Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 Do you ever feel like you've finally fallen off the cliff and you and your emotions are spiraling out of control? Yeah, me too. The day-to-days of caregiving are enough without unpleasant surprises being tossed into the mix, right? If our loved one is struggling in some way or they become ill, or any number of things can send us spiraling off into an emotional cyclone. It's important to know we are not alone. As I was thinking about some recent events and how they affected me and my emotions - I came to a conclusion. It's not the things we can control that send us off into emotional lala land. It's the things we can't control. The things out of our control that tip the scale against us. And for caregivers, that can be a LOT of things. And they can all come at one time. Unfair. Each day it can be a struggle when it comes to managing emotions. I must say that there are times when they get the best of me. I feel what I feel though. The feelings are not the problem, it...

  A few weeks ago, I did a live video for Facebook and one of the clips I made I titled, "God lives in this mess." I talk a lot about how He is not afraid of our messy, topsy-turvy lives. He crawls right up in the middle of it all and brings all that He has to the table. Nothing is left behind. Grace. Peace. Mercy. It all comes with. This morning as I continued reading in Ephesians, I found this verse in chapter 3. Verse 17 in the New Living Translation says, And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts  as you trust in Him. I couldn't help but wonder if God (Christ) is really comfortable in my heart. Then, the video came to mind and I started thinking about what I'd said - God lives in this mess. My mess. He's not scared. He's not put off. He's not wondering what to do and how long it'll be before He can get out of it. Lol. Sometimes, depending on our situation and our loved one's condition, it can be difficult to get out. F...

The truth that God is with us comes up a lot in our Caregiver's blog. There's a good reason for that, actually. We need  to know we are not alone. We need  to know that God sees and hears us. We need to know that He is with us. Caregivers like myself often need to be reminded (over and over again) that God doesn't ignore us like people. He doesn't abandon or leave when the going gets tough. He just stays right here in our "here" no matter how it looks or feels. He's not afraid of "being with." This morning, I read and reread Ephesians 1. There is so much in that chapter! But the last verse is where I got all the "feels." Verse 23 says, ...the church...is filled by Christ, who fills everything, everywhere with His presence. (NLT) Everything, everywhere would include right here... it includes me! It includes my son's room...the hospital room where we spent last week. God's presence in here. That made me think about Psalm 139, whic...

  I like reading self-help books, but I'm not sure how much some of them really help. Lol. But I try. Most recently, I picked up It's Okay if You're Not Okay.  It's about grief and how we all work through the process differently. Each caregiving environment comes with its own pre-packaged grief to work through. It's complimentary and included for free. Lol. Kind of like a staff infection when you go to the hospital.. just comes along with the deal. (I'm kidding.. mostly!) As I read, I realized that I really did have a lot of unexpressed pain and grief stuffed inside - my pain was voiceless. That's when this poem popped out - I share it with you hoping you'll relate - but I'll be glad if you don't. In the midst of the pain - the grief - the sorrow - God is there. Even though this is not expressed in this poem - know that I know God is present with me. His presence isn't a remedy for pain and it doesn't make grief go away. But it does allow...

  Does it ever feel like life just keeps throwing sucker punches? Sometimes even our caregiving can get into sort of a groove. We get used to the craziness, even though we know that each day can toss different things in our laps. But every once in a while it seems like it all piles up. It's no longer a lot of "smaller" things being chunked at our hearts. It's one big BAM after another. It kind of takes the wind out of our souls. Am I right? In those moments of being tee-totally overwhelmed it's hard to know what to do. Thoughts race or don't come at all. Every solution can feel wrong. Breath becomes shallow and we have lots of questions...until we don't. Breathe. That's all we can do sometimes. God gets that. He understands when we lack adequate words to express our feelings or thoughts.  He gets it when cannot see but we are still looking for Him. He sees our soul reaching for His heart from deep within the caregiver's foggy cave. I love that abou...

  This past week has been one of the hardest on my caregiving journey. My son became sick suddenly and in a matter of hours was septic and in respiratory failure. Early Sunday morning his white count was barely above normal and sitting at just a little over 11. The second trip to the ER on Sunday evening revealed a WBC of 25.5. That's escalated way too quickly for me! There were many issues, but when I realized at 3 AM Sunday morning he was in respiratory distress my emotions went crazy. (He's home and doing well now btw!) My thoughts and emotions were all over the place and I kind of felt like I was betraying myself. Lol. As much as I tried, I could not reel in the fear. The questions. The racing thoughts. I was overwhelmed. I wanted to pray that God would heal Chris so that I could take him home and continue our journey. Then, that felt so selfish. Why pray that he remains in this immobile body and continues to endure the daily stress and strain of existing? But I couldn'...

Does it ever seem like life just drags on? It's easy for caregivers to feel like like is a little nagging at times. Maybe for some it feels like the responsibilities and chores that go along with caregiving just keep chipping away at our hearts and souls. Each day can present opportunities to choose between trusting God and falling apart. There are times I'd like to find life's escape hatch so I can go away and hide in bliss. At least for a few minutes, right? Lol. Maybe there isn't a magic button or an escape hatch. Instead, God inserts Himself into life's equations. An equation means all sides are able to be balanced out. It sure doesn't feel like that in life though, does it? But God is the great equalizer - he can balance out our emotions, our finances, our cares, and more. Because when He steps in - nothing we see changes, but everything changes. Knowing God doesn't mean escaping the storm, struggles, or trials life throws at us. It just mean we have th...