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Short Days

 

my mom and aunt polly

Are the days getting shorter? They must be because I keep running out of time and energy before I'm done! Can you relate? When Chris came home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago, he had to have IV antibiotics three times a day for 10 days. Man, did that stretch my scheduling and organizing abilities! lol But we got it done and yesterday, the nurse removed the med line. I was so relieved! (I'm sure he was too!)

I didn't realize how much hooking up an IV and removing it three times a day would take out of me. Sounds a little bit silly to those who don't understand, right? As caregivers, our days (and nights) are already packed full of tasks and responsibilities. Adding one more might not seem like much, but it is when you are already on overload. (I know you understand!)

Most nights I go to bed feeling like I failed because there is still so much left to do. I've had to change the way I talk to myself though. Instead of beating myself up, I started saying- You maybe didn't finish this or that - but today you did do this, this, that, and something else. It seems to help me give myself a break to look at all I did do for the day rather than rolling all the things I left undone.

I'm pretty sure the days are not getting shorter, I'm just trying to cram more stuff in them. lol. For caregivers, it means facing each day with courage and bravery; short days and the long ones too! :-) It doesn't take bravery or courage to lay on the couch and wallow in self-pity all day, right? Who has time for that anyway! We don't need to be brave when everything is going good and easy. Caregivers must get up every morning (if they got any sleep at all) and face the day with bravery. The good thing is that we are not facing it alone. We have His strength to help us and hold us up.

David said in Psalm27:14 -Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart. We can be courageous because we are not facing the long or short days alone. He is in our today - all day long. And He is in our night - all night long until the next day breaks through the dawn.

Today, I will take courage knowing He is facing the day with me. I'm not walking through the next 24 hours alone. He is walking through the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years with me. He won't let me go - so I can choose to go bravely into the known or the unknown because He is upholding me! I'll trust Him for the seen and the unseen that may come at me today - will you join me?



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