If you are familiar with the Gospel Blog, then you may remember that I have the opportunity to work with kids with various disabilities, and this column is to share the lessons I have learned from those kids.

I am currently working with a nonverbal 7-year-old boy—let’s call him Joey—who occasionally makes a high-pitched, super-quiet kind of moaning when something is wrong or he is upset. 

Unfortunately, it’s rare that you can find out what’s wrong with him (unless it’s obvious) because Joey cannot point or in any other way indicate what is bothering him—except for the moaning.

Joey’s caregiver is his grandmother, and she is very quick to give him a once-over if she hears that moaning—check to see if his diaper is clean, ankle braces fitting well, nothing rubbing on him…she moves his arms and legs around to see if a particular body part is bothering him. Then she gives him back to me so that I can keep working with him. If for some reason he continues moaning, it won’t be long before she ends the physical therapy session and sends me on my way.

One day, Joey was moaning a lot and his grandma had already performed the once-over and had not found anything agitating. I knew my time was limited, so I asked God to help, and I had the thought—you know those convenient thoughts you have after you pray for help?—to sing to him. 

So I started singing to him, and he stopped moaning. I thought the moaning would return once he got used to my voice. But it didn’t. So I kept singing. 

I sang a medley of off-key favorites from The Songs of Zion, the Saints Hymnal, the Country and Western, and possibly even one or two from the Saints Favorites. After about a half an hour without any moaning, I stopped singing.

But then he started to moan again. So I started singing again, and Joey stopped moaning. 

I wondered what God was doing. I knew that I was being forced to sing, and I wasn’t sure why. It couldn’t be because of my good singing. (Think of the worst singer you have in your branch. I’m worse.)

My first thought was that maybe it was so that Joey and I would recognize each other when we get to heaven. 

Or maybe it was because his grandmother is an exasperated Christian woman trying to hold her home together and she needs some hymns in her life. 

Could it be that I was being forced to sing to the other people in the house? You see, Joey’s drug-addicted mother was also there, and his just-out-of-prison uncle was also there, and a whole bunch of other kids also reside in the house.

The Lesson: I’m not exactly sure what God was (or is) doing, but I know He’s up to something. Is He up to something in your life? Is He up to something, and you are not aware of it? I bet if you look hard enough you will see Him working. 

He is always working on you. He has a plan for you. Let Him.

Since that particular visit with Joey, I’ve been back probably four times, and each time Joey holds me hostage by making me sing the entire time. The family has gotten used to the singing, and they don’t seem to mind. Grandma loves it. 

I guess it’s time to wait and see what He has planned.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.