Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 I touch on grief a lot because it's such a part of the caregiver journey. I've experienced different kinds of grief, of course. With my mom, it was a slow-moving grief as I watched dementia slowly take her mind away. We had always been close friends and worked in ministry together. We visited via the phone almost every day, until she began her decline. I honestly didn't grieve her death as much because I lost her long before she passed. With my son, it was totally different. One day, he was an active, vibrant drum-playing, fun-loving 24 year old. The next he was nearly a vegetable. It took me a long time to figure out that I was allowed to grieve the loss of my son, even though he was technically still here. God doesn't condemn grief. I was reading in John  20, this week. which gives us the account of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. The disciples had watched their hero be brutally murdered on the cross. All their hopes and dreams were dashed. Of course, they had...

 One of the things I've really enjoyed since we moved to this apartment 3 years ago is growing plants and flowers. I have two patios that are great for growing a variety of plants. Some flowers grow out in front of the patio - the ones that love the sunshine and heat of summer. Others, I put in different pots and place them decoratively around the patio. It's something I have enjoyed now for three summers. I'm already planning next year's plants!  Among the plants are some flowering varieties. I don't like a lot of flowers due to allergies, but I like a few. Some of my plants flower at different times. They are all carefully inspected each morning when I go out to water them all. But they are also watched closely all day long as I sort of patiently wait for the flowers to open over the course of the day. I planted them. I water them. I fertilize them. I move them if they need more or less direct sunshine.  As I was tending to them this morning, I had this little vis...

 I wonder how many prayers a caregiver prays in a day. Have you thought about that much? I don't guess I have thought about it much until today. As I was leaning over my son's bed, trying to trim the fingernails on his contractured hands, I prayed. It's definitely not the first time, and certainly won't be the last time I prayed for a miracle for his hands. I wondered how many times I had prayed already.  The obvious frustration is in the praying without answers, of course. How many times have I prayed that he would speak again, walk again, or be able to move his hands again? I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I would imagine that God does. Yet, there has been no answer. Of course, I rejoice in the progress Chris has made, especially in this last year. I continue to pray. As I was rolling all of this around in my little brain this morning, I couldn't help but notice that I didn't get the answer I wanted. What do we do when God doesn't...

 I don't know about you, but I know about me. There is a lot going on in this little brain of mine. It seems like my list keeps getting longer and more difficult. It is so easy to get carried away in thoughts and plans, mostly because there is so much that has to be done on any given day (every day). After not getting much sleep at all for the last few nights, it seemed like my list of concerns was long and heavy this morning. It didn't take but a few seconds to feel like I was totally overwhelmed. I knew I had to do something to avoid the long, dark slide into the caregiver's fog. The first order of most mornings is to get a scripture together for my FaceBook Live devotions, "Peace Out." Honestly, I just didn't feel like it. Then, I told myself that I wasn't going to be talking about me - I'd be talking about God and His word. I encouraged myself to shift my focus off my long list and onto Him. So, I did. I went to Isaiah 9:6-7. There, I found a list ...

  This morning, I turned the pages of my Bible to Jonah. It's a short, powerful book about a selfish prophet, Jonah. I'm surprised he wrote it all down and revealed his true character in it. What does Jonah have to do with caregiving? Give me a minute. :-) Jonah was instructed to go to Ninevah, so he literally got on a boat going in the opposite direction. The storm came. The sailors tossed him overboard. God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. But then, God met Jonah in the belly of the whale, maybe just to show him that even in straight-up disobedience, Jonah was not beyond the reach of God's heart. (Compassion Point #1) Of course, Jonah repented and went to Ninevah to declare that because of their evil and wicked ways, God was going to wipe them out. But they repented. Like, seriously, repented with fasting and everything! And God didn't destroy them. (Compassion Point #2) All of this made Jonah mad, and he even declared that He knew God was so merciful that He wouldn...

 As caregivers, we never know what a day will bring. Even our smoothest running days are filled with challenges. The reality of our situations, even though they vary, is that we mostly navigate from one challenge to the next just to get through the day. All those normals like life-changing phone calls, unexpected bills, or other minor emergencies (Is that an oxymoron?) may interrupt an already overloaded day. There really aren't too many things that are negotiable when it comes to caregiving. Additionally, if we experience an illness, no matter how "mild" it may be, it can be catastrophic for our day, as well as our loved ones. Not feeling well for the caregiver can be scary and start a series of thoughts, fears, and anxieties. I don't know about you, but I worry about how much longer I can continue to take care of my son physically. For now - we are good, but we don't know the future, and it's always looming.  Along with the baggage of normal life, we have a...

It's all in the details. I've been an avid reader all my life. When I was a teen, I'd stop by the library on my way home from high school. I'd choose five or six books to check out and carry home with me. My plans for the weekend were to pile up on my bed or the couch or sit outside and read to my heart's content. Oh, I wasn't going to read all six books, of course. I would read all the first chapters to see which ones caught my attention. It was those little details that either captured my attention or turned me off on the book. No one likes to have to read a book that doesn't draw their interest. The details, including the conflict, are what make a story interesting, wouldn't you say? So it is with our lives, I think. We each have a caregiving story, and the details are what makes each one of them unique, complex, and interesting. The problem with our stories' personal details is that those are also the little things we have to deal with from day t...