Sing Me To Heaven

By Emily Ann Combs

Hymns Erased the Confusion in his Mind

Hymns Erased the Confusion in his Mind

My father suffered from dementia for years. He loved to hear music. Later, in a nursing home, my mother played hymns for him. They held hands and enjoyed peaceful interludes. When my mother sang to him, he smiled. As time progressed, he would close his eyes as he listened. For my mother, the lyrics took on new meaning. Thus, "Sing Me To Heaven" was born.

My father suffered from dementia for years. He loved to hear music. Later, in a nursing home, my mother played hymns for him. They held hands and enjoyed peaceful interludes. When my mother sang to him, he smiled. As time progressed, he would close his eyes as he listened. For my mother, the lyrics took on new meaning. Thus, "Sing Me To Heaven" was born.

Whether you are caring for your spouse, a parent, or even a paid position, the video available with this book will bring peace to your patient. Read the book to find more meaning in the hymns yourself.

Whether you are caring for your spouse, a parent, or even a paid position, the video available with this book will bring peace to your patient. Read the book to find more meaning in the hymns yourself.

Our readers have this to say:

Our readers have this to say:

• I loved the book, 'Sing me to Heaven'. It was inspiring and informative. Although I had heard many of the hymn stories I really liked the personal things and the relevant scripture. 

• The author seems like an awesome God-fearing lady. 

I loved the book, 'Sing me to Heaven'. It was inspiring and informative. Although I had heard many of the hymn stories I really liked the personal things and the relevant scripture. 

I loved the book, 'Sing me to Heaven'. It was inspiring and informative. Although I had heard many of the hymn stories I really liked the personal things and the relevant scripture. 

I loved the book, 'Sing me to Heaven'. It was inspiring and informative. Although I had heard many of the hymn stories I really liked the personal things and the relevant scripture. 

The author seems like an awesome God-fearing lady. 

The author seems like an awesome God-fearing lady. 

The author seems like an awesome God-fearing lady. 

• Overall a lovely idea and beautifully expressed.

Overall a lovely idea and beautifully expressed.

Overall a lovely idea and beautifully expressed.

Overall a lovely idea and beautifully expressed.

Check out "Sing Me To Heaven" today and fill your home with peace!

Check out "Sing Me To Heaven" today and fill your home with peace!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AP Creations Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393780212

Book preview

Dedication

To my husband of sixty-six years, Edgar F. Combs. Thank you for a lifetime of love, care, and beloved father of our children.

Thank You

Thank you to Ed’s Caregivers, private, and at Amber Glen Alzheimer's Special Care Center and Illini Heritage Rehab & Health Care.

I’d like to acknowledge for the source of Hymn Stories from Then Sings My Soul by Robert J Morgan.

Thank you for encouragement from our children. And thank you for the encouraging prayers of many.

Thank You to Anna K Payne for her guidance and encouragement to complete this manuscript for printing.

Published by AP Creations

Copyright © 2019 by Anna K Payne

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Dedication

Contents

Introduction to 'Sing Me To Heaven'

One ~ Hymns of Grace and Compassion

Amazing Grace

Trust and Obey!

Wonderful Peace

Jesus Loves Me

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Two ~ Assurance

Blessed Assurance

It Is Well With My Soul

Does Jesus Care?

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Moment by Moment

What a Beautiful Name!

Three ~ Prayer

I Need Thee Every Hour

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Four ~ Guidance

God Will Make a Way

He Leadeth Me!

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Five ~ Fellowship With God

In The Garden

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord!

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Living For Jesus

In Times Like These

Six ~ Christmas

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Joy To The World!

Mary, Did You Know?

O Holy Night

Seven ~ Cross/Resurrection

Because He Lives

He Lives!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

The Old Rugged Cross

Eight ~ Faithfuless

He Leadeth Me!

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Just As I Am

I Know Whom I Have Believed!

Softly and Tenderly, Come Home!

Shall We Gather At The River?

Nine ~ God’s Love

Count Your Blessings!

It Took A Miracle

I Love To Tell the Story

Why Should He Love Me So?

Ten ~ Worship

How Great Thou Art

My Tribute

Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Eleven ~ Eternal Life

O That Will Be Glory For Me!

Goin' Home

Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul

In The Sweet By and By

We Shall Behold Him

When We All Get to Heaven

About the Author

Edgar F. Combs

Other Books

Thank You and More Information

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

One ~ Hymns of Grace and Compassion

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Philippians 1:2

Amazing Grace

Trust and Obey

Wonderful Peace

Jesus Loves Me

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Two ~ Hymns of Assurance

And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Colossians 1:2b

Blessed Assurance

It is Well With My Soul

Does Jesus Care?

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Moment by Moment

Beautiful Name

Three ~ Hymns of Prayer

The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. Psalm 6:9

I Need Thee Every Hour

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Four ~ Hymns of Guidance

You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Psalm 73:24

God Will Make a Way

He Leadeth Me

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Five ~ Hymns of Fellowship with God

The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. I Peter 3:12a

In the Garden

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord!

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Living For Jesus

In Times Like These

Six ~ Hymns of Celebration of Christmas

The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! Luke 2:11

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

Joy to the World

Mary, Did You Know?

O Holy Night

Seven ~ The Cross and Resurrection of Christ

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:14

Because He Lives

He Lives

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

The Old Rugged Cross

Eight ~ Hymns of Faithfulness

The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey His demands. Psalm 25:10

He Leadeth Me

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Just As I am

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Softly and Tenderly, Come Home

Shall We Gather At The River?

Nine ~ Hymns of God’s Unfailing Love

For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Psalm 57:10

Count Your Blessings!

It Took a Miracle

I Love To Tell the Story

Why Should He Love Me So?

Ten ~ Hymns of Worship

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. I Peter 1:21

How Great Thou Art

To God Be the Glory (My Tribute)

Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Eleven ~ Hymns of Eternal Life

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6

O That Will Be…Glory For Me!

Goin’ Home

Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul

In the Sweet By and By

We Shall Behold Him!

When We All Get to Heaven!

About the Author

Edgar F. Combs - The Inspiration

Other Books

Thank You and More Information

Introduction to 'Sing Me To Heaven'

For years I have played and sung hymns. In 2012, I began to wonder why a hymn is written. Before that time a hymn was a vehicle to draw me into worship.

When I could barely read, I sat with Dad in church and learned how to follow the words of each hymn in the Old Brown Favorites Hymnal resting on his knee. I didn’t understand what the black dots above the words meant. Slowly I learned how a hymn is constructed and to read the lyrics, and later learned to play the strange black dots.

We may have been poor during the depression years, yet Dad acquired an old upright piano for Mom. It stood against an inside wall, towering over everything in the living room, a giant ‘giver of melodies’. It was on this piano I learned where Middle C resided and began taking piano lessons from Mother.

Mother played the piano often, especially just before we went to sleep. When my brothers and I attended elementary school, my brothers filled the house with right and wrong notes from the clarinet and the trumpet. My youngest brother shook his trumpet once, scowling, after it emitted a wrong note. Mother invited the neighborhood children to join the ‘neighborhood band.’ Music became a fluent language in our home.

When our four children wanted to play instruments, my husband, Ed, made sure they were owners of the instruments they chose, the trumpet, the clarinet, the flute, and the saxophone, with some piano lessons along the way. The house again rang with music. My Father-in-law, Rufus Combs, took me to the music store in Joplin, MO, and let me choose a piano.

Ed celebrated eighty-seven years on earth and Dementia came un-invited. He loved to hear hymns. I often noticed he mouthed the words as he listened. For a season, he swung his arms in time to the music. Later in the nursing home, we listened to hymns together. We held hands and enjoyed the peaceful interludes the hymns brought.

When I sang hymns to him, he smiled. As time progressed into years of dementia, Ed closed his eyes and listened. The lyrics took on new meanings for me and I wondered why each one was written.

The Bible is filled with songs of celebration and remembrance. They remind us of the love and care of our Lord God. Each song became an unforgettable experience. I had never realized Ed loved music as much as I do. The hymns erased the confusion of his mind as he listened. He seemed to be liberated from the confines of his mind and body. One day, I sang, Jesus Loves Me to Ed. It was in that moment tears came. I realized this simple song is not just for children.

The momentous occasion in Exodus 15:1-2 relates the moment of celebration of freedom from slavery in Egypt. The people sang the song of deliverance after walking between walls of water. They filled the earth with exultation and praise to God in a joyous refrain.

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; He has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him. My Father’s God, and I will exalt Him!

Even so, I remember our happiest moments of our sixty-six years together are like a hymn of praise to God.

One ~ Hymns of Grace and Compassion

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Philippians 1:2

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

Dad led the way up the many stairs of the white church. So many steps. Each time we began the stairs, it seemed as if we climbed to Heaven. We sat in the shorter pew near the back door of the church. My two brothers sat on one side of Dad. I sat on the other side. Dad’s propped up knee made a convenient for the Favorite Hymns songbook. I watched the words as he pointed at them. His singing was slightly off-key but fervent.

This wondrous world of music came alive when I was six. Dad led the way and Mother taught me to play the piano.

Music and Faith intimately held hands for me in Jesus Christ. Mother played the piano for the choir. We often attended ‘choir practice’ and listened to rehearsals.

One by one, I learned to play the hymns in the Hymn book. I soon had many favorite hymns. While listening to Grandpa Suderman, a choir director in a Mennonite church, we listened to a recording of John Charles Thomas, Madame Schumann-Heink, and other classical singers on a ‘crank-up’ Victrola.

Slowly through the words of each hymn, I learned testimonies of faith by those who wrote the lyrics and composed hymn melodies.

The book of Psalms, filled with declarations of the greatness of our Lord God, gave me joy. Wherever pain and suffering come, there is a Song of Victory describing faith and deliverance in Him. It often takes a storm in life for us to seek the safe harbor of our Lord’s Arms of Love. One young man put it this way, If I don’t believe in God, what else can I find to believe?

Twisting turns, and choices fill our lives. John Newton’s life was no different. His father was an aloof man, often away from home, the Captain of a sea-faring vessel. John’s Mother died at twenty-seven years. During her years with her son, John, she taught him about faith in God. After reading about John, I see a boy who realized who God is, but the choices he made or were thrust upon him took him in other directions.

While on a walk, John was ‘pressed’ (kidnapped) to work aboard a Slave Trader. At twenty-three, a horrific storm arose while at sea. John realized he is lost without God and cried out to the Jesus, Who calms the sea. It wasn’t until he was 47 years old that he wrote the words of his spiritual journey back to God. John left the Slave Trade scarred by what he had seen and heard. At thirty-nine, John became an ordained clergyman. The words to ‘Amazing Grace’ came to him for a sermon entitled, Faith’s Review and Expectation.

In the biography, written by Jonathan Aitken, we find this note, Thou hast gifted an apostate -  a name and a place among thy children - called an infidel to the ministry of the gospel. I am a poor wretch that once wandered naked and barefoot, without a home, or without a friend. I once was treated like a dog by all around me. You prepared a house suitable and put me into it.

Is this the end of the story? No. When John Newton turned 63, he published a book - ‘Thoughts on the African Slave Trade.’ William Wilberforce used Newton’s thoughts later in the fight against slavery in the English Parliament.

God often uses storms in our lives to call us to Him. He prepares us for a lifetime of serving Him. John Newton died at 82 after encountering storms and setbacks in his life. When we come to the close of life, will we understand the greatness and mystery of God and why He loves us?

These lyrics touched my heart last Lord’s Day. "You give life, and You are love, You bring light to the darkness, You give hope, You restore Every heart that is broken - Great are you, Lord… It’s Your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise to You Only." (Great Are You, Lord)

John Newton tells of his faith in God and his journey to Him as he penned the lyrics of Amazing Grace.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, Was blind, but now I see." Our beliefs place us in darkness when we do not walk with our Lord God. Jesus came to bring us light in the darkness of this world. Yes, Lord, I believe! the man said. And he worshiped Jesus. Jesus told him, "I entered this world to render judgment - to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind." John 9:38-39.

Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed? The gift of Grace is priceless and explained in John 3:16 - "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead us home."

Life is never easy. We encounter many temptations and pitfalls all around us. We search a lifetime for safety and a way to go to our Heavenly Home. Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ - the Son of the Father - We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 2 John 1:3.

"The Lord has promised good to me and you, His word secures our hope. He will be my shield and portion as long as life endures." God’s Word cannot be revoked or taken away in this world. Jesus is our Shepherd. God is our shield as we worship and live for God the Father and Jesus the Son.

"Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life." 1 John 5:12-13.

"When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun." This Grace is not for this generation or the ‘old days.’ It is for eternity. There is no end to God’s Glory and His Love and Grace.

"What joy for those who can live