Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 Ever have those times where it feels like you're scared of everything? It usually starts with questions, like: What will I do when I get too old? What if I get sick? Oh man, what will I do if I fall and injure myself? Should I go today? What if we have a flat tire?  That's just for starters; it goes downhill from there. Lol. It's way too easy to be afraid of all the unknowns. No judgement, right? For caregivers, unknowns are scary and sometimes, debilitating. It's easy to live our lives at home and not even try to get out because something  might happen. And we have LOTS of possible somethings.  I really didn't know I was doing this until I needed to take Chris to massage therapy on a day I had to be back by a specific time to teach online. My brain took the first question and just ran with it. If it hadn't been so real, it might have been funny. Okay, so it was funny, once I realized what I was doing! Psalm 94:19 reminds us that God is fully aware of those thi...

 I promise I am not drunk, nor have I had an alcoholic beverage in the recent past... like a few days at least. (lol) But as I got up and stumbled around this morning, that's the thought I had. Seriously, my brain seemed so foggy, and I felt very disconnected at all of life's joints. I walked around talking to myself out loud. For real. The world felt fuzzy and distant. I laughed as I thought, I feel drunk. I guess I was drunk on caregiving. I've talked a lot about the caregiver's fog, but this was a bit deeper than that. I felt really messed up. Emotionally. Mentally. Even spiritually. And I still had to get ready for the Facebook Live devotions I do weekday mornings! SMH. As usual, I got my coffee and sipped it as I reached for sanity and searched for a verse to share. The word “discombobulated” comes to mind. I was all out of sorts, and for no apparent reason. I suppose caregiving is enough to give this effect. Psalm 68 was on my mind from a lesson I'd done a day...

 Do you ever have a series of days that just seem harder than others? It's kind of crazy, isn't it? Caregiving is hard - period. But some days just hit harder and drag you further down than others. There are days that just feel like your soul is being sucked out slowly, so you can experience every sigh, moan, and cry from deep, deep within. I think maybe Paul explained it well in Romans 8:26, when he used the phrase, groanings that cannot be uttered. There are some things, there just aren't words for. But that's okay, because we really can't "say" it anyway. Have you ever had your feelings leak out a little? Maybe you “accidentally” told a trusted friend how tired you were. Or maybe you mentioned to a family member that your emotions were running thin and life was just cloudy. Yeah. I've made those mistakes too. LOL. We usually get the "you know you need to take care of yourself first" speech. Yeah, that really helps, doesn't it? (hint of...

 Last week, I started with the battle of David and Goliath. There is a lot to pick apart in this historical account. It's a great reminder that we can read and reread passages in scriptures and see something new each time. After all, Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is alive, active, and sharper than a sword. It doesn't change, of course, but because we are growing in grace and in our knowledge of God, we see new to us  things every time we read. That's what happened to me last week! David heard a lot of voices in 1 Samuel 17. But he had to choose which one he was going to listen to.  There is a difference between what we hear and what we listen to. David heard his father, Jesse, tell him to go check on his brothers who were serving in the Israeli army. He listened and obeyed. But once David got there, while checking on his brothers as he was sent to do, he heard Goliath's rant. The giant was mocking the army of God and trying to coax them into battle. David also h...

 We have options when it comes to viewing our days. Now, I'll be the first to admit that some days feel like a series of major fails. It can feel like some days swallow us whole before we even get out of bed. In fact, most nights I go to bed feeling like I am a total failure. What's funny, or not funny, about it is that I may have left one or two things undone, and they seem to weigh much more than what I did get done. I'm still training myself to run through the list of everything I did get done that day, when what I missed or didn't get to tries to bite at my soul.  It's been hard, but finally,  when I start with the negative thoughts about all I missed or didn't get done, I start listing all I did get done. Even the smallest things can be huge wins. They all add up, after all. We can be our own worst critics; it's time we learn to encourage ourselves. After all, I don't know about you - but there aren't many people around trying to encourage me. S...

Did you ever wonder why God had the Children of Israel build a tabernacle while they were traveling through the wilderness? I mean, really. Didn't they have enough going on already? Lol. They have left Egypt and slavery behind. God is leading them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. He's dumping manna on them each morning. And they are traveling. And traveling. And traveling. Yet, God gave Moses the specific plans to build a tabernacle. My mind says, "Yeah, one more thing to carry with us!" (That's sarcasm in case you didn't recognize it!)  They had to cut down trees, and not just any trees, specific trees  for the various components of the Tabernacle. They had to weave cloth together, and not just any  cloth, specific types of cloth were used for the various elements. They had to make gold utensils and silver utensils. And they had very specific instructions. God even provided them with instructions on how to load it all up when it was time to move again...