Daily Devotions for Caregivers

As caregivers we know that days are full of lots of things. We can easily run on high all day long and still feel like we got nothing done at the end of the day. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that we do the same things over and over and over day after day after day. This is the way it is when you are caring for another person. It can be a life of repetition with the caregiver doing everything for their loved ones and then those same things for themselves. It's endless, isn't it? Sometimes I wonder just when it's all going to end. It feels like never. And if I am not carefully guarded, I can slip into a very depressed state and whine a lot.  Not that it helps. BC (Before Caregiving) I was a worship leader in the church. I stayed up on the latest trends in worship music and learned the newest songs. Tragedy has a way of robbing you of the things you love. For me one thing I loved was music. Actually, because my son was a musician prior to the accident, I could...

As a caregiver, you know those mornings when you just wake up tired. It may be after a sleepless night or having to get up all through the night to care for your loved one; but you just wake up already tired before the day has even begun. Those days you feel like you'll never have strength again and it feels like you've just always been tired. When I have those nights where sleep was constantly disrupted, my thoughts go to Isaiah 40:28. The prophet asks this question:  Do you not know? Have you not heart?  Have I heard what? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth... does not become weary or tired. Isaiah takes his readers through three descriptions of our Father: God, Lord and Creator . And then he reminds us that God does not get tired or  weary! He never runs down and never rolls His eyes - no matter what my day brings His way. He is constantly watching over us to shield us with His grace and protect our hearts with His peace. I am so ...

Ever just have a day (or series of days) where it's like you're walking around in a fog; it can be so dense you almost feel like you have to remind yourself to breathe? Those are the days where we just function to take care of our loved ones. It doesn't have to be the result of anything specific that happened...just a process that seems to recur every so often because of the day to day life of caregi ving.  After being in the caregiver's fog for a few days it just sort of lifts, doesn't it? And sometimes it is the smallest action on the part of another that causes it to go away: a simple phone card, a note in the mail - it doesn't take much for the fog to descend, but it doesn't take much for it to drift away either! And the funny thing is that it is just gone and the song in our heart returns...no warning either way - the song is gone, there's the fog, the fog is gone, there's the song! (you really aren't crazy ! - it's the caregiver'...

Proverbs 18:10 says simply: the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. There is nothing like tragedy or trouble to find out how fast we can get there! Throughout life there are many times we can find ourselves running to Him as our source of safety. Honestly, I wouldn't have any idea where else to go; and I really don't mind that at all. Those of us about 50 ish remember the 70's and how in some church circles it became the norm to sing choruses. This scripture was one that was sung frequently. If we could put a tune to it - we'd sing it! Old King James and all! And we could sing them over and over and over again! But we actually memorized them while we were doing so! And now we see a new generation coming up behind us and you know what, they are not singing it like us - but the song really hasn't changed much. And I'm finding out that even young people know where to run when trouble strikes! They have found the same comfo...

David talked about God encompassing us with songs of deliverance . Sometimes this can take on a very real look in our lives. On those days when we just don't feel like we can put one foot in front of the other He may do just this in some very unusual ways. You know the drill. A normal day for the caregiver is full of all sorts of challenges that other families don't have to think about. It's full of transfers, feeding and just general care giving specific to the needs of the loved one. And many forget that on top of all the things that caregiving demands we still have to do the normal day to day things too like cook, clean and laundry.Add to our daily regime a sickness or anything else and it can be overwhelming. And that's not even giving considerations to financial aspects! Let's face it, we need His song! Last night in a dream I actually had a friend singing me a song "she wrote." Now she is not a song writer or even a singer and the song was one ...