Daily Devotions for Caregivers

This morning, I revisited Psalm 31. There is so much packed into those 24 verses. I've begun work on a devotional called  31 Days in Psalm 31.  It's so rich. In my reading this morning, I stopped once again in verse 7 where David says, You have known my soul in adversities.  I love that part of the verse. The soul is the innermost seat in us - it houses our mind, will, and emotions.  I'm not telling fellow caregivers anything new when I say our emotions and our minds can be all over the place. We can go from extreme happiness to debilitating depression in a matter of minutes. Our highs and lows can be triggered by a photo, a hope, a loss, or a single word. Sometimes, nothing in particular can cause us to fall off the edge - we live on it. But God keeps up with it all and never misses a thing. So I let my mind camp there for a bit and consider how God keeps up with the daily adversities of caregiving. In Psalm 139:23, David prays for God to know his anxious thou...

As caregivers, we can often be surrounded by a sea of people and still feel all alone. Our day to days are so different, we can't engage in some conversations. Long vacations, weeks off to do nothing, or retirement are out of our league. Others can't understand caregiving talk either - if they haven't walked it. It can be difficult to know where to put the emotions associated with such social isolation and alone-ness. Late last week I was working through these kinds of feelings and emotions when I thought about the scripture that says, David encouraged himself in the Lord. I found it in 1 Samuel 30:6. As I was meditating on it a thought occurred to me.  David was alone. Perhaps he was in the most alone spot in his life.  The Philistines had rejected his offer to join their efforts. He returned "home" to Ziklag to find it ransacked and all his goods, women, children and other stuff - gone! It says he was greatly distressed since all the people were talking of s...

Yesterday, I talked about quietly searching for Him and today I wanted to take it a bit further. As I finished up yesterday's blog, I thought of another passage meaningfully a part of the discussion. You'll find it in Isaiah 30:15. God is talking into a particular situation when He says through the prophet Isaiah: Only in returning and waiting for Me will you be saved. In quietness  and confidence is your strength. I've learned that a confident person doesn't have to talk about it a lot. They are quiet and sure of what they know. This is unlike someone who needs to prove to everyone else they are "all that and a bag of chips." They spout and talk and wear everyone out with their words. But someone who is sure - can be quiet about it. They don't brag or flaunt, or act like they have anything to prove. When we are confident in the Lord - quietness comes. There are times (a lot of them) when we need to be quiet and let our confidence be in Him. Actua...

Lately, I've been searching for something. On one hand, I have looked for it in music, like what I have currently is missing a piece. I am not sure what it is I am looking for, but I've tried downloading new music and listening to my old albums too. It's nowhere yet - but perhaps I'll find it soon. As a caregiver, it feels I am on a search too. Sometimes, I am looking for God's hand in the day-to-day which, by the way, is anything but mundane. It may be lonely. But there's never a dull moment. There are times when God steps in and kisses my day and I am so aware of His presence. Then there are long strings of days where I honestly don't feel Him at all and must continue to trust that He is near as He promised in His word. Either way, it's like my soul is quietly searching for His interaction in my day, in my world, in my life. Even in my darkest moments when I wasn't sure where He was or what I believed any more - as He was redefining my faith,...

My Bible sort of fell open to 2 Chronicles this morning and I read through a few stories of kings. It was interesting how one king would serve God and the next would not. After a few chapters, I thought - it really is a matter of the heart. It's a choice we all have to make whether to serve him or not, whether we are kings or peasants. In 2 Chronicles 28 Ahaz became king. but his heart wasn't right with God, scriptures say he was unfaithful. Verse 22 stood out to me this morning - it says this And when trouble came to King Ahaz, he became even more unfaithful to the Lord. (NLT) I'm not really sure why that verse struck me so this morning. You see, for most of us, trouble leads us back to Him. For many, it's the only time they pray. lol. As caregivers, every day brings "trouble." It can be something that seems as simple as fears. For me - I fear not being enough, not making the right decisions for those I care for, or not being able to take care of them. T...

I chose this picture today for our look at God being our shelter because we were taking shelter under a tree to avoid the hot sun! I'm still meditating in Psalm 62:5-6. I'm looking at how David said God is our rock, shelter, and fortress  and how each of these provides a different level of protection. Yesterday, we looked at the rock - which can be beneficial to hide behind or get on top to see what the enemy is up to and which way he's coming from. Today, we'll look at how God is our shelter. A shelter protects us differently than a rock or fortress can. Job 24:8 says this: they are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter. In other words, whoever "they" is in this reference didn't have a shelter and hugging a rock won't protect you from getting wet. lol It also won't protect you from the heat of the sun when it bears down on you. But a shelter will. A shelter is something you get up under. I've been in the woo...

This is not a rock in the picture - it's actually a stack of hay that was about 2-3 stories tall. I climbed it during an obstacle course run one weekend. I felt like I had conquered all from up there! Honestly, I'm just using it because I can't find a picture of me on a rock. :-) I'm going to break down the three positions in Him I pointed out in yesterday's devotion. After I posted it, I started thinking about each of the ways God protects us as listed in Psalm 62:6. He can be our rock - our shelter - our fortress. Let's think about a rock - a BIG rock first. I can hide behind it. If it's big enough I can crouch down and my enemy will never be able to see me. I am safely hidden from approaching harm. I can't really get under a rock - but I can position  myself behind it so that it is all my enemy sees as he approaches. We can hide behind Him - He protects us from direct onslaughts of the enemy. But here's a cool thing about a rock. I can al...