Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts

The Blessing

 


Ever have those days where it seems like one bad (or mostly bad) report follows another? Yesterday was one of those days for me. It wasn't super horrible stuff, but just not the best news either. I mulled it over in my mind and overthought all this new information. Because that's what I always do - until I turn to get God's answer. lol. I know, I'm weird. But my hyperactive analytical mind has to run information through all these formulas. You know what though, the answer is always to trust Him. 

As I was thinking about all this early in the morning, I thought about Job. He's one of my all-time favorite Bible characters. He stayed the course in some of life's stormiest seas. He navigated his life's boat right toward God no matter what presented itself. So I turned my Bible over to the first couple of chapters and read the account again. Job didn't even have time to process information on that day. One person after another came bearing bad news - it kept saying while he was still speaking...more bad news. On my absolute worst days it was never quite that overwhelming. 

To top it all off, since we've read the whole book of Job, we know there is more bad news coming, right? Job's response elicits the blessing. He first, allowed himself to mourn. He immediately tore his robe and shaved his head. (Job 1:20) In his culture, this was an outward sign of the deep distress of a soul. Then, he worshipped God. Why? Because God hadn't changed even with all the bad news, grief, and mourning - Job still trusted God.

James 5:11 says we count them blessed who endure. Think about that for a moment. Where do we draw inspiration from? Usually, it's from someone who's been through or who is going through. If I was trying to write devotions for caregivers without ever walking that road myself - who would read it? lol. We relate because we understand the inward struggles, the outward struggles, the mourning, and more that come with caregiving.

We look at Joseph, Daniel, Job, and all our Bible heroes with admiration for sticking with God during their struggles. We know the end of each of these stories and how God gets the glory and blessed each of them. We draw courage to face another day because we know just like them, we are not facing this day alone. We choose to trust Him for one more day - and we do it every.single.day.

Today, I will remind myself of these stories where God walked with these heroes through their trials. I'll remind myself that God didn't leave them stranded, that His grace was enough - even in the Old Testament to carry them through. I'll tell myself that He's going to carry me through today too - as I lean in to Him and trust Him more. Will you join me in trusting Him for one more day?


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The In and Out of it All

Chris making one of his looks

 In my reading this morning, I reached the story of Abraham, Sarah, and one of our favorites, Hagar. My mind stayed on the rejection Hagar must have felt. She was 'just a servant' in Abraham and Sarah's house. When she became Abraham's "wife" nothing really changed much for her, except that she became pregnant. I was thinking about all the rejection she had to have felt as I reread her story again. 

Then, my mind skipped ahead as I thought about how I'll be reading the story of Leah and Rachel as I continue to move through Genesis. What rejection these ladies went through, right? I thought a lot about how God met them where they were and how He touched and orchestrated their lives. I started thinking of others in the scriptures who endured rejection and could have let it stop them from being - from loving - from serving - from anything really. 

My mind stopped on the three Hebrew children and Daniel. They were captives. God delivered the mighty three from the fiery furnace, right? And Daniel was delivered straight from the lion's den. Remarkable and amazing stories of real faith heroes in scriptures. But did you ever stop to think that after their great deliverances they were still captives? 

God met these heroes in the fire, in the lion's den, at the well, etc. But He didn't change their natural circumstances, they remained. How we would be amiss if we didn't recognize God's power intervening in situations even if our circumstances never change. We may never know why God intervenes when and how He does sometimes and then other times seems silent. Maybe He's just sitting there looking and waiting for those perfect spots to step out of eternity and touch us in time. 

Our heroes continued to trust God for the day-to-day even after God intervened in a single situation without changing their overall circumstances. God saved them in their situation - not out of it. God can walk into our today too and make a difference. And while our situations remain the same day after day, He is always right here to act on our behalf and meet our most basic natural and supernatural needs.

Today, I will think about how He intervenes for me so often. I'll go back and think about how He changed situations I thought couldn't change, how He rearranged things that I thought would stay the same. My heart will be thankful for His interventions in my life and I'll meditate on His continued goodness and care as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

Just a Slave Boy


 I love the story of Daniel and this morning during my daily devotions, I read through the first few chapters. I am awed by their dedication and commitment to God even though they became captives in a foreign land. We see God gives them wisdom that far excelled the pagan magicians and wizards in the land. They were even made rulers over all of Babylon. (Daniel 2:48-49)

Moving ahead to Daniel 6, the jealous princes were trying to destroy Daniel. They devised a wicked plot and tricked the king into making a decree. When they came back to report to the king that Daniel had disobeyed by praying to God, they referred to him as "one of the captives from Judah." Never mind that he was the ruler of all the provinces of Babylon, right?

Sometimes in life, we encounter people who refuse to see us for who we are. As a caregiver, many times people only see us as a caregiver. They don't see us as Bible teachers, preachers, ministers, writers, or anything else. It's like how David's brothers refused to see him as any more than a shepherd boy even though they witnessed Samuel anoint him as king. (They should have played their cards a little better. lol)

It's hard for people to see past our caregiver's status to the person we are inside. We still have desires, dreams, thoughts, ideas (and good ones!), and aspirations. But it's easy for others to lock us into the caregiver's box as though nothing else about us exists. What's worse - is it is far too easy for us to do that to ourselves!

Maybe we should ask how God sees us. Does He see us as full-on God-seekers? Does He see each of us as the whole person that we are? Doesn't He continue to see us as His child, one He calls His own? When others (or ourselves) see us as abandoned, forsaken, worthless, unworthy, - or any other term you feel right now - He sees us as cherished, prized, loved, needed - and His.

Today, I'll turn my meditations to what He thinks about me. My thoughts will be on how He cherishes His relationship with me! How He loves me and desires to be with me - constantly. He never gets tired of me or needs a break from me. I'll think about how he longs to be even closer to me - if and when I allow it. I'll try to focus on His thoughts about me today. Will you join me in focusing on His thoughts about YOU?

In Focus

This morning I was thinking about some of the people in the Bible who went through rough times. Honestly, it's those who endured hard places that earn the respect of believers, right? We never look at someone Bible character or not and think oh, they have never faced any difficulties - I respect them so much.  lol. It's the fact that people walk through life's stuff with their faith intact that earns our admiration and respect. I like to read biographies and autobiographies - but it's the things the main character endures that make the story inspirational and interesting.


I thought back about David and how when Samuel the prophet came to anoint "one of Jesse's sons" as king - no one remembered to go get David from tending the sheep. He had the choice of focusing on rejection - but he didn't make that his focus.

Then, I thought about Daniel, not just in the lion's den. He was taken captive as a young lad and lived nearly his entire life as a slave in a foreign land. He could have focused on his captivity. He could have focused on the oppression. But he didn't. He remained faithful to God even without godly guidance from others.

I've been thinking about Ruth a lot and have shared some thoughts about her in an earlier blog. She came to mind again this morning. We often think about the end of the story and how Boaz redeemed her and she became one of the four women mentioned in the lineage of Christ. But we forget she lost her husband at an early age before she had any kids. She was a widow and must have endured an enormous amount of grief. She stayed with her deceased husband's mother and traveled with her to a distant land. She could have focused on her own grief and sorrow. But she did not.

Over the last couple of years, we've all seen unprecedented sorrow and grief. We're still enduring a pandemic and the added stress. As if caregivers didn't have enough daily stress already! Right? :-)

But we still have a choice of what to focus on. Even on our darker days when chores necessary for our loved one's care weigh us down, we can choose our focus. Like these and other heroes of the faith - we can look past our circumstances and see Him. We can pray like Daniel, sing like David, and be as committed as Ruth even in the midst of our struggles. God honors that.

Today, I will shift my focus from my situation to His situation! I'll lift my eyes to Him - my help, the sustainer of my soul, my comforter, and ever-present King. I'll look past whatever is on my plate to the One who provides, shelters, cares, and continues to love me in the midst of life's struggles and storms. I will thank Him for being right here - right now. Will you join me in enjoying His presence today?

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Time intrigues me and I have studied it a lot. Quantum physics fascinates me although I must say I don't understand it. I'm a very casual student of it. Casual in that I don't dive too deep into it at all - but I still find it fascinating. I actually try to avoid the subject because I can get deep into it and lose hours of my day. lol. But during my private devotions this morning, there it was again.

In Daniel 2, the king requested an interpretation to a dream and God gave the dream and interpretation to Daniel. Since it was a life or death situation, Daniel and his friends were praising God for deliverance when Daniel said, And He changes the times and the seasons (v.21 NKJV). I was like times? When did it become plural? I was also reminded of a phrase I had seen in the psalms and found it in Psalm 31.

David says my times are in Your hands in Psalm 31:15. Personally, this is a statement of trust - saying to God that whatever comes while I am walking this journey through time, I am in Your hand. I camped out in this psalm for awhile as it spoke to me today right where I am...in time.

In verse 15, David is ultimately trusting the outcome of his situations to God when he says, my times are in Your hand. Just before this statement, the psalmist says, but as for me, I trust in You O Lord. When I have prayed and placed or acknowledged my times are in His hand it's been a statement of faith, one of complete surrender and trust. Then, David continues with a prayer deliver me from the hand of my enemies.

As caregivers, our enemies are not always physical. For me, it's fear, doubt, uncertainty, and discouragement for starters. These things war at our souls constantly and they can simply wear us down and wear us out. I believe God can help us face those things that war against our souls. God can deliver us from these enemies of our souls as we continue to trust Him.

Today, I will say one more time that my times are in His hand as I continue to trust Him for today. My meditation will be on His peace and the grace He gives to face this day, this spot in time. I'll trust Him to deliver me from fears, doubts, and all the other things that war against my soul, my mind, will and emotions. I'll take each fear, negative thought, and doubt to Him and express it to Him - give it to Him and trust that my times and my soul are in His hand. Will you join me?

Onward! (Wherever that may be!)

One foot in front of the other. How many times have I used that phrase to explain to people how I "do it"? Something just kicks in and you do what you have to do; and you just keep on doing it. I guess it is moving forward - or going "onward," but it can feel like we are going around in circles. Continuously. Never ending.

It can feel like everyday is the same as the day before with the exact same chores to do. You know the drill. There's bathing, transferring, dressing, feeding, transferring again, laundry, and ton of little chores to do that make the bigger ones easier. Eventually, even the little surprises become part of the routine. You know those things all too well too. There's case managers who forget to order supplies, or can't get the order right....ever, aides that don't show up the day you finally decided to go do something, or nurses trying to cram all her visits in during the last week of the month. Those are just a few of the things that I can think of off the top of my head. It sometimes feels (to me) like we face the giant every day.

David only faced one Goliath, Daniel only visited the lion's den once, it can feel like we face Goliaths and lion's dens every day sometimes. These are just a couple favorite Bible stories we like to share, stories where God made a victor out of a common person. There are other stories demonstrating God's sustaining power too. For instance, Noah only built one ark, but it took him years. Job was only sick one time, but it wasn't just a one day thing; and he never got his kids back. Gideon and Joshua faced battle after battle - there was never just one battle and it was over. Even David spent years running from Saul's spear until he finally became king. And of course there's Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and spent years in slavery and prison before he ever saw the throne God promised. But all these faithful men walked onward in their faith no matter what they faced. We can too.

We can continue to move forward in our faith even though every day presents obstacles before us. Whether it is the one-time looming giant or sticking with the building of an ark, we can press on into Him. I'm not saying it's always (or ever) easy, but if these guys can hold to the faith in the situations they faced on a daily basis, we can too. Even if we don't see an end in sight. Just like God was there for them in whatever it was they faced, He's here for us too. And that's why we can continue to push onward.

It can be difficult since we can't see how our story ends yet. News flash: they couldn't either. We can read their whole stories in the matter of a few minutes and forget that they walked it out over years. But they held on to faith in Him. All those years in a dark dungeon didn't stop  Joseph from believing. As a matter of fact when he was dying - he told them they were to take his bones with him when they left Egypt. He never gave up hope - even in death.

Today my goal will be to stay focused on Him rather than my situation. My meditations will be on His ever abiding presence that does not leave my faith stranded. I can always trust in Him to keep my soul. I will turn my thoughts to how He continues to walk this walk with me - I don't go onward (wherever that may lead) without Him. We are inseparable. So today I will think about how inseparable God and I are - will you join me?

The Power of Determination

Over the weekend, I spent most of my study time reading in Daniel. For this week, he's my favorite Bible character, and I continue to learn from reading about his faith in the midst of his life's trial. Like caregivers, his trial didn't miraculously go away one day; it was a lifelong journey. Actually, the 12 chapters this book contains cover a lifetime of over 70 years. Sometimes we tend to read through it in a matter of a few minutes without realizing the time element.

70 years he was in captivity. He lost his family, his country and his life to become the servant of a king. While there is the good side of things - we can't minimize the losses he went through. He was young when he was carried away to Babylon but we see him develop into a man of God in the midst of extreme circumstances.

I literally lived in the ICU waiting room for 3 weeks before my son was moved to the floor of the hospital and during that time I prayed that whatever the outcome would be - I wouldn't become bitter. There had been many instances where I'd seen individuals go through tough times to come out bitter and angry in the end. And about 18 months later when I was able to re-establish a home and bring my son home finally - I prayed again that I would not become bitter but that I would be like many saints who let harsh circumstances develop and deepen their faith.

I don't know if I've accomplished that goal - but I see it in Daniel. In chapter one, it says he was determined not to eat the king's food. He did not want to violate his convictions - and he knew he could die. The king could kill him for his request; or he could starve to death! He could have been kicked out of the palace and placed with those who were not "chosen" by the king to serve. He risked a lot by making his unusual request.

And then years later we see a matured Daniel being told he could not pray to anyone but the king. And in chapter 6 verse 10 tells us this: when Daniel learned the law had been signed (that there was to be no prayer to anyone or any god but the king) he went home and knelt down as usual....and prayed! I love that!

I want to have the determination we see in Daniel. It was like nothing on the outside mattered, he was determined to serve God no matter what. The scriptures make no mention of him being bitter or angry at God for all that befell him. And in our "new world" thinking - he had every right to be. As caregivers the world gives us that right too. And I will admit - I've been angry at God, He and I have discussed it many times - and we don't have any details on what Daniel was thinking - perhaps he and God had discussed it too.

My prayer today is that over the years of this caregiving journey I end up like Daniel - with my face in His. I love the way Daniel took the king's decree in stride and once again followed his heart and conviction rather than just blindly doing whatever the king said. He wasn't obstinate, rebellious, or hateful. He just turned and went to his prayer spot just like before - as if the decree had never been made.

Today I will be thinking about Daniel and how determined he was to serve God in spite of his circumstances. My meditations will be on how I can work on relationship with God instead of being angry that He let bad things happen in my life. I will think about how He walks through it with me and never leaves me on my own. And for me, I'll even think about how patient He has been, and continues to be as I work through my issues. Today, I will embrace His grace and His presence and focus on Him instead of my circumstance. Will you join me?

What a Wait!

I've never been very good at awaiting no matter what the situation. From doctor's offices to DMVs to standing in line at WalMart - I just don't do well. It may be that my mind is going a hundred miles an hour, or it could be that I finally have time to think of all the things I could be doing instead. Whatever it is about my makeup waiting just doesn't fit me well.

We've talked a lot in our devotions about waiting on God and maybe I have seen just a tiny bit of improvement since I've become a caregiver. We have some great examples of men and women of faith who waited on God patiently; and some who waited not-so-patiently too. Abraham and Sarah waited for years for God to fulfill His promise; and Joseph waited many years for his dream to come true. When we read the scriptures we can cover several chapters in a matter of minutes and it can be easy to forget that years passed between one chapter and the next.

Last night I was reading in Daniel. I love his story and how he remained faithful to the Lord even though he was in a tough physical situation. We can read this entire book in just a few minutes but we are talking 70 years from the first chapter to the last. That's a lifetime of waiting.

In chapter 9 of Daniel, we find him looking back over the prophecies that were given by Jeremiah. Daniel had most likely read and reread these prophecies during his captivity and he recalled that God promised it would only last 70 years; and it had been 70 years. That's a long time to keep the faith and to continue to trust God through daily adversity. As caregivers, our journeys are not always super smooth or pleasant but most of us have not been in our situation for 70 years.

So Daniel realizes that the 70 years are complete according to the Word of the Lord and he sets himself in prayer. Toward the end of the ninth chapter, he prays this:

Our God listen to the prayer of Your servant,
and to his supplications
For Your sake, O Lord 
Let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
O my God, 
Incline Your ear and hear!
Open Your eyes and see our desolations...

Caregiving can be a lonely place and sometimes, like Daniel, we just need God to hear and to see us. Our challenge is remaining faithful during the trials of day-to-day living. It can be difficult to be patient. And while there are some pleasant days - each day can be filled with hard work that leaves us exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally at the end of the day.

Today as we take care of our loved one, let us meditate on simply remaining faithful in our walk with God and meditating on the truth that He has not left us to walk it alone. 

This will be my meditation today - will you join me?

Committed to the Journey

The last few days we've been looking at three men of faith: Job, Noah, and Daniel. These are three of my Bible heroes along with many others. But these three men are mentioned together in Ezekiel 14. Twice, the Lord told Ezekiel that if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land they would be delivered through righteousness. They couldn't "delver" anyone else, but they would be saved if the land was destroyed. I have spent much time pondering why He listed these three men.

What happened to Abraham, the friend of God? What about David, the man after God's own heart? Why not Moses, the one with whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to his friend? What made Job, Noah and Daniel's stories so unique that God said these three men could deliver their own soul by their righteousness? Their situations were not similar, neither were their trials. Actually, all three faced difficult adversities of very different types. Like the caregiver has to do many times, they faced them alone.

Daniel stood by faith while he was a captive in a foreign land, Noah stood by faith in a wicked generation, and Job stood alone in the face of losing everything. No one could do it for them; and no one can carry your load for you either. Oh it's nice when someone comes to walk alongside you and it really helps to have friends or family along for the ride. But no one can do the caregiving for you. Like these three men of faith we must live what we know - we must live by faith whether we do it alone, or if others are with us on this journey.

We must be committed to the journey. The three men listed here in Ezekiel were committed to the journey of faith and they didn't let life's trials detour them. We as caregivers must be adamant about our journey of faith as well. I've found that it's not so much that I am keeping the faith; but rather it's faith that's keeping me. Our job as caregivers is a difficult one no matter what particulars we deal with each day. But we must keep putting one foot in front of the other, walking by faith. Sometimes we cannot see exactly where we are going and there certainly is no end in sight; but by faith we continue to seek God's direction for each day and simply walk it out like Job, Noah and Daniel. They did not let go - they continued to trust even in adversity.

I admire the tenacity of these three men; and I want to model it in my own life. They rocked their world because of their faith; and we can too.

Today I will meditate on what my faith means to me. I will turn my thoughts to how I can determine to trust Him more for each step I must take today. And I will thank Him that He is with me as I am committed to this journey of faith. Will you join me?

Quick Escapes

When I first brought my son home I could not transport him by myself. Due to the head injury, he was very stiff and  sometimes wouldn't bend once you got his stood up. This made it difficult to get him in a vehicle. Add to that the fact that I was inexperienced at transfers and let's just say we stayed home a lot! Eventually, I was able to get a handicap van and we enjoyed a brief amount of freedom. It was short-lived as the van is very old and needs a lot of work. Presently it sits in a parking spot outside my apartment. I'm pretty much stranded. You might say I am a captive in my own house for the most part. I do have the option of public transportation and use it a couple of times a week.

Even though I sometimes feel like a captive in my own house, it's nothing compared to what others like Daniel have gone through. In the first chapter of Daniel we find the story of the captivity of a great number of Israelites. He found himself in great adversity. He was:

  • Held captive 
  • Physically mistreated and mutilated
  • Made incapable of having children
  • In a land foreign to his own
  • Separated from his family
Even though Daniel was in a state of adversity, he made up his mind about some things. In the first chapter, verse 8 the Bible tells us that he "purposed in his heart" to not eat the king's food. He refused to defile his body. Daniel was taking a big change here; he could have been killed simply for refusing.Here he was facing great adversity and a life that had become very complicated but he choose to hold to his convictions.

The caregiver's life can be a state of adversity. We can feel like we are held captive by the situation; and at times it seems like everyday is a battle. But like Daniel, we can make up our minds to be pure, to follow our convictions and hold true to the Word of God. We can choose to follow peace in our heart and not allow things in our lives that displease the One we serve.

God saw Daniel's dedication to Him. He did not offer him a quick escape from his situation. There is likely no quick escape for the caregiver. Instead, we see that Daniel was content in the situation and trusted that God would take care of him. Like Daniel we can't just look for quick escapes out of difficult situations, we must determine in our hearts that we will live a life of purity even in adversity. We must determine that we will live a life of purity and holiness before the Lord and not use our adversity for an excuse. We ultimately must trust Him for the safety of our hearts.

Today I will trust Him with my heart. I will purposefully evaluate my life to see if there is anything that might be displeasing to God. And I will remove it. I will not look for a quick escape - I'll look for a way to honor Him in my situation. Will you join me?

Daniel on Prayer

While I was studying this morning my Bible kind of fell open to Daniel. I didn't really read but a verse or two, but I just started thinking about this man. He is one of my favorite Bible characters and I know I mention him a lot. But I just cannot imagine enduring the things Daniel had to face in his lifetime.

 He was pretty young when they went into captivity at which time he was castrated and was basically made a slave. He was trained for service to the king, but he lost his life, dreams and hopes in the process. He would never do the normal things like get married, buy land and have children. It had all been stolen from him.

 Yet even when Daniel faced such great adversity, he continued to pray daily. It was not just a fluke, he was not trying to use prayer to make anything better or even to get out of captivity at this point. It seems his prayers and efforts did not turn that direction until he found where God has specifically told Jeremiah that it would be 70 years of captivity. When he found what God said on it that is when he moved toward it; by now he was an old man.

I guess there are two things that stand out to me in this book. One is that Daniel maintained his integrity before God and continued the things he had purposed in his heart. He prayed every day - three times a day. And the second thing that sticks out is that he waited for God's timing. He was not whiny (like me) and questioning God's judgment all the time - he went for relationship. Then he got his answer when it was God's time.

 As caregivers we live what can seem to others as a castrated life. Many think that we cannot be productive shut in with our loved ones. But I beg to differ with that train of thinking. Our situation - no matter how difficult it becomes - cannot hinder our relationship with our God. Actually, many times it seems to enhance it!

 Today, if I can encourage anyone at all, I would say - keep your integrity before our God. Don't let the situation rule you - no matter how difficult it seems (and boy do I know!) we must continue to pray and seek the Lord. What we do with Him will last for eternity...

We Have What Is Needed

There's an interesting scripture in the first chapter of Daniel. It says And God gave these four men an unusual appetite for learning the literature and science of the time. It's interesting in several different ways. For one, the church and science tend to be at odds a lot of the time, yet we see here that God caused them to enjoy science (and I'll throw in math too!! lol). Sometimes education and "faith" can collide as they seem mutually exclusive - even though they are actually very complimentary.

But the most interesting is that God gave Daniel (and the three Hebrew boys) the ability to learn. They were captives in a foreign land. They had been elevated to live in the castle with the king, but only to see if they could cut the mustard and achieve the high slave status of serving the king. Yet God gave them the ability to learn. Basically, God put in them what they would need to make it through their trial. And trust me, they were tried!

First they are taken from their home land by force only to be made to serve in the king's court. Daniel was royalty in Judah. But here in Babylon he was stripped of his ability to have a "normal" life. He could not marry and bear children and go to war as many young men most likely dreamed about. He was made to be impotent...and forced to serve. Yet God gave him what he would need to make it through.

Remember on in the book of Daniel - he will find himself thrown into a den of hungry lions while the other three will face the fiery furnace...and all because they would not bow to the idolatry around them. Of course this all started here in chapter one when they decided that they would not be defiled with the king's meat. They were not the icon for vegetarianism we try to make them! They simply refused to eat meat offered to idols...they chose purity even if it might mean getting thrown out of the king's palace; or death.But they had been given what they needed to get through the trials.

2Peter 1:3 says to us today His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. He has given us what we need to make it through today. It doesn't matter what it looks like, feels like or what kind of trap reality has set for us! We can make it through the fires of today!

Just like God gave Daniel what he was going to need to survive in Babylonian captivity, He has given us what we need to make it through our particular circumstances! It's up to us to trust Him and not bow to idolatrous ways when they present themselves to us. So cheer up! We have what we need to make it through this journey!

Good Days N Bad Days

Life is made up of a series of good and bad days. Without either one it would be one boring journey. Think about your life if every day offered exactly the same emotions, feelings and happenings as the last. There was a movie about one day repeating itself over and over one time!

It's no different for the caregiver. Each day brings events that may range all the way from exhilarating to depressing. The irony of it is that we have to deal with that whole range of emotions, sometimes all in one day, while still fulfilling our roles as caregivers!

Our favorite Bible characters were no different. The Bible doesn't contain stories of super human people, some more progressive race of people. It is all about people just like you and me who dealt with their everyday lives just like we do today. But it tells us of how many of them stood through life as they endured their series of good and bad days.

I don't think Gideon was thinking about how good of a day he was having while having to hide to thrash wheat to provide for his family. David didn't seem to be having all good days while he was running from cave to cave hiding from Saul. We have to remember that God spared the three Hebrew children in the fire  not from it! Daniel did get thrown in the lion's den not kept out of it.

Our Bible heroes went through  something - or there would be no story to tell. The marvel isn't that they were spared hardship but rather that the stood in the midst of the trial. I'm not sure my story would be as faith-filled as theirs, but I do want the end to be that I stood through the storm rather than bending beneath the load. Today, remind yourself of your favorite Bible story and character. Think about what they went through that makes their story of faith so intriguing. Rest in the arms of the same God who carried them through as you realize He will carry you through (not always around) just as well as He carried them.

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...