Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 Well, it's almost a new year, and I guess you know what that means! Pretty much nothing, huh? Oh, if we write the date now, we'll switch out the last 2 for a 3! That's about it. There's no magic potion or button that gets pushed at midnight to signal anything new except on a calendar. I do like a new year, as it gives us a chance to reassess the previous year and choose what we'd like to change, set new goals, and things like that. But really, nothing changes at midnight tonight - but that's not all bad. We'll wake up tomorrow still caregiving, still working, still doing our daily chores while the rest of the world gets to take a holiday. Hopefully, some of us will get precious time with friends or family to make the day brighter. But whatever caregiving situation we are in won't change tonight when the clock strikes 12. Again - that's not all bad! When we wake up tomorrow in a new year, we'll still have everything God promised us. We'll fin...

 Does it ever seem like your thoughts get stuck running along one track and it's hard to get them back where they need to be? Mine do. It seems I so easily get sucked into the black hole of emotions and horrible thought patterns. Honestly, it can be difficult to get my head back on the word and where it needs to be. Like David, I find I must encourage myself in the Lord  many days. Sometimes, it's many times every day. Lol. This year has had a lot of ups and downs, just like every year, right? And here we are in the last couple of days and I'm looking for ways I need to change. In the middle of that, I can be hard on myself. I'm starting to think caregivers do that a lot. Am I right? There is always something left undone at the end of the day - sometimes it's us! Lol. Each evening we can be swamped with all the things we wanted to get done and didn't. We met each demand made on us as well as we could and cared for our loved ones to the best of our abilities. But...

 I love football! I used to spend hours playing it in the yard. My mom loved it then too, but only because it kept me out of the house for entire afternoons. Lol. I am an old-school Houston Oilers fan; that's where fandom all started for me. I loved Earl Campbell and still do. As I watched him and some of the other greats from that era, I learned to love the game. More recently, since becoming a caregiver, I started enjoying college football.  Last night, I watched a bowl game. Arkansas was ahead 35 to 13. It was the final quarter, with not too much time left, when Kansas started an epic comeback. They were able to tie the game with seconds left on the clock, which sent the game into the first of a historic three overtimes. They lost in that third overtime, but they played with heart and guts. They stayed in the game when the world thought they were out. The Liberty Bowl will now go down in history as one of the most thrilling games of the season due to a team that never gave ...

 This morning, I'm running super short on time, so I thought I'd share the live devotions I did on FaceBook earlier. Plus - I have an announcement!! I'm working on creating a YouTube section just for caregivers. It'll be private, so no one can access it without the links. Let me know if you'd like to have access. Until then - here's today's devotion on being a peace agent.

  This morning, my emotions were all over the place. Who even knows why right? It just happens sometimes. Maybe it was a memory that sparked sadness or the crazy, rough dreams I had early this morning. (No, I didn't have pizza last night! Lol.) I chose to spend my morning devotions in a very familiar place - Psalm 31. It's been a long-time favorite psalm of mine, and it's loaded with good stuff to meditate on all day. I read through the entire psalm before really landing anywhere. But I had a hard time just skipping by verses 9 and 10. David describes his eyes wasting away with grief  in verse 9. Then, in verse 10, the psalmist says my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing. (NKJV) Boy, did I feel it this morning. Grief may come in waves, or it may set up camp - but it comes. I think caregivers deal with different types of grief. Those who are caring for parents miss the person their parent was and deal with the emotions of a huge role reversal. Those of us cari...

 I never dreamed that Christmases alone would be in my future. But there it was. We had invites, but life didn't give us the go-ahead, so we ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas alone this year. It was okay; I was just a little surprised that it happened to us. I don't know why. So, if you spent the holiday alone, I'm sorry. It's a sinking feeling. Sure, I tried to scan Facebook a time or two, but all I saw were all the happy families spending great times together. I just avoided social media for most of the day, got a lot of work done, and tried to push it all out of my mind. But, boy, did it nag. I wasn't really emotional about it, but it sure hung over my head all day long for the two days. I'll plan differently for next year, that's for sure. While I focused on working and getting a few projects done, I kept reminding myself that it was no big deal. But nagging thoughts like I'm not important to anyone kept trying to gain ground in my head....

 The holidays are particularly hard for many caregivers. I'm kinda used to not getting together with family during the holidays; there's usually some reason. Last year, we'd been exposed to Covid on Christmas Eve and missed the family get-together. Today, it's just too cold to take Chris out, even though it's warmed up to a balmy 16 degrees! Not being able to celebrate traditional holidays can make the loneliness we feel year-round seem even deeper. I'm so thankful that His grace is enough to carry us through every lonely moment. Sometimes, it's in the darkest hours of our souls that we find His sustaining grace.  We can rest assured that His grace is enough for the holidays too. Jesus doesn't take Christmas off, even though He could celebrate His "birthday." Lol. Whether we have a house full of loved ones and gifts, or we are spending the days alone with our loved ones, His grace is enough.  About this time of year, I start reflecting on the y...