Difference Monday

K-LOVE has created a weekly segment called “Make A Difference Mondays” where the station suggests to their listeners that they try to make a difference, however big or small in the life of someone else on Mondays. It’s not a bad idea. Who likes Mondays anyway? Who really feels good about getting up on a Monday morning and driving into work?

Come on. I want to see a show of hands.

That’s what I thought. There are not many of us that really like Mondays, and so the idea of making someone’s Monday better was born. I love it.

Well, my co-worker Barb (aka my mentor, my guru, my sounding board for ideas) asked me if I would like to come to a Hymn Sing at a senior living community with her last night. Several members of her church choir go once a month to this assisted living center and informally sing hymns with the residents there. It sounded like fun, and I didn’t have any Monday night plans, and so I said yes.

It was a hoot. I had such a good time. I was the lone soprano in a sea of altos along with 1 tenor (Barb’s husband Lee). Barb said that she was glad I was there to hit the high notes. I laughed because I think she was being nice. I was totally squeaking – allbeit quietly – along there on some of those super high notes. HA! I’m not a super high soprano, but I survived just fine, and I still have a voice to speak of today, which is a plus.

As I stood there singing hymn favorites that I don’t hear as often in church as I used to, I was struck with something. I’ve been looking for more community in my life, and I was standing right there in the midst of one. I was the young one in the group by a couple of decades, but those dear people singing along were also members of the body of Christ just as I am. For crying out loud, we’re going to be neighbors in Heaven. I was in a community. So perhaps my ideas about community are too static and not dynamic enough. Lots to ponder on that subject...

Truly, I hope that our visit made a difference in the lives of those we sang with last night, brightened someone’s day or brought out a smile or two. I’d like to think it made a difference. But I was surprised to find it had made a difference in my own heart in the process.