Daily Devotions for Caregivers

That About Covers It!

This morning an old song came to mind. I was working in the kitchen humming I'm on the battlefield for my Lord. I love those good ole songs, don't you? Maybe it's because caregiving can become a battlefield for emotions and our own mental health. Stuff tends to tear away at us. There's no doubt we ride an emotional roller coaster, right? The good thing is that we do keep coming out on top. I'd have to say it's so because of His undergirding power!

So, I was working through some of my emotions this morning and found myself reading the first couple of verses of Psalm 144. I mentioned the part about how He teaches my hands to fight somewhere the other day in one of the devotions I do. But I have to wonder exactly what that means for us. David was talking about a real fight, a tangible battlefield. Our battlefield stays in our minds and emotions most of the time - but that doesn't make the battle any less real.

Here's what the first couple of verses of Psalm 144 says:

Bless the Lord, who is my rock.

He gives me strength for war and skill for battle.

He is my loving ally and my fortress,

my tower of safety, my deliverer.

He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in Him. (NLT 1996)

As I read over this familiar scripture this morning I shook my head as I realized how He really does have us covered from head to toe - and back to front. He surrounds us with His grace and mercy for sure! The only work we have to do is to take our refuge in Him - to run to Him. But He's got our backs! We certainly can't say that about a lot of people. Some caregivers have friends or family who help and that is such a blessing. But many are out there on their own with little or no help at all and very few breaks. It's comforting to know that no matter what our personal caregiving story looks like - He's got us hemmed in, shielded, and totally covered!

Today, I will meditate on how He purposefully chooses to fight for me. My thoughts will be on how He is an ally who loves me and offers Himself as a sure place of safety for my mind and emotions. I'll lean into Him just a little more today and trust Him with all my feelings, thoughts, fears, joys, and triumphs - because He is my ally. He is for me. He is for you. Today, I'll purposefully take refuge in Him. Will you join me?

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The Life Preserver

As I was studying this morning for my Facebook live devotions, I stumbled back into Psalm 121. Man, that's a great psalm. I wrote a song from it and I read it often. It is powerful. But you know how wonderful the Word of God is and that when we revisit even the most familiar passages, we find something new. That's what happened!

In Psalm 121:5 it says the Lord is thy keeper. In the Strong's concordance, it is H8104 and it means to hedge about, guard, keep, save, wait for, preserve...that's most of the terms it could be translated as. But as I was in the Strong's on my phone it was easy to glance across the verses and what caught my eye was that same number used several times.

The same Hebrew term is used for keep, keeper, and preserve. He keeps and preserves our soul. As a matter of fact, this term is used five times in the eight verses that comprise Psalm 121. I think He wanted us to know that He's got us! He really is our life preserver! Not only does He come in and save our souls when we are overcome with emotions and think we are sure to drown, but once He pulls us out of those rocky waters, He continues to guard us...and keep us. He never lets go.

I love that.

It's like He can match any of life's circumstances. He doesn't shake His head and walk away. He reaches in, grabs us, then holds us close. While He doesn't always stop bad things or tough situations from happening - He's always got us. He walks right through the mess with us, keeping us, preserving us, sharing His wisdom and peace with us.

Picture Jesus walking right out into a storm to his frightened disciples in the boat. He calmed that storm as they sat with open mouths in shock. Now picture your storm. It may be one of the roughest times of your life. It may be a regular bumpy caregiver day. Maybe it's a confusing time for you. The storm may be over your finances, relationships, caregiving itself, or other situation. It may be a combination of several things. Picture Jesus walking out into the storm in your soul (mind, will, emotions) and saying Peace. Be still. I've got you. Because He does and He is not planning on ever letting go.

Today, I will be thankful that He keeps on keeping me. No matter how rough and tough life gets - He continues to preserve me. When my mind wonders into the craziness around me - I'll pull it back and remember that He's my life preserver. He won't let me drown. I'll trust Him to save me one more day! Will you join me?

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Invisible

Do you ever feel invisible as a caregiver? Pain is invisible. Grief is invisible. Our tears are usually invisible to others too. I guess about the only time I don't feel as invisible is when I go to the store - then I feel like we stick out like a sore thumb. I push Chris in front and pull a cart behind like a slow-moving train through the store. Can't miss that now, can we? lol

Sometimes, people can't and don't want to imagine our pain. Maybe they can't fathom our living grief. Maybe for some, seeing us reminds them of their own pain or grief they don't know how to deal with. Since I am the aide now, I take Chris with me everywhere - even to my doctor's appointments. They "accommodate" him - but they do not speak to him - or ask about him in any way. Does that strike you as strange? Maybe it feels odd since my whole life is wrapped up in taking care of him. Idk.

But every once in a while, someone breaks from this silent norm and steps out of all our comfort zones. Two times this week (maybe just because we are out more now!) people have actually spoken to him. That should not be a huge occurrence, but it is. On Chris' birthday which went largely forgotten (or ignored), I took him to Braum's for ice cream as a birthday treat. An elderly lady started walking toward us. She walked up and pointed to Chris and said - "I can tell you are someone special." When I told her he was indeed and it was his birthday - she broke out singing "Happy Birthday." Thank God for this angel!

Yesterday, as we got in the elevator to leave the heart hospital, an elderly man spoke to Chris - "Hello, young man how are you?" he said. I awkwardly explained that Chris is non-verbal but he hears and understands well. The man made no more attempts at talking to him. But at least he said hi!

As invisible as I feel - I wonder if Chris, in his silence feels even more invisible. Someone in a caregiver's group this week said an injury or a condition doesn't prevent the heart from feeling love. As caregivers, our pain is deep. Our grief is numbing. But we still feel both ends of the emotional spectrum from rejection to love.

We are not invisible to God. He sees us through and through. He feels our breath and senses every emotion, knows every thought, and perceives the depth of every single pain we sense. Sometimes, it feels so huge I can't even fathom that, but I'm thankful that He can see that deeply into emotions and feelings I don't even have words for.

Today, I will remind myself that we are not invisible to God. My thoughts will be on how He intentionally looks our way and how He purposefully touches those deep parts of our hearts. I'll be thankful that He draws near when I feel most broken. He soothes. He comforts. He heals hurts no one will ever know we have. Will you join me in thanking Him for that today?

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31 Days in Psalm 31 devotional book cover

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The Thing About "New Days"

I got up this morning after a long night that included very little sleep for me or Chris! Of course, I'm exhausted - but what's new? As caregivers we are usually on the edge of it or swimming in it all the time, right? lol There are tons of sayings about the sun coming up on each new day - but to most of us - each day looks pretty much the same as the day before. Even the unexpected happens every day - we are always ready for it. The fact that everything can change on a dime at any given moment in time is the only "constant" we have sometimes. lol

So,, I'm not sure what to make out of these "new days." They tend to look like "just another day" to me. I know the scriptures say His mercies are new every morning, right? (Lamentations 3:23) But it's never "morning" for God - it's always day. More accurately it's always today for Him. So why would we need to know that His mercies renew for us each morning?

Sometimes, I find nuggets like this and I realize they are put in the Word just for us. God doesn't have or need mornings - He doesn't need or have a "new day" because it's always day - this day - the day for Him. So, this scripture must just be for us. His mercies are new for our new mornings. They are always being refreshed on our behalf - not His behalf.

M prayer for each of you and for myself today is that we find His mercies for today. No matter how crazy things get or how strangely peaceful they may be today - I pray we all experience His mercies carrying us through today into our next "new day."

Today, I will remind myself that His mercies are new for me. I'll meditate on the truth that His grace is enough to carry me and that His love is enough to quiet my fears. I'll lean into Him and listen for His breath as I trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

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Everything - Everywhere?

In my Facebook Live devotions this morning, I referred to Ephesians 1:23. In the New Living Translation, it says ...Christ who fills everything everywhere with His presence. I talked about His presence being literally everywhere. We cannot get away from Him even if we wanted to. In Psalm 139, the psalmist said even if I make my bed in hell - You are there. Death doesn't separate us from Him - and nothing in life can remove us or partition us off from His presence. He fills everything - everywhere.

That may not seem too significant to many people, but if you've been a caregiver, you know that there are a few dark, lonely places along the way. The good news is - He's there too! I sing Psalm 61 a lot - from the ends of the earth, will I cry unto thee - We can easily feel like we dwell at the ends of the earth, a place far from normal...places others are afraid to go even in thought. But God dwells there - He fills that place with His presence too.

Where is your "here"? Remind yourself today that God is here. Right here. Right with us. I lived in an ICU waiting room for over 3 weeks when Chris first had his wreck. God lived there too. I saw His hand in everything. Each hospital visit - He's right there. When we return home (yay!) He's right here again. He's always here. No matter what our "caregiver's day" looks like - and we know how rapidly those can change - He's here. With us - For us - Filling us with Himself. It's a beautiful picture really.

He's not afraid of our days or our long nights either. He continues to fill us up with His presence. I'll be the first to admit that some of our situations can be ugly and smelly. (YOU know what I mean!) - And He is still right there. Man, that's a comforting, peace-bringing thought for me.

Today, I will meditate on God being right here with me. My thoughts will be on how He continues to fill me with all He is. I'll think about this long journey and how He's been in all my "heres" all along the way. He never abandoned the journey. Never gave up (and won't!). Never said life got too ugly, unmanageable, or uncertain. He just remains. I'll thank Him for taking this journey with me. I'll thank Him for keeping me full of Him. Will you join me?

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Check out my bookstores. I have eBook devotionals, Bible study guides, poetry, and more in my Dove's Fire Ministries bookstore. My Amazon bookshelf has a couple of those in print or on Kindle.

Still Relevant

Chris looking at me while we were walking Bluff Creek Trails

I'm a bit OCD about some things. (Don't laugh - it's not like you didn't know!) When I make a new post or publish a new video or website, I go back several times to see if anyone is looking. I've been watching the stats for this blog (because that's what I do!) for some time. It seems the blog gets about 200 or so hits every single day. However, on the day of a blog's posting, I usually get between 30 and 40. That's not much in the IoT (Internet of Things). Looking back at earlier posts reveals around 150 views since they were posted. When I scroll down a little further, posts have more like between 200 and 300 views. Scroll back a year and posts have around 1500 views. I like that!

My question was why people are not reading the ones I post each day and how they are getting to all those "older posts." At first, I thought maybe I should do a bit more research and try to figure out how to boost daily site visitors. Then, I thought - why? I trust that God will lead people to the post that is most relevant to them each day. I pray they find His answers, His peace, and His touch in any post they land on and read. Then I thought, they are all still relevant.

No matter what caregiving topic is covered in a post - it relates to the caregiver's relationship with God. That means they are all still relevant! I try to write posts centered on His word so that we are helped each day. I hope we can all focus on Him, His word, His promises, and His grace - rather than our circumstances. We all understand how overwhelming a caregiver's circumstances can be - right? But His grace is bigger than that. His peace is stronger than that. His word still applies to each of our "that." It's still relevant.

Don't you love that about God and His word? You can look at any verse and find hope for your situation. Take any passage, meditate on it until it fills your heart and mind - and then let it live in you. We don't get a pass because we are caregivers - it's all - every jot - every tittle - every verse, chapter, and book - still relevant for us. God didn't say His word is applicable and works on the behalf of most people. He didn't give us half-promises. You know, that only works for a few maybe half the population. His word excludes absolutely no one. We are - I am - the whosoever will.....He withholds nothing from us! Actually - we are almost the exception in His word. Think about it this way -

He draws near the brokenhearted.
He gives strength to the weary.
He comforts those who mourn.
He is with us in the struggles, fires, and floods.
He is a present help IN the time of trouble.

And that list could go on - perhaps you have a few promises you hold onto for yourself. His word is relevant no matter where we are or what we are facing. I love that about Him. Don't you?

Today, I'm going to let those promises roll over and over in my heart and mind. I will thank Him that he added no exclusionary statements like except caregivers. (Sounds silly doesn't it? But we often feel that way.) I'll meditate on truths like He still loves me - He still draws near to ME! - He comforts me - He gives me strength. I'll accept His strength and comfort and presence for today, it is still relevant after all. Will you join me?

In an Odd Place

It's funny how when you start studying something it keeps showing up in the oddest places. I've talked a lot about Hagar because it seemed like something about her or her story just kept showing up. This week it's been Rahab. You know - Rahab the harlot. Every time you see her name mentioned they have to tell you she was a hooker too. lol. I talked about her in my live FaceBook devotions a morning or two ago because I'd heard Louie Giglio talking about her, so it sparked a little study for me. Then, this morning as I was preparing for our FaceBook live study of James, there she was in chapter 2 verse 25.

I've taught this whole study guide for James before. Plus, I've read over this portion 2-3 times this week in preparation for this week's class. Yet there again for the first time, I spotted Rahab. And again - James refers to her as "Rahab the harlot." Yet she is listed in the believer's Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. The honorable mentions of her faith are somewhat tainted by her demeaning surname...the harlot.

Even though she's being set up as an example of faith - because she simply believed what God said - no one seems to be able to let go of her sin. While caregiving isn't a sin (lol) sometimes I feel like we get our own tagline. Jeanie the caregiver. And no matter if it's accolades or not - no one seems to be able to see past the caregiver. We are the person, or the singer, or the writer....People want to identify us as a caregiver. I'm glad they do - but there's so much more to us than that.

I hope when people look at us - the caregivers - that they see faith. My prayer is they see hope. Ultimately, when people look at me - I hope they see Him. Maybe they'll see past the title of the harlot or the caregiver and see the faith of the person - and the grace of God in action.

Rahab had faith because she believed what God said about the children of Israel. As caregivers, we are not denied the ability to believe and trust everything God said in His word. It's all ours! His grace. His love. His presence. His peace. It's up to us to believe it.

Today, I will meditate on all God said about me in His word. Like how He loves me. How He walks with me. How He watches over us. How His grace carries me. And I will choose to believe it so I can be as faith-filled as the harlot, Rahab. I hope my faith is found in the oddest places too. Will you join me?