Peter hopped out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. He had asked, "If it's really You, ask me to come, and I'm on my way!" Jesus told him to come on! Peter hops out and starts walking on the water, but he took his eyes off of Jesus and shifted his focus to the storm that was blowing and a'goin' all around him. He began to sink. We've used this as a life lesson a lot, and it sure pertains to caregivers. We all do much better, no matter what is going on all around us, as long as we keep our eyes on Him. The storms of life can rock our boat, toss us to and fro, and have us scared out of our wits. Keeping our eyes on Him, may not stop the boat from rocking or the storm from blowing, but it sure can keep peace in our souls.  We usually commend Peter for jumping out in faith, right? And we should! But as I read through this familiar story once again this morning, I thought of a couple of other things. It's stormy. It's dark. Peter did get...

  How many times a day do you have to hit the “restart” button? Too many to count? Lol. Just life, outside of caregiving, can put a demand on us to restart a lot, right? But for caregivers, every day can be a series of restarts. We never know when something is going to throw a wrench in our plan. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hesitant to plan too many things since I never know if I'll be able to follow through or not. Just this week, we had a quick run to the ER. Our days can get mixed up and unruly so fast that it's a constant struggle to keep our hearts, faith, and hope intact. So here we are day after day restarting our faith journey. Or is that just me? It really doesn't even take too sharp of a turn for me to be questioning if God really sees all “this.” I can't tell you how many times I've looked up to heaven with tear-stained cheeks and asked, Are you still looking, God? Do you see what's happening here? Usually, I turn to Psalm 13 for my...

 Yesterday, I was reading and sharing from Colossians 3. Paul is reminding the young church to keep their minds on things above, and not focus on things on this earth. He tells them that they are hidden in Christ, who is our life!  What a great way to encourage other believers, right? But then I thought about where Paul was. He was writing this letter to the saints  from a prison cell. He could have been sitting there whining, crying, and moaning about being held captive for no wrongdoing at all. But not Paul. He had turned his Prison Cell into a Prayer Chamber. With his freedom taken away (wrongfully, I might add), he could no longer make his trips around to encourage the churches he'd established in person. But he could pray for them. And he could write to them! And that is exactly what he did. That letter, written in a prison cell, was sent to encourage other Christians. And I believe it was bathed in prayer. Sometimes, it can feel like caregiving is a prison. Many of ...

  We talked yesterday about how God provided for Elijah and how He had commanded the ravens to feed the prophet by the brook. Then, He commanded a widow to take care of Elijah. I have been thinking about what it was like from her side. As usual, I have questions. Like, did she know God commanded her to take care of Elijah? Did she know Elijah was headed over for supper? Or had God commanded the meal and oil to be "enough?" Hmmm. Lots to think about. The widow didn't seem to know. She explained to Elijah that she had just enough to feed her son and herself and then she planned to die.(I Kings 17:12) What a plan! Lol. As a caregiver, I've had a few of those "well, this is it" moments. Have you? Elijah goes on to tell her to make him a "small" cake first, then provide for her and her son. He explains that God has blessed her flour and oil and they will not run out until it begins to rain again. (And again - at God's command. ) But I wonder how man...

  We often find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. In fact, as caregivers, we live  there! There are no soft spots and no easy roads, and definitely no days off! Every day can be a series of figuring out each step, hopefully right before we take it. It's not easy to make decisions for another person - especially if they cannot clearly communicate their needs or wants. Talk about a huge game of guess-and-check! Lol. Caregivers get used to being in difficult spots. And really, all we can do is learn to trust God from our here.  No matter what our here  looks like, we can only trust God moving forward. We have made bad decisions in the past, and maybe some of them contributed to us being in our present situations. And maybe they didn't. Either way we can't change what's behind us, we can only use it to change what's ahead of us. This week, I've camped out in 1 Kings 17. Elijah prophesied a drought and resulting famine, and it got very bad! First, the Lord l...

 As caregivers, we can have a lot of little nagging things that try to drag us down. We may spend hours on end with little or no social interaction, positive feedback, or physical touch. Slowly, these things start to wear away at our souls. As believers, we know  that God is the keeper of our souls. He's got us covered. In fact, embracing His word and allowing it to uplift our souls is a great way to encourage our bodies to release endorphins. Endorphins? What are they, and why should we care, especially as caregivers? Don't we have enough to think about? Yes. We do. And that's exactly why we should think about them.  Endorphins are positive mood boosters. They help block pain signals, induce pleasurable feelings, help cope with stress, and motivate us to engage in activities that trigger their release. I don't know about you, but I could use some help in that area! And, good thing for both of us, I've been thinking about it lately. Now, we don't have someone wh...

 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...

 I've heard it said that when Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, he was possibly living through one of the most difficult times in his life. He was nearing the end of his life and was sitting out his days in prison for preaching the gospel. I love that he didn't give up or give in. He kept writing and sending letters to the various churches to encourage them. In chapter 11, he goes through quite the list of things he'd already been through. He'd been beaten, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, robbed, and the list goes on. Then in chapter 12, he petitioned the Lord about one particular thorn in his flesh. Who knows what that was, I've heard lots of suggestions over the years. No matter what it was - the Lord had one answer for it. My grace is enough. Your weakness is what displays my strength. What a thought!  I've read and thought a lot about this passage, but I thought about it in a different way this past weekend. My thoughts were about how God promises here that H...

  The other morning, I stepped outside to enjoy the coolness. While I was admiring the beauty and intricate details of a small white flower, a small bug flew into the flower. I watched for a little while and thought about how God planned the smallest details in nature. How did He come up with all of that? Lol! Firstly, He created the flower in such intricate detail and unique beauty. Then he made the small bug that would come to pollinate it, so more would grow. What an amazing system He created. And He didn't miss any of the tiny details it would take to keep the whole ecosystem going. If He cared so much about those little flowers that He ensured they could continue to thrive, how much more does He care about us? Psalm 139:3 reminds us that He is intimately acquainted with all our ways.  This psalm talks about how He watched our bodies form in the wombs of our mothers. He gets the details.  For caregivers, our days are made up of lots of details. Our brains and hearts h...

I've been reading the book of James this week. He encourages believers to be patient with the process of faith. James talks about building endurance and growing in faith. In fact, maybe we've tried to make faith a destination rather than the journey it is! That's one conclusion I've come to, anyway. Faith is definitely a journey! One of the recurring themes in James is patience. He encourages us to be patient as our faith grows. In fact, in chapter 5, he discusses how a farmer must wait for his harvest. Depending on the crop that was planted, it can be a loooooong wait from seed-planting to mature crop harvesting! The farmer can't really do anything to make the process faster, he has no choice other than to wait for the natural process to unfold over time. I'll be the first one to admit that sometimes, it's the wait that is behind our greatest frustrations. We certainly can't hurry the caregiving journey. We have to take each day as it comes and walk it ...

 I do not think that all caregivers are depressed! Lol. But I do think that as a society, we deal with depression a lot. Mental health is a hot topic, and as caregivers, we have to be in charge of our own mental health. And that can be a very rough road. Not to brag, but I can go from totally elated (90 miles an hour) to utterly depressed (0 miles an hour) in just about a second and a half. Things hit us hard, and it can be a constant struggle to keep our heads above water, so to speak.  I've shared a few strategies for beating caregiver's fog, which really stems from overwhelm and emotional stress. Each day can feel like a struggle to breathe emotionally, and many of us do it alone. I think that's why Psalm 25:16 captured me. David said he was alone and depressed.  Two things the church culture doesn't want us to admit. Why? They don't know what to do with it and with us - because we cannot just confess it away. We can beat it, but we have to do it over and over a...

Does it seem to you, my fellow caregivers, that other things in life weigh a bit more than they should? It's like we carry so much that the smallest concern weighs us down even more. We often experience living grief,  and the losses seem to add up and weigh more as we go along. Even the smallest loss can send us off on an emotional journey we didn't bargain for. I don't know, maybe it's just me?!? We can be joyful, thankful, grateful, and find ways to manage and hopefully minimize caregiver stress , but it's still heavy sometimes. This is especially real for those who walk this caregiving journey alone.  Over the weekend, I read and reread Psalm 25. As I tried to unpack it all, I found there is really a lot going on in this psalm. David, the writer, is reconfirming and declaring that he will continue to trust the Lord no matter what the battle looks like, feels like, or what life throws at him. This prayerful psalm is a request for mercy. For deliverance. For God...

  As caregivers, we deal with so many things on a daily basis. I'm not even talking about the actual caregiving part! Lol. If we could sit and talk for a few minutes, we could probably make an exhaustive (no pun intended) list of extras we didn't know came with taking care of a loved one. We could start with social isolation - the alone ness. Sigh. Our anything-but-normal lives separate us from others we love at times, and we even miss out on big family events. Friends don't "get" us anymore. They don't understand that the rules of engagement  have changed. There's no more hopping in the car to grab a cup of coffee or a movie. Everything has to be planned and all the bases covered.  Then there is the financial aspect of caregiving that no one bothered to warn us about! Many have the opportunity to work from home, which is a blessing, although it's a complicated one! Some caregivers have lost their jobs, homes, and lifestyles because of caregiving.  Whe...

 I read an interesting statement this morning. The author was talking about trauma and having PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Personally, I think all caregivers probably suffer from post-traumatic stress on some level. We just don't always have time to pamper ourselves, and we often live in survival mode. There's no time to get an official diagnosis. And even IF we did, when would we have time to “treat” it? I laugh - but it's not funny, really. The author made a really good point. She said that she shifted her focus to how much she'd grown since the trauma in her life. That made me pause and think a little bit.  Has caregiving been difficult? YES! Has the journey been the hardest thing in my life, so far? Absolutely. But I have to admit that I have grown as a believer. I call my journey a redefining of faith. Nothing looks like it did - absolutely nothing. And even though I didn't get the answers I've prayed for, I have to acknowledge that I view faith ...

 I am not sure anyone but caregivers "get" our responsibilities. Sometimes, we don't "get" it ourselves. We can hear a lot of voices - and not in the crazy way, either! Lol. People condemn us for so many different things and just really don't understand our position as chief caregivers. And that's okay, they don't need  to understand. But the fact that they don't want to  can sting a little bit, am I right? The healthcare system is making financial cuts and simply does not care about the particulars of our situations. That, and many other circumstances, can leave us feeling stranded emotionally and sometimes literally. But it's all good, right? My thoughts are running along this line due to a series of events, for one. I don't need to explain to you how crazy it can get around here! Lol. Secondly, I was rereading the story of David and Goliath this morning to prepare for my morning Facebook Live devotions. David had so many voices (negati...