Last Friday we were booked in to play at a small nursing home around 45 minutes drive from our house. This time the children sang two songs for the residents! We were given one hour for the performance and Luke sang the bulk of the songs and played his guitar in front of an audience of around 15 residents. It was a special day and being Good Friday all our songs were focused on Jesus and his death and glorious resurrection!

Our day didn’t get off to a good start. A few of the children didn’t sleep well and were in a very grumpy mood! We tried to do a practice in the morning but the moods continued and at that moment Luke and I were feeling pretty stressed!

Things did come together though. Praise the Lord! We had a quiet early lunch of toasted wraps and tuna and beans to give us the energy to give our best. The drive up was very quiet! We listened to a new Hamilton family theatrical CD about ‘Pleasure Island’ and how the sailors made their escape. It was also quiet because when I’m nervous I go silent and hold it all internally. I have no idea why I was so nervous, we were only singing in front of 15 smiling elderly people who were so pleased just to see a friendly face and I’m sure, couldn’t care if we were any good or not. Perhaps because it’s been several years since I stood up in front of a group of people or perhaps I was nervous because the morning practice was not so crash hot!

Once we were there the set up went quickly and smoothly. I set up our ‘camp’ in the back of the room with pencils, note books, stickers, crackers, raisins and activity sheets and all the stuff.

Our ‘camp’ set up in the back of the room.

Setting up. Willow’s looking at something?

Sound checks

On arrival – lots of gear to bring in and people to unload!

I didn’t get any good footage of the children’s performance because I had no one to film for me and didn’t get time to set up the camera properly – maybe next time.

Luke opened with the songs ‘Mediator’ by Ghost Ship and ‘Grace Alone.’ When it was time for myself and the children to come up the front Holly (3) was busy colouring in and didn’t want to come! She’s eventually went up the front and sat on the floor and in front of everyone yelled…

“I’m NOT singing!!”

A chorus of laughter echoed throughout the room! Of course all the residents thought she was adorable and it was the funniest thing ever. So – on with the show we sang the songs anyway with Holly sitting on the floor colouring. Oh well. She is only three so I was surprised if I could even get her to sing or even stand in a line.

After the show we stayed and had afternoon tea with the residents. This is a great learning time for the children. I was very proud of the way a few of my children spoke to the residents and answered the elderly residents questions. I had a lovely chat to a few of the people and listened to a few very sad stories. One lady’s story really touched me. She is ninety six years old and was put into the home because she was sick but is better now and all she wants is to go home to her lovely country cottage. She says she doesn’t get to go out much and tears rolled down her cheeks as she told me her story. It really got to me. I couldn’t imagine the sorrow of staying in a hospital like place…forever. If I were her I know for sure I would want to be in my home surrounded by people I love with a lovely garden and my own freedom and dignity intact.

They were so grateful for us for coming and brightening their Good Friday in the facility and loved seeing the young children. It really brought so much joy to their day and it made all worth it. I’m really glad we went. We sing all Christian songs. Hymns, praise and worship songs as well as contemporary Christian songs. We are spreading the gospel through music and bringing Christ’s light into an other wise dark, sad place.

For those that do not know, Luke has worked as an aged carer for eight years and so, is used to the ins and outs of nursing homes. One day his workplace found out he sang and played guitar and asked if he would play for the residents. Luke happily agreed, did a little show for them and they loved it. And so our ministry began. We now have been to many different nursing homes throughout South Australia. From Paradise to Murray Bridge. We are working slowly towards to children and myself singing and playing too. The children and I have joined Luke up the front for 1-2 songs of the last two shows.

It is our dream and vision to bring our nursing home ministry to the rest of Australia. We are saving for a caravan and plan on traveling around Australia visiting the elderly. We will be visiting churches too.

If you would like to support our family ministry there are a few ways to help out and help get us on the road sooner.

You can donate on our family band website HERE

You can purchase my new Ebook ‘Yes You Can Lose Your Pregnancy Weight’ HERE

You can spread the word about Luke’s graphic design business Breathe In Designs. Have your website, business cards and logos done by Luke. He does each job very uniquely with detailed design flair. All his customers and well looked after and are very happy with his work, he is a very talented designer and works on his jobs right away as he enjoys his work so much. If you have a YouTube channel he also designs thumbnails and video editing too. His website is HERE

Thank You for supporting our family’s ministry. It really means a lot to us. Everything for our ministry is paid for out of our own pocket so any amount of donation helps to keep us going and will help us to improve our equipment and enable us to purchase our long awaited caravan.

Enjoy this vlog of our day and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel too.

Blessings, Peta.