Grit and Faith

I love reading stories about people who have dug deep through the struggles life presented them and found themselves on the winning side. So many people we admire and consider to be successful got where they are today through some serious grit. When you mix grit and faith - it's a dynamic duo for sure! Most days, caregiving takes a certain measure of grit just to survive. It takes a lot of grit to choose to be a caregiver to begin with. The day-to-day grind then demands we stay gritty and get grittier, too!

Our Bible heroes had grit, too. Think about the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, and you'll find some gritty, faithful people listed there. People who held on to the promises of God no matter what life threw at them. Real people with real families who faced unimaginable circumstances and still held onto faith in God. Maybe it's not to the same degree or in the same arena, but caregivers do the same thing day after day. 

We choose not to face the day without God's help. Our hands are continually outstretched toward God while we expectantly wait for Him. We are furnace walkers, too. We face giants every day, too. Yet, we continue to trust that God will bring us through and continue to be our shield, our fortress, our peace, our strength, and our fill-in-the-blank-with-what-we-need-for-today God.

I believe grit and faith go hand in hand. It takes faith to continue to grit out our day-to-day lives. We have to choose to let His peace reign no matter what our eyes see or our heart feels. That's grit. We continue to run to Him every single day and let Him guide us. It's our faith that keeps leading us back to the heart of God. And true, determination and grit that keeps us there.

Today, I'll think about how God has walked with me on this caregiving journey. I'll thank Him for making a way when I was sure I was about to drown. My thoughts will be on how He continues to sustain my soul through each day and how He is truly present even in the mundane chores that have to be done each day. I'll think about how He watches my hands care for my loved one, He sees the heartbreak and joy, and He chooses to feel the sadness and grief with me. I'll remind myself that I am certainly not walking this path alone. I can trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

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Just Released and Published on Amazon!

I finished publishing Affirmations for Caregivers last night! It contains an affirmation, a verse or two to read, and a prompt for a very short response for each day.  You can download the eBook from the Dove's Fire Ministries Bookstore right now and print it and and start today! The print version is also now available on Amazon! Check it out!