Daily Devotions for Caregivers

 I have fond memories of slipping my hand into my daddy's hand. Maybe he was guiding me as we crossed the road, or he didn't want me to get lost in a crowded space. My hand in his felt like the safest place on earth. And it was. Such a simple gesture to bring about great peace and make me feel safe and secure. That's the image that came to mind as I read on from Psalm 37:23, which we talked about in yesterday's devotion for caregivers. Jehovah Shammah - the One who is always there, always in our "here" takes it a step further. In verse 23, we read that He delights in being in and being present for all the details of our lives and days. In verse 24, the psalmist helps us realize that just because God is present, it doesn't mean we are perfect or that we'll never fail. I'm pretty sure I fail daily. :-) Verse 24 gives us some comfort, though. It says when they stumble - when who stumbles? The ones He is delighted to be with - US! Even when we stumble,...

 There are lots of things caregivers don't talk about. You know the nitty-gritty details of daily living. It's okay - we don't necessarily want to talk about those details, and others don't really want to hear about them. It's better if they don't know! Lol. But can I just say that God doesn't miss a thing? I was reminded of this while reading in Psalm 37 this morning. Verse 23 says that the Lord directs our steps . I know this is true - but there are days I have some questions for Him. Oh, I'll keep following Him, of course. But I do wonder how and why my steps led me here. No time to stop, though, gotta keep walking. The next part of verse 23 says that He delights  in every detail  of our lives. (NLT) Really? I'm pretty sure that when David penned this Psalm, he wasn't thinking along the lines of caregiving. Although, there was the time he took in Jonathan's son, Miphibosheth, and provided his care for the rest of his life. But this psalm s...

  For family caregivers balancing medication schedules, appointments, and household needs, emotional support challenges can quietly pile up until daily mental health starts to feel fragile. The core tension is constant responsibility paired with little time to decompress, making caregiver stress management feel like one more task on an already full list. When strain goes unchecked, caregiver burnout risks can show up as irritability, sleep trouble, or a numb “just get through it” mindset that affects the whole family. Protecting mental wellness matters because steady, day-to-day support helps caregivers stay present, patient, and clear-headed. Understanding Caregiver Mental and Emotional Wellness Mental and emotional wellness for caregivers means having enough inner steadiness to meet the day without feeling hijacked by stress. It is not constant calm. It is the ability to notice feelings, reset, and keep choices aligned with your values. Resilience grows from small, repeatab...

 When my son was involved in a tragic wreck in 2008, he didn't stop being my son. Lately, he's been making super good progress, especially noted by healthcare professionals, since he's not supposed  to make this kind of progress 17+ years out. At first, he seemed to slip away more and more every day. But the setbacks didn't make him not be my son. Caregivers know the grief and deep heart pain that goes with watching loved ones slip away one small bit at a time. Particularly, like with my mom, if there is any dementia, we lose our loved one a little at a time. Day after day. They may not be the mom, dad, aunt, or uncle we once knew - but we are still related. The difficulties don't change kinship.  I watched my independent 24-year-old son lose the ability to care for himself at all. Today, he still has to have someone do all his daily living needs. He cannot feed himself (yet). He can't take himself to the bathroom. He can't use his hands at all except to sig...

 Thanksgiving comes easily some days. But for caregivers, there are far more days when prayers of thanksgiving don't just roll off our lips. On those days, we need to take a little longer to find something to be thankful for.  As I have continued looking at the character of Daniel, I found it interesting that in his prayer time it says he was giving thanks to God. My initial response was to ask what in the world he had to be thankful for. But I love his heartitude! Even though he'd lived his life in captivity and had no hope of marrying or having a family, he found things to be thankful for. It can be very easy to get stuck and focus on all the things that haven't gone the way we thought they should. While caregivers deal daily with some level of grief, we can still find a place to be thankful, like Daniel. The scriptures don't spell out his prayers of thanksgiving; they just mention that he was giving thanks to his God. Maybe that little phrase carries more weight sinc...

 This morning, I was reading in Daniel. Oh, I've read the story many times, particularly the lion's den part. For those who grew up in church, this was a story we heard a LOT. We heard about the "three Hebrew children" and "Daniel in the Lion's Den" many times. I even remember my grandmother's old flannel graph stories. Yes, I'm that old! LOL. I admire Daniel's spiritual grit.  King Darius divided his kingdom into 120 provinces and set a prince to rule over each one. Then, he selected Daniel and two other dudes to supervise the princes. As normal for Daniel, he excelled. This made the other guys jealous. So jealous, they devised a wicked plot in hopes of getting Daniel killed legally.  First, they tried to find something, anything, wrong with Daniel and how he handled his affairs. They found absolutely no way to condemn him for anything. They had to be creative in their trickery. When they shared the plot with the king, he was so prideful tha...

Have you ever stopped to count how many all-nighters you've pulled as a caregiver? I can't imagine even trying to count how many sleepless nights I've spent. Thankfully, I haven't needed to do it for a long time, but boy, have there been a lot of them. I am pretty sure that this is not unusual for most caregivers. Those long nights are just going to happen. There's an old saying it's always darkest right before the dawn.  In nature, this holds true. I've found it mostly true sitting in waiting rooms and hospital rooms, too. But once it hits about 4 am, the night feels over and the day begins to be upon us. There are a lot of people who work nights for a living. I don't know how they do it! My daughter recently became a respiratory therapist and chooses to work nights. Soldiers often serve night watches because someone's always got to be watching in the battle. That's what David references in Psalm 130. In verse 6, David says, My soul waits for th...