Daily Devotions for Caregivers

Early in the mornings I go in and feed my son through his peg tube, change him and get him comfortable. Shortly after that he usually goes off into a deep sleep; a restful sleep. I checked on him just before starting to write this morning and he was out ! I thought, he's getting good, restful sleep...healing rest. I figure that when he is sleeping real good and letting his mind and body rest that he is healing. We know rest and healing are connected.  What does that mean to the caregiver? Because as a caregiver, we have pain every day. It never real goes away because we are dealing with a stressful, painful situation all the time; so it hurts all the time. We see our loved one not able to function fully on their own and to need help with simple, daily living skills. They are not who they were and in my case I grieve a lot over the loss of my son - even though he is still here. Yet he's not still here - not like he was. And as we walk out each day, each step along the way

Things do not always work out as we expect them to. Seriously, who ever planned on being a full time caregiver to a loved one? We obviously had  much different expectations for our lives. Perhaps we expected to travel the world (my own personal one...), or get married again (NOT on my list), lose ourselves in an enjoyable career, or serve in a local community or church. No matter where we thought we were going with life, I think it is a safe assumption that it has not turned out like we expected. This morning I was reading in Hebrews again (I haven't strayed too far away from it yet), and read this verse in chapter 8.(NLT) When I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. In context, God is speaking of the Children of Israel and how He rescued them out of Egypt's cruel slavery. But as He took them out of Egypt the first thing they ran into was a road block that looked like the Red Sea. I really do not think that this is what they expected to happen as He

I have stumbled over this scripture now for the last two days. I was reading in Hebrews yesterday and it caught my attention. Then this morning when I got my coffee and opened my Bible it just fell open to the same scripture in Jeremiah. Which one am I talking about? The one that says this: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel... I will put My laws into their minds and I will write them on their hearts And I will be their God  and they shall be My people...   Hebrews 8:10 is a direct quote from Jeremiah 31:33. I figured since I kept stumbling across it I should camp there a little bit and meditate. So I did. And in my meditations I realized that if He wrote His word in us - planted it there if you will, we only have to yield to it. How do I do that? Stop. Seriously , all we have to do is stop our heads from running around in circles, get a grip and listen to Him. Be still and know that I am God comes to mind as does The word of God is nigh thee even i

This scripture is found in 1 Thessalonians5:18, someone through it out as a cliche this week so I looked it up. And can I be totally honest and say I really do not want to? And I really just can't. I cannot thank Him for the wreck my son was in that has left him impaired. I honestly, just can't do it. And the worse part is I don't care that I can't do it!  But the other side of that is I don't think He requires me to give thanks for the injury, the damage or my son's condition that thrust me into caregiving. However, I do believe that there is a silent power that arises when we purposefully find things to be thankful for rather than gripe about. It's an attitude of thanksgiving that He's looking for...because to literally thank Him for the horrible things in life would (for me) be a lie. And I think He looks more toward an honest heart than for one who is lying just trying to make HIm happy. I really think our honesty with Him is a way

Sometimes there is this huge mental struggle because religion is so works oriented. Maybe it's just me, but there are times I struggle with if He loves me enough...It sounds wrong I know. But we can read through the gospels and see all the miracles Jesus did for others..maybe I'm the only one who wonders why He doesn't come riding in on His white horse for me.  Even the Old Testament is full of various displays of His miraculous powers. Yet my loved one still suffers. And I cannot help but wonder if He loved others more...But then (my busy mind) immediately jumps to what I would do if He miraculously healed my son. How would I explain to someone else that He loves them as much? All this crazy thinking lead me straight to Romans 8. It's a long time favorite isn't it? We quickly quote that nothing can separate us from His love. But sometimes during tribulation it's easy to wonder...But a quick look at Paul's discussion is quite revealing. We can grab the

Overall the life of a caregiver can be stressful; and that's summing it up mildly. We can have so many variables in just one day that it would be wrong to say it's anywhere close to normal . And really for each caregiver the situational demands are so varied there's no way to compare those either. And just like normal people we have good days and bad days...I am pretty sure that's just a given with life! lol!  And for those of you who are not caregivers, just remember that on top of the transfers, feeding tubes, incontinence issues, bathing, physical therapy and a wide variety of other tasks that must be done in a day - we still have those normal things too - dishes, laundry, cleaning the house and keeping up the yard!  But there are those times during the stress and stain of a common day - that He steps in. I am not sure there's a way to explain it; but the peace that comes in those moments where we are so aware of Him carrying us through..well, it's simpl

Did you ever read a scripture and find it upsetting instead of comforting? I do sometimes but given enough time I can work back through to peace! lol!  I was reading through Psalm 112 this morning and came across a frustrating verse; actually, two of them in the same psalm! Verse 4 and 6 stuck out to me and my first response was to whine. (I know I am the only one who ever does that!) Actually verse7 caught my eye first: They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. My first thought was I got bad news ...that's how I became a caregiver.  But after I read through the entire psalm a time or two my thinking finally balanced out somewhat. First of all, it does not say they won't ever get  bad news...but that there is no fear in the bad news. And that is followed up by the act of confidently trusting the Lord...even after bad news. It's a matter of trusting Him through whatever life may bring...not avoiding anything we perceive as bad. Th

If you've been exposed to church circles for any amount of time perhaps you've heard this scripture thrown around a lot. We see it on facebook posts and on various sites. WE tend to use it to talk ourselves through to victory - and its application is broad. I am not sure we understand it in context though.  A quick look at the preceding verses lets us see some of the apostle Paul's heart. He states in these verses that he had learned to be content  in whatever circumstances he found himself in. Although he gives very little detail, he says that whether he had plenty or had little it was enough. He also says that he was content whether his stomach was empty or full... and that these extremes were manageable because Christ in him gave him strength to face each situation.  The context of Phil. 4:13 is not just taking a dive off the positive side of things and trying to make every thing into a facade of ease. But rather it is saying that there's no room to stress; if th

Last night I was conducting a Bible study via skype and there were some questions asked about the old Law and if they are all applicable. She asked if there would be a big difference when she gets over to the New Testament, since she's presently reading the Bible all the way through. Immediately I thought of two or three scriptures in the Old Testament that are what I call sums it all up passages.  We took a look at Micah 6:6-8. Micah is meditating on what God requires. He asked rhetorically if God is pleased when we bring Him rivers of oil , or if we present before Him thousands of rams ... And then he goes on in verse 8 to talk about what is pleasing to the Lord...   do justice love mercy walk humbly with your God...   And that about sums it up! For many caregivers we literally cannot do all the religious things like going to church, singing in the choir....etc. For us, and anyone else who wants to live a life humbly before our God this lets us know how much simpler it

When I was a teenager we memorized Galatians 2:20 for a missions project we were doing. I am not sure we really fully understood it. I'm not even sure that I can completely grasp it now! I'm okay until I get to the part about I no longer live.... But over the last few years as I have struggled with the loss of my life as I gradually was molded into a caregiver's life I think I started to understand it better. As caregivers our needs are not last; and for many of us our needs don't even make the list! (you know what I mean!!)We have turned down jobs, vacation opportunities, social engagements and pretty much traded in our lives to care for the one we love.  I'm thinking that caregivers can understand this concept of being dead, yet alive, and living in Him. As a caregiver what life we have is totally wrapped up in our loved one's life. Every aspect of our day is pretty much dictated by their needs. This even includes entertainment such as watching television

Ever have those times where it just all caves in on you all at once? Emotions run away from you while you get sucked into the huge black hole of the circumstance? (maybe it's just me!) Faith begins to wane and it seems like there isn't a big enough shovel to dig yourself out....ever been there?  What's the worse part of it all is how quickly the enemy can come in and start throwing stones of condemnation at us while we are down. He tries to make us think that we are faithless because we haven't been able to change the circumstance. The next step he takes us on through the course of logic is hopelessness ..like it's never going to be better or different...and we fall deeper and deeper into the emotional despair. Then he quickly picks up more labeled stones to try to get us convinced that we are not worth God's effort...he attacks our self esteem...until it seems there's not even enough strength to cry out!  And then the most amazing thing happens - as qu

Ever just have a day (or series of days) where it's like you're walking around in a fog; it can be so dense you almost feel like you have to remind yourself to breathe? Those are the days where we just function to take care of our loved ones. It doesn't have to be the result of anything specific that happened...just a process that seems to recur every so often because of the day to day life of caregi ving.  After being in the caregiver's fog for a few days it just sort of lifts, doesn't it? And sometimes it is the smallest action on the part of another that causes it to go away: a simple phone card, a note in the mail - it doesn't take much for the fog to descend, but it doesn't take much for it to drift away either! And the funny thing is that it is just gone and the song in our heart returns...no warning either way - the song is gone, there's the fog, the fog is gone, there's the song! (you really aren't crazy ! - it's the caregiver'

Sometimes (not all times) life can seem so barren, dry and unfruitful! It's can be difficult to see past our own four walls. If we are not careful we can focus on our own situations so much we fail to see that there is a world of hurting people out there . And yet all of us share His same promises for provision, peace and comfort. Perhaps it's because of how we used to measure fruitfulness. Many have measured fruitfulness by church activities. But I have never seen a plant get up and go somewhere else to produce fruit, they produce right where they are planted. And we are to be planted in Him. That is where we will produce fruit. The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 2:20) and notice that all the fruit produced although easily observed - is not tangible. Our fruit comes from His indwelling - not from the things we do! Be assured that He will work in you to produce His fruit -  Isaiah 51:3 says this: The Lord will comfort Israel again and make her deserts blossom. Her barren

I love the raw honesty of some Psalms. And Psalm 13 is just that; the psalmist David is just pure and honest with his feelings before God. I had a friend one time who couldn't understand how I could express my frustrations with God to God. I had two points to make about it: One - He already knows; and two He is big enough to handle it! And this raw transparency is what I find in Psalm 13. It seems that David vacillates between total frustration with the situations in his life and his pure trust of the Lord. Did you ever feel that way? One moment I find myself singing all the woe is me  songs and the very next rejoicing in His faithfulness!  David begins Psalm 13 by sharing his overwhelming feelings of abandonment by God. Of course that's one of those forbidden topics in the church...but it is  a real feeling sometimes. But we, just like David, will work our way through it and find faith once again. In the final verses of the psalm David is resting in the lovingkindness of

Do you ever ask tons of questions? There's not really an expectancy of an answer on some of them,is there? I can usually get past all the questions but then sometimes they pop up so quick I can't even think about a real answer. There are tons of whys ...at least for me. My mind gets foggy after awhile and I know He is not really going to rain down answers or miracles. Knowing that He can totally heal - but He doesn't - has been one of the most frustrating parts of my journey as a caregiver.  Once the questions start it is easy to get sucked under by all the surrounding emotions. (of course that doesn't take much most days anyway! l ol) And as I am looking for some of the answers in the Word - or just an answer I always come back to the same thing. I cannot not believe in Him.  There's something in the core of my being that screams out There is a God! And even though there are no substantial answers to my many questions I can grab hold of Hebrews 11:6 - Withou

Josiah has always been an intriguing OT character to me. He became king as such an early age and then the Bible says he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings22) It also says in the NLT that he followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn aside from doing what was right. The young man vehemently followed God's law as it was revealed to him. And in chapter 23 this young king read the entire Book of the Covenant  to the people. And then he (in his place of authority) renewed the covenant in the Lord's presence. Can you imagine if any nation's leader would actually take the time to read the entire covenant to the people of the land? I will admit that we are only talking about Genesis to Deuteronomy. But even that would be amazing. And then to have such leaders who would stand and say This is our covenant with the Lord and we will keep our end of it and serve Him alone. ...sorry for the skepticism but it is a nice dream...  Let's just

Don't you just love the conversations that you have with people who act like they know it all? Usually the conversation doesn't get very far because the who know it all can't see past their limited knowledge to hold a true challenging conversation!  Well, as I was studying this morning this short passage jumped out at me for a couple of reasons. It's actually in the context of Paul's instructions about eating meat that is sacrificed to idols. And then it seems he takes a little rabbit trail when he says the words in these three verses:   Now let's talk about food that has been sacrificed to idols You think that everyone should agree with your perfect knowledge. While knowledge may make us feel important, it is love that really builds up the church  Anyone who claims to know all the answers really doesn't know very much.  But t he person who loves God is the one God knows and cares for .   (1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT) I found the first part about the kno