Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 As one year comes to an end and another begins, it's customary to look back over the last year and assess all of its ins and outs. We also tend to look forward and set new goals for the upcoming year. I've been doing some reflecting on 2023 the last few days, and it's not all bad. Every year, every month, every week, and every day can present various challenges for caregivers; there's no doubt about that. But I found us in Isaiah 25 during my personal devotions this morning. It's a prophecy being given by Isaiah, the prophet. I'm honestly not sure what it was pertaining to at the time, but I found some interesting nuggets in the reading. Isaiah starts out praising God for all He's done and for being faithful and true. That's always a good place to start because it's solid. We can continue to count on God to be there for us no matter what twists and turns our journies take.  In verse 4, Isaiah says that God has been a strength for the poor. I'd s...

 I really don't know how to dance. What I do, though, is probably not called "dancing." Lol. Lately, I've learned that moving to a good-sounding song from the 60s or 70s can provide a lot of stress release. Probably because I laugh so hard at my silly self - or the way Chris looks at me while I'm trying to dance. Lol. It's still fun. It's still a great way to naturally release energy and stress, so pull the blinds, crank up the stereo or Bluetooth speakers, and go for it! You're welcome!  Being able to express our stress is important for our physical and mental stress, and dancing is just one option. The good thing about it is I don't have to find a sitter, pay a sitter, or go anywhere in inclement weather. I can enjoy a good time and a great laugh right here in my living room where no one can see me. As I was thinking about my dance therapy discoveries of late, I thought about the dance of caregiving. No one really officially invited us to the dan...

 I just want to say that trusting God is not a new thing. This morning, I was reading in Galatians 2:20 about how the life we now live, we live by faith  in Christ. On the same page, in my Bible is Galatians 3:11, which says the just shall live by faith.   What I found interesting about that verse is that it is a quote out of the Old Testament. (Habakkuk 2:4) That sparked a long line of thoughts. Living by faith is not a new thing, then. I took a few minutes to consider some of my favorite Bible heroes. Turns out, they all  lived by faith. Each of them trusted God in the middle of their circumstances.  I thought about Abraham first. After all, he's considered the "father of our faith." He believed what God told him, and we are still reaping the spiritual benefits of his actions. I thought about Moses who trusted God enough to go get His people out of bondage in Egypt. Back further than both of these guys sits Noah. I often admire how he heard God so clearly...

 Solace is a funny word; it's a bit antiquated, as we don't hear it or use it much anymore. But this morning, in my studies, it just made sense. I was reading in 2 Thessalonians. In chapter 2, verse 16, Paul says that God has given us "everlasting consolation." I looked "consolation" up in the Strong's thinking that it may mean peace. I was going to use it for my FaceBook Live devotions, "Peace Out." I was a bit surprised that it didn't mean peace at all.  Consolation actually means solace. Well, I had to look that word up in the dictionary as I have heard it before but didn't have a good grasp of its actual meaning. It does mean comfort, which is what my initial thoughts were. But solace means a specific type of comfort - during grief. That's where I could connect with it as a caregiver. We face so many different facets and levels of grief as a caregiver. Many times, there is nowhere to put them. It took me a long time to realize I...

 This morning, I went back and reread Proverbs 18:10. What a great reminder to run to God! It says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." I began to learn at an early age that I could run to God. My first lesson came when I was just 8 years old. My mom had to go to the laundry mat to dry our clothes. She couldn't use the clothesline (yes, I'm that old!) because it had been pouring rain for hours. My baby brother was in his crib sleeping, and Mama left me there with him (the '60s were great, weren't they? Lol)  She probably was only gone long enough to dry a load of clothes, but while she was gone, water got in the floor furnace and caused the flame to grow much larger than normal. To my 8-year-old eyes, it looked like the flames were going to leap out and consume us all! Lol. I was terrified and had no clue what to do. So, I gathered my little brother up in my arms. He was a tiny baby, and I took him to the living room...

 I was reading Isaiah this morning, and a verse in chapter 45 stumped me. It also pulled my attention right in. I love it when scriptures stand out, especially ones we don't quite understand! It's easy for us to read around the ones we don't understand to grab hold of what we need at the moment, isn't it? I've read verse 7 before, where Isaiah, God's prophet and spokesperson, is saying, I make peace and create calamity.  Usually, I ignore it because the thought of God creating calamity doesn't sit well with me. I know He does not make us sick. He does not send calamity on us. God doesn't pour out His wrath on His children, so I just skip that part of the verse, until today. Once I paused and thought about it - it started to make some sense to me! God does NOT make calamity for us - but He can make it for our enemies, which are not people, btw. Some examples came to mind immediately. I thought of Moses and the Children of Israel standing on the edge of th...

Have you ever heard the phrase, "ants in their pants"? It's an older term that I heard a lot, especially when I was a fidgety, squirmy kid. My teachers and parents often asked me if I had ants in my pants because I just could not sit still. It didn't matter if I was watching a movie, reading a book, or eating a meal. I wriggled and moved almost constantly. Now, we understand this to be a symptom of anxiety, but those types of issues weren't dealt with much back then. (Boy, I sound old, don't I? lol) My family still laughs about the "night I lost a good hamburger" because I couldn't sit still at the dinner table. I was about 6 years old, and none of my siblings had arrived on the family scene yet. Mama, Daddy, and I were eating hamburgers at the table in the kitchen. As usual, I was leaning back in my chair and rocking it back and forth on the back legs when all of a sudden, I leaned too far and the chair went out from under me. The chair went in ...