Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 Life is sometimes like a jigsaw puzzle, which has many pieces. It takes lots of time and effort to decide where each piece goes and how it fits in with the rest of the puzzle to create a whole (hopefully beautiful) image. But for caregivers, it's often even more complicated. I think it's more like someone put all the pieces in a bag. Shook it up real good, then dumped it out and said, "Good luck, have fun!" Maybe for some of us, it's even worse than that. It's more like someone took 3, 4, or 5 puzzles. They mixed all the pieces together and then separated them back out into piles. Now you're left trying to find a picture with mismatched pieces. Some of them might go together, some probably won't. It's more likely that you don't even have a complete picture. Frustrating? Yes. That's the point. I keep asking myself why I'm so frustrated. Why am I so short-tempered at seemingly silly stuff? More likely than not, it's caregiver burnout...

  Can faith be precocious? As I was writing out my prayer in my journal last week, it came out in a poem, and I used the word "precocious." Maybe I just needed something to rhyme with ferocious. lol. It did. So I thought about it a bit, and I looked up the definition so I wouldn't look too stupid to the world if I decided to share the poem.  A simple definition of precocious might be, earlier than supposed or something happening earlier than expected. So, I do want precocious faith. I want faith that comes early, even before a struggle begins, because that is what is going to carry me through the struggle, ultimately. Our first response should be out of faith, but if I'm honest, and I usually am, it's not always that way. But as I penned, "...and my faith in You always precocious," I stopped to think and check the definition. Once I was sure I hadn't mispoken, I made it my prayer.  Faith can always be first. Having faith doesn't keep things from ...

  Nehemiah has been a study focus for me over the last few weeks. But to study Nehemiah, we have to take a look at Jeremiah. Why? Because Jeremiah is the one who prophesied the Babylonian captivity that Nehemiah experienced. In chapter 25 of Jeremiah, we see the prophecy that since the Children of Israel had been rebellious and stubborn, they would be taken into captivity by Babylon, and they would remain there for 70 years. It also says that their own cities would lie in ruins during the captivity. Jeremiah decided to write a letter to those who had been carried away into captivity. It is in this letter that we find one of the most quoted scriptures of all time. Jeremiah 29:11 is found in the letter written to the captives. God is promising them a future, even though they are living in difficult circumstances that are going to last 70 years, and there's nothing they can do to make it go faster.  In fact, later in verse 28, it says the duration was going to be long. (Not the p...

 Do you ever feel like you are surrounded? Maybe that's not the word we use most, but it can feel like we are pressed on every side. Sometimes, circumstances keep pressing in until life feels like it's a boa constrictor trying to crush the life out of us. The good news is that we have all made it this far, so far! But as life has its ebbs and flows, there are seasons when we feel like it's coming at us from all sides. We are surrounded! That's how I've felt for the last few weeks, and honestly, it's not getting any better. There are so many things to juggle, plan, skip for more important things, and the list goes on...and on...and on... Some days our sanity is about just doing the things (all million of them) that have  to be done. Some aspects of caregiving cannot be skipped or postponed. They have to be done, period. A few things can be put off until tomorrow (which is already full, by the way), some cannot. If we are not careful, it can spiral out of control....

 There are so many pieces that make up our caregiving days. Quite frankly, it's overwhelming, if we even get a second to think about it. A lot is involved in taking care of another whole person, and even what are usually mundane tasks (for "normal" people) become complicated. It's so easy to be distracted by what is going on around us. Even staying on task for the things we have to do can distract us from life. This week, I'm camping in these three chapters in Exodus. There's so much to this story. It's easy to read in a few minutes without grasping the full impact it was having on their lives. Poor Moses has just shifted into a caregiving-type role. I wonder if he sometimes missed the quiet, backside of the desert! All of a sudden, he's leading and caring for hundreds of thousands of cranky, needy people! Poor guy! Here they are facing the Red Sea and being pursued by one of the best armies of their time. They are looking to him for guidance and help....

 Early on in my caregiving journey, I was quick to push the panic button. I pretty much lived in a state of panic and stress. Facing the unknown is difficult, and can lead to panic attacks, for real! Everything is new, there is no normal  to bring balance. It can be rough. As we grow accustomed to the new norms of caregiving life, maybe we don't tend to push the proverbial panic button   as often.  In Exodus 14:10, the Children of Israel have just left the chains of Egypt behind. Literally everything in their lives had changed , much like becoming a caregiver! They can't run home to whatever type of "home" they had in Egypt. There wasn't even any "comfort food" to grab. What, no mac & cheese!! No calling out for pizza, either? They didn't have the choice to binge-watch the latest sitcom or drama. Not that any of that helps, we just tend to run to what we know. All of a sudden, they are facing the Red Sea, and they can hear and see Pharaoh's a...

 Caregiving is not for the weak at heart! No matter what our unique situations encompass, it's rough all the way around. We all have different scenarios, which means we really cannot compare one with another. But we all carry an emotional load. We all have to rely on God. There are other common threads including social isoloation (one degree or another), grief, feelings of loss and a disruption of "normal" living. Our souls can become bruised by the turmoil that comes with the day-to-day. I was working through a few things this morning on emotional and practical levels, trying to come up with some solutions. As a long sigh suprised me by escaping without any forethought, for one moment, I felt lost. My soul bore the weight of the last 16 years as some of it snuck out. I wondered about all my caregiving friends and prayed for our bruised souls. Then, I thought of the phrase in Isaiah 42:3 - A bruised reed He will not break...   What kind of gentleness is needed to not brea...