Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 Life is not fair. Caregiving is not fair. As time goes on, it can feel even less fair. It can seem like life cheated us out of plans, hopes, dreams, and our lives with our loved ones. I wonder if this is how Jakob felt.  Laban was a cheater; he did not play fair. Jakob was introduced to Laban's deception from the start. He made an agreement to marry Laban's daughter, Rachel. Jakob was sooooo in love with Rachel. But after the wedding was consummated and the veil removed, Jakob discovered that the love of his life, the woman he agreed to work 7 years for, had been withheld by Laban. He had just married Leah, Rachel's older sister. Talk about the old switcheroo... smh.  Laban had tricked Jakob, and he required another 7 years of service in exchange for his daughter Rachel. Jakob loved her so much he overlooked Laban's cheating, lies, and deceptive lifestyle.  Jakob struck up another deal with Laban years later. Jakob wanted to leave; Laban wanted him to stay because h...

 I cannot believe we hit 1.5 million all-time views!!  I'm thankful for every reader, every email, every comment - you guys are awesome! Thank you for taking this journey with us and for always being there. You are such an encouragement as we navigate the waters of caregiving together.  Together we've tackled the hard topics, stuff no one wants to talk about, aloneness, grief, sadness, overwhelm.. and the list goes on. But we've also talked about the God who is always faithful. The One who doesn't abandon when life gets ugly and complicated. We've redefined faith. Tightened our grip on God and His word. We've refused to give up and strengthened our determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Much appreciation for every single one of you - let's hit 2 million, whatd'ya say? Will you join me? :-) As always...thanks for reading! Jeanie .

 The other day, I fasted. Hadn't done a whole day in years! Lol. I lived. As a way to kick off the fast, I read Isaiah 58. I've always called it the "fasting chapter." But I was surprised when I found it isn't about fasting at all. Lol. (I'll be posting on my main ministry blog about it sometime this week. You can catch that blog on my ministry website Dove's Fire Ministries .) Besides my discovery that I'd been wrong all these years (lol), I found a phrase that grabbed my attention.  Isaiah is explaining that fasting is really not effective if you're not doing the works.  Of course, works don't save us. But works are a natural by-product of a heart and life fully given to God. (Check out James2) In verses 6 and 7, Isaiah is listing things that needed to be changed in the lives of those who wanted to live holy and truly "fast."  It's a good list, really. Free those wrongly imprisoned Stop oppressing those who work for you Treat wo...

  Most caregiving days are hard, period. Others are just more difficult to navigate than others. In verse 19 of Psalm 77 (yes, I'm still there! lol), it says God's path was in the sea. Asaph is referring to the Children of Israel, of course. They've just come out of Egypt. God has freed them from the clutches of slavery. It didn't take long for them to find themselves in another fix - right in the middle of God's great deliverance. There they stand, on the banks of the Red Sea after watching first-hand all of God's miracles. To make matters worse, Pharaoh's army is pressing in behind. But God told Moses to go forward. Why? Because He had already placed His path in the Red Sea.  That means that before He said Let there be light, He had laid the path for their escape.  The path was there in their scariest moment and had been waiting there all along. God didn't have to figure out what to do once they arrived on the banks of the Red Sea. He had it planned al...

 Are you sure there are only 24 hours in every day? Some days feel like they drag on forever! And for caregivers, it's not due to being bored and having nothing to do! Lol. Sometimes there are so many things demanding our attention that the day slips away before we know it. At the end of these days, it's easy to feel like we failed, with so much left undone. But we can only do so much in the 24 hours a day gives us, right? Some days, it's easy to see God's hand at work. Other days, the social isolation, loneliness, or overwhelm blinds us to what He is doing. But just because we don't see or feel  God at work in the moment doesn't mean He's not up to something. In fact, I truly believe that He made a pathway for us for each day long before it ever arrives. And of course, I have a scripture for it! :-) Take a quick read of Psalm 77. It's a passage I've returned to many times. It's written by Asaph, and he, like David, knows how to honestly pour his...

 I have fond memories of slipping my hand into my daddy's hand. Maybe he was guiding me as we crossed the road, or he didn't want me to get lost in a crowded space. My hand in his felt like the safest place on earth. And it was. Such a simple gesture to bring about great peace and make me feel safe and secure. That's the image that came to mind as I read on from Psalm 37:23, which we talked about in yesterday's devotion for caregivers. Jehovah Shammah - the One who is always there, always in our "here" takes it a step further. In verse 23, we read that He delights in being in and being present for all the details of our lives and days. In verse 24, the psalmist helps us realize that just because God is present, it doesn't mean we are perfect or that we'll never fail. I'm pretty sure I fail daily. :-) Verse 24 gives us some comfort, though. It says when they stumble - when who stumbles? The ones He is delighted to be with - US! Even when we stumble,...

 There are lots of things caregivers don't talk about. You know the nitty-gritty details of daily living. It's okay - we don't necessarily want to talk about those details, and others don't really want to hear about them. It's better if they don't know! Lol. But can I just say that God doesn't miss a thing? I was reminded of this while reading in Psalm 37 this morning. Verse 23 says that the Lord directs our steps . I know this is true - but there are days I have some questions for Him. Oh, I'll keep following Him, of course. But I do wonder how and why my steps led me here. No time to stop, though, gotta keep walking. The next part of verse 23 says that He delights  in every detail  of our lives. (NLT) Really? I'm pretty sure that when David penned this Psalm, he wasn't thinking along the lines of caregiving. Although, there was the time he took in Jonathan's son, Miphibosheth, and provided his care for the rest of his life. But this psalm s...

  For family caregivers balancing medication schedules, appointments, and household needs, emotional support challenges can quietly pile up until daily mental health starts to feel fragile. The core tension is constant responsibility paired with little time to decompress, making caregiver stress management feel like one more task on an already full list. When strain goes unchecked, caregiver burnout risks can show up as irritability, sleep trouble, or a numb “just get through it” mindset that affects the whole family. Protecting mental wellness matters because steady, day-to-day support helps caregivers stay present, patient, and clear-headed. Understanding Caregiver Mental and Emotional Wellness Mental and emotional wellness for caregivers means having enough inner steadiness to meet the day without feeling hijacked by stress. It is not constant calm. It is the ability to notice feelings, reset, and keep choices aligned with your values. Resilience grows from small, repeatab...

 When my son was involved in a tragic wreck in 2008, he didn't stop being my son. Lately, he's been making super good progress, especially noted by healthcare professionals, since he's not supposed  to make this kind of progress 17+ years out. At first, he seemed to slip away more and more every day. But the setbacks didn't make him not be my son. Caregivers know the grief and deep heart pain that goes with watching loved ones slip away one small bit at a time. Particularly, like with my mom, if there is any dementia, we lose our loved one a little at a time. Day after day. They may not be the mom, dad, aunt, or uncle we once knew - but we are still related. The difficulties don't change kinship.  I watched my independent 24-year-old son lose the ability to care for himself at all. Today, he still has to have someone do all his daily living needs. He cannot feed himself (yet). He can't take himself to the bathroom. He can't use his hands at all except to sig...

 Thanksgiving comes easily some days. But for caregivers, there are far more days when prayers of thanksgiving don't just roll off our lips. On those days, we need to take a little longer to find something to be thankful for.  As I have continued looking at the character of Daniel, I found it interesting that in his prayer time it says he was giving thanks to God. My initial response was to ask what in the world he had to be thankful for. But I love his heartitude! Even though he'd lived his life in captivity and had no hope of marrying or having a family, he found things to be thankful for. It can be very easy to get stuck and focus on all the things that haven't gone the way we thought they should. While caregivers deal daily with some level of grief, we can still find a place to be thankful, like Daniel. The scriptures don't spell out his prayers of thanksgiving; they just mention that he was giving thanks to his God. Maybe that little phrase carries more weight sinc...

 This morning, I was reading in Daniel. Oh, I've read the story many times, particularly the lion's den part. For those who grew up in church, this was a story we heard a LOT. We heard about the "three Hebrew children" and "Daniel in the Lion's Den" many times. I even remember my grandmother's old flannel graph stories. Yes, I'm that old! LOL. I admire Daniel's spiritual grit.  King Darius divided his kingdom into 120 provinces and set a prince to rule over each one. Then, he selected Daniel and two other dudes to supervise the princes. As normal for Daniel, he excelled. This made the other guys jealous. So jealous, they devised a wicked plot in hopes of getting Daniel killed legally.  First, they tried to find something, anything, wrong with Daniel and how he handled his affairs. They found absolutely no way to condemn him for anything. They had to be creative in their trickery. When they shared the plot with the king, he was so prideful tha...

Have you ever stopped to count how many all-nighters you've pulled as a caregiver? I can't imagine even trying to count how many sleepless nights I've spent. Thankfully, I haven't needed to do it for a long time, but boy, have there been a lot of them. I am pretty sure that this is not unusual for most caregivers. Those long nights are just going to happen. There's an old saying it's always darkest right before the dawn.  In nature, this holds true. I've found it mostly true sitting in waiting rooms and hospital rooms, too. But once it hits about 4 am, the night feels over and the day begins to be upon us. There are a lot of people who work nights for a living. I don't know how they do it! My daughter recently became a respiratory therapist and chooses to work nights. Soldiers often serve night watches because someone's always got to be watching in the battle. That's what David references in Psalm 130. In verse 6, David says, My soul waits for th...

 Local service business owners, community-minded entrepreneurs, and operators looking for a steadier customer base are running into a real challenge: familiar markets feel crowded while new demand is hard to spot early. Aging population trends are changing that, creating a demographic shift that’s reshaping what households need day to day and where spending is moving. As more entrepreneurs targeting seniors enter the space, the gap between good intentions and reliable, dignified support is widening, and market demand for elder services is climbing across many communities. The businesses that recognize these business opportunities in the aging sector can build growth around needs that aren’t going away. Understanding Demand in the Aging Economy Demographic trends only become business opportunities when you translate them into daily tasks that get harder with age. That means mapping shifts in older-adult households to concrete services like safe transportation, meal support, home...

 It's funny. I went to bed late last night, leaving some things undone, as usual. When I woke up this morning, they were still undone. All that means is that I am as overwhelmed this morning upon rising as I was last night when I lay down. Funny how that works.  Overwhelm is such a difficult thing caregivers deal with. I think most of us deal with it on many different levels. Taking care of the needs of a loved one is overwhelming enough all by itself. But then caregivers can have any number of other situations that add to that overwhelm. Many have outside jobs or work from home. Some are still caring for children or grandchildren. This list could go on and on, I am sure, if we all added in our "extras" that we do above and beyond our caregiving duties.  Life didn't hit pause when caregiving began. That means we still have to cook, clean, work, figure out our finances, grocery shop, and do all the things we normally  do or did, and add caregiving to it. It's a lot...

 Caregiver burnout is real. I'm pretty sure that this is what is going on with me. The other day, I got a beautiful wedding invitation from my nephew. It's a few states away, so there's no way I can try to tackle it at this time. I cried. I don't cry a lot, but that day, I cried.  Just a few months ago, I missed my niece's ceremony. They were very good about trying to accommodate, but it was just too far away, and funds were too low to even consider it.  As caregivers, we miss a lot. Maybe we get a little used to it, eventually. But it is a constant force. Oppressively pushing us down, if we let it. Even if we fight the oppression, it's a constant fight. Day after day of life trying to stuff us down into oblivion. It's easy for it to feel that way, isn't it? There's no doubt that we are engaging in a constant fight. It's work to keep pressing in. Even though we keep coming back to fully trusting Him, life can still hurt. It can still suck the bre...

Last week, I did a devotion called Hard Row . It was taken out of Mark 6. Jesus had sent the disciples across to the other side of the lake toward Bethesda. They ran into a strong wind. We focused on verse 48, which says Jesus saw: They were in serious trouble. They were rowing hard. They were struggling. If anyone can relate to those three, it's caregivers! But as we continue reading on in this chapter, there is another triplet that stands out.  Jesus saw the disciples and the difficulty they were in, and He came walking to them on the water. (He sure seemed to do that a lot!) What I found interesting was that Jesus said three things. It's all right. I am here. Don't be afraid. I am a number person (former math teacher), so it really stood out to me that He noticed three things and said three things. They were in serious trouble. It's all right. They were rowing hard. I am here. They were struggling. Don't be afraid. It was like for each emotion they were feeling, ...

Do you ever go through those patches when the difficulties of caregiving life just seem to get tougher? As if caregiving alone isn't enough to navigate, we still have some sort of "life" left to figure out, too. There are more members in most of our families than just us and our loved ones, right? We still have to figure out finances, doctor's visits, our own health, relationships (family and friends), emotions, church stuff... and the list could go on, or be shorter based on our unique circumstances. Then, we go through times when it feels like it's a fight to just breathe. But we don't get to take a breather. We have to push through with at least our caregiving tasks. No one's going to do it for us, and sometimes there's no one around to do it with us, either. There's no option but to suck it up and figure it out! So, we do. But digging out of an emotional tunnel day after day can take a toll. And that's where I was today. Tired. Double tired...

 Mark 6 is packed with things that make you scratch your head in wonder. Jesus feeds 5000 people with 7 loaves of bread and 2 fish, with the disciples giving Him a helping hand. They were part of the miracle. Verse 41 tells us that Jesus asked the Father to bless the food. In the natural, it was not enough. Once He prayed over the food, He began to break pieces off to give to the disciples, who distributed it to the crowd of hungry people. Even though they were an active part of this miracle, verse 52 says they still didn't get it because their hearts were hard and they didn't believe. What a harsh thing to say about the disciples who were following Jesus so closely. But I have no judgement because I know there are areas that I struggle with believing. But let's back up in this story just a little bit. Jesus sent the disciples across the lake toward Bethsaida, and He sent the people home. (v.45) He finally got away so He could spend some time in prayer. He must have spent a...