Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 I love reading the Bible. There's no doubt about that. It's been my habit since I was about 13, and I decided I needed to know what I believed. I had started going to a denomination different from the one I was raised in, and I didn't want to spend my time saying this person or that person, or my mama says this or that. I needed to know what God said for myself. So, at the tender age of 13, I began reading on my own. What a journey of discovery it's been! One thing I love about reading the Word is how things I know I had to have read before jump off the page and become a brand-new discovery. That happened to me this morning. I was reading Psalm 119, and when I got to verse 73, it grabbed my attention and almost took my breath away. I did my Facebook Live devotion (Peace Out!) on the second part of the verse. But I want to talk about the first part right now. In the New Living Translation, verse 73 states You made me; You created me. Now give me the sense to follow your...

  One of these days, I'm going to make a list of all the tasks that have to be done every single day. Caregivers have so many responsibilities. We understand it's not simple or easy to take care of another whole person. Even our general daily tasks like laundry, cooking, and cleaning are expanded versions of what others have to do. Nothing is simple, really. Lol. On any given day, we may add to the normal craziness of things like mobile X-rays, nurse visits, and sundry other things that we have to work around. Even our easiest days are not easy, right? In the middle of all our responsibilities, chores, work, and everything else, it's easy to be distracted. Rightly so. I've been thinking about this a lot. Yesterday, I needed to pick up my grandson after school and shuttle him home, and then rush back to my apartment to meet the mobile x-ray tech. It made for a crazy afternoon, but I watched people as I was driving. It's like no one pays attention anymore. We are so b...

 Has your day ever been so busy that you just wanted to take a time out? Who am I talking to? Lol. I think every caregiver has felt that way at one time or a hundred. :-) The day can become so busy as it unravels around us. Sometimes, we just need to call a time out.  I wonder if that's what the psalmist was doing when he penned Psalm 46. He reminded himself of numerous truths, beginning with God being a very present help in times of trouble. He reminded himself to not fear in the second verse because God is still present. In verse 7 and the closing verse of this powerful psalm, he says, the God of Jakob is with us. Perhaps he was whispering it to his broken soul. Maybe he was grasping at peace. Maybe he was just taking a time out from his hectic, fearful surroundings to remind himself that God was indeed with him. One of the coolest things about Psalm 46, though, is that it changes from third person: God is here, God is with us, He is near, to first person, seemingly randomly...

 As I was reading the passage in Ephesians 6 about the armor of God this morning, a couple of phrases stood out to me. In verse 13, Paul explains the armor is needed so that after the battle,  we'll still be standing strong. The second phrase is in verse 16. Paul reminds the Christians that they will need faith in every battle. These two phrases let us know that battles (plural) are promised. Paul didn't say if we have faith, we can avoid the battle. He didn't even indicate in any way that having faith made the battles easier, faster, or smoother. As caregivers, every day can be a series of battles. Sometimes, it feels like we are simply fighting for our sanity or trying to keep ourselves together emotionally, physically, spiritually... But let me point out the obvious. We are  still standing. We are still seeking God. We are  still looking for guidance, comfort, and help in the scriptures. Are we not?  That's a win. The fact that we have not yet just given up o...

 In Exodus 20, right before God begins to give the 10 commandments, He reminds the Children of Israel that He was the God who rescued them from Egypt's slavery. They are not far into what is going to be a very long journey, but He's reminding them that they were worth the rescue. He's reminding them that He's their God, and He's going to remain with them. They have no idea about the journey ahead. Of course, they had to have some idea of how difficult it was going to be to move a mass of people across the wilderness to the Promised Land, but they didn't know what all it would entail. We know now that caregiving is hard, and maybe some of us had some sort of idea about it when we first started on our caregiving journeys. But we didn't know all those little details, did we? We could only imagine there'd be some sleepless nights, long hard days, and crazy situations we'd find ourselves in over and over again. Now that we are years into our caregiving jo...

 Some days feel so long like they are never going to end. The only short days are those rare occasions when I used to get out for a hike (been about a year now...). Those days fly by. Most days feel rather long, and I can easily feel like I come up short at the end of the day. Many nights, I fall into bed and fight thoughts of failure over all I did not  get done during the day. The good thing is that I have learned to turn those negative thoughts around. When they start trying to creep into my thought processes, I run through a quick list of what I did  get done that day. The battlefield is truly in the mind, and we are standing alone as the front line of defense. I try to think of scriptures as an available arsenal for when the enemy attacks. Over the years, I've learned to grab scriptures to stand on from time to time, and there are a few that I find myself going back to over and over again. You see them float through the pages of this blog from time to time. Scripture...

 This morning, I woke up with Psalm 23 on my mind. Last week, I was very sick and still had to take care of my son! Who knows about that? Lol. Who takes care of the caregiver when they are down? No one. I really think the few days I've been sick are the worst. However, now my son has what I had, and I would trade with him in an instant. I don't know which is worse, actually. At least I know that Tylenol covers a multitude of sins and symptoms. Lol.  This was all running through my mind early this morning as I was praying for him to be better and not take on anything secondary, which is the primary concern for those who are vulnerable. I continued to turn my thoughts into prayers when verse 4 of the 23rd psalm kept running through my head. Even though I walk through the valley of death (or the darkest valleys), I will not be afraid, for You are with me.  I began to attempt to comfort myself with these words, for You are with me. I'm so glad that God doesn't measure our v...