Daily Devotions for Caregivers

Flowers Die when Fruit Grows

I have a bunch of indoor plants, and with spring came a new burst of outdoor plants. They are on my front patio. One of the plants is a pepper plant. Over the last few days, I noticed a new bloom. I was so excited! This morning as I was out tending my plants, I noticed the bloom was dying, and there is another bloom! I looked at the dying flower with a little sadness, since I'd enjoyed its brief burst of color. But then I had this thought if the flower is dying - that means a habanero pepper is coming!

My short sadness turned into elation as I realized I will get some fruit for my labor. I just stood and stared at the two flowers. One brand new this morning and the other fading away. As I looked at the two blooms, I wondered how many times we grieve over things we perceive as dying - when it's something God has designed to bring fruit?

caregivers often live with lots of grief. We can sense huge losses every single day. Many of us live with what is called "living grief." This type of grief can take many forms. For some, it's grieving over a parent you see slipping away one day at a time. For others like myself, it is seeing the body of my son here, but who he was has been left in the past. Others deal with this type of grief over a child or loved one they never had the opportunity to enjoy watching the normal stages of growth with.

It's no comfort to me to understand that the painful transitions in life are yielding fruit if I'm honest. So, I have to adjust my thinking a bit to see how God is still working His purpose in my broken life. All death doesn't mean an end. It is a new beginning. Over the next few days, I'll enjoy watching that orange pepper grow. I bet that's what God does with us, don't you?

While we are grieving our losses (and that is healthy and natural!), He's watching the fruit develop as part of the process. I know caregiving has changed me. Some good. Some bad. lol - But as a person, I've grown so much. I've learned to trust God more, to hold on to Him more tightly. I'm still learning to let His grace work in my life, let mercy help, and let His peace reign. While I like the pretty pictures in life like those habanero blooms, the fruit will sustain and nourish, a flower will not. Don't get me wrong - the flower has a purpose. We need "pretty" when life gets ugly. But fruit has a purpose too.

Today, I will remind myself that when something dies - it's not the end. I'll turn my sense of loss into thoughts of gratitude for God's sustaining me until I can bear fruit for His kingdom. I'll be thankful for all the "pieces" of life that work together to make me whole in Him. My meditation will be on all the work He does to sustain this little plant I call life. And I'll trust Him to work in me for one more day - will you join me?

____________________________________________________________________

Check out my ebook store where you'll find these "I Will" Declarations from Psalms for just a buck! Download it today! I also have devotionals, study guides, poetry books, and free stuff! My Amazon bookshelf has some of these books on Kindle and for print - check them out!

The Dream of an 8-Hour Day

I'm starting to wonder what it's like to work an 8-hour shift - then just go home. lol. Many caregivers work an outside job plus caring for their loved ones. For others, their "8-hour job" is caring for their loved ones. But in today's world, it seems like just a far-off dream. But occasionally, I let my mind wander about what it would be like to just go to work - then come home. I vaguely remember something about it, but it seems so far away.

A caregiver's day is usually full of all sorts of stuff. Many of you, like myself, work online while caring for your loved ones. But it is certainly a juggling act most days. Trying to get everything done for my son plus keeping my clients happy is a huge chore. Additionally, I need to eat right (I plan his meals, right?), get adequate amounts of sleep, and drink enough water. Oh, and don't forget to get at least 20-30 minutes of exercise each day. We need 15-20 minutes of sunshine too... I'm tired and overwhelmed just thinking about all that. My thoughts circle back to that elusive 8-hour day...

Caregiving is so easy - said no one, ever! No matter what level of caregiving you are at - full-time, part-time, long-distance, short distance, or in your own home, it can eat your lunch. Am I right?

Yet at the same time, it's so rewarding to love someone enough to lay down all your desires, needs, wants, and dreams just so you can take care of them. It's admirable. And it's like Jesus. He literally died for us so we could be righteous and free from condemnation. I was talking to a fellow writer at the local Christian writer's group I meet with once a month. She was asking a lot of questions about caregiving, and the decisions that had to be made to be where we are today.

I likened it to the decisions Jesus made to stay on that cross. As painful as it was - His love for us held Him there. Similarly, my love for my son holds me at his side. And your love for your caregivee keeps you in a place where you can take care of them. Are we perfect? Well, I'm not. lol But I'm still here. No matter how hard it gets - I still take care of Chris and I still pursue God's heart.

Today, I'm going to think about how much love it took for Jesus to submit to the cross, then stay on it even when it hurt. I'll be thankful as I consider how much He really does love us. I won't fight the gratitude I feel when I think about how He saw you and me - the joy - set before Him so He chose the route of the cross. He also wanted to please the Father. I think our actions please Him too. Don't you?

_______________________________________________

31 Days in Psalm 31 devotional book cover

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.

Download Poems for Caregivers for free!

And God Waits

In yesterday's post, I talked about how God is not scared of our circumstances. Well, this morning, I awakened a bit later than I planned after an up and down night. (I know you know about those nights...) All the things I need to get done today started running through my mind. I have an urgent project that must be completed today, a meeting with a new client (yay for more work!) at 9 this morning, my regular daily devotions, and beautiful grandchildren I'll watch for a couple of hours. Did I even mention all the regular caregiving duties in there? lol

My mind seemed chaotic as I grabbed my first cup of coffee and my laptop to get started working on the urgent project. While I was working, my mind was running through the day's planned activities. I told Chris he'd get to sleep in a little later since I have a meeting at the time I normally get him up. I started adjusting all my tasks last night actually because I knew this morning would be hectic.

As I turned my thoughts into prayers, I had this image of God standing over by the wall. What was He doing? Just waiting. My mind went to Isaiah30:18. It tells us that God is waiting on us. He waits to be gracious and merciful. His desire is to pour His mercy and grace out on us and our situations, so He waits for us to get it. He is not wringing His hands, biting His fingernails, or worried about a single thing. He patiently waits for us to be ready to receive. He waits for us to come to His throne of grace - to get the mercy we need! (Hebrews 4:16)

Our job then is to slow our minds down enough to recognize that He's just waiting to help. He is patient in His waiting - but so eager to jump in with His mercy, grace, peace, comfort, and any other help we may need today.

Today, I will purposefully turn my thoughts into prayers. I'll make my soul wait for Him and rest in Him. My meditations will be of Him waiting for me to "get" that He wants to be an active part of my life - today! Here. Right now. And I chose to let Him - will you join me?

Today's FB Live devotion:

____________________________________________________________________

God Ain't Skeered

I got up early this morning and had my private devotions, then worked on my latest devotional, "Peace Out! It's in the Bible!" Hopefully, I'll get it done and released in the next couple of weeks. As I was working through some of the scripture passages, I began to realize all the things that have been lingering on my heart. There's a lot, really. Lots of questions. Lots of thoughts. Lots of wonderings. Lots of doubts, and a few fears mixed in here and there. To put it mildly, I was overwhelmed with lots of "what-ifs."

Following my own devotionals, I started listing them to God. It felt like I was handing Him each and every one. I handed Him all the good stuff, bad stuff, funny stuff, hard stuff, questionable stuff, and more. I didn't realize how much I'd been packaging "stuff" up in my heart. Then, I followed my own advice and just let His peace take over the reign of my heart. I felt so much better.

The whole process got me to thinking. What does God do with all that "stuff" we give Him? I know He gives us peace and comfort - restores joy, and brings healing to those areas. But I had a lot of stuff today. It then hit me that He's not scared of all my stuff. My most frightening emotions are not overwhelming to Him. My greatest fears are not too much for Him to handle. He doesn't sit there with a checklist marking items off, or interrupting to say, wait - I can't take that. That image is kind of funny to me. He doesn't match up our stuff and qualify each of them before He takes them. He ain't skeered of anything I've dug up yet! He takes it all.

Every fear, every doubt, every question, every what-if, every everything. He is not scared of any of my crazy thoughts or feelings. He's not even afraid of those things we are not sure how to express with words. The kind that leaks out as tears. He takes those too. Without a complaint, without condemnation, without guilting us - or asking us to explain. He listens. He takes them all no questions asked. Then, He replaces all that with peace. Amazing, isn't it?

How is it that we can trust God with all the things on our hearts? For caregivers, that's a lot, huh? He won't turn us away. He won't tell us it's just too much or too little. God just takes everything we are willing to give Him and exchanges it for an equal measure of peace.

Today, I will continue to give Him all my emotional baggage, my fears, doubts, strains, stresses, and worries. I'll remind myself that He is big enough to carry it all. My meditations will be on how He provides me with peace when I give it all to Him. My choice today is to let that peace - His peace, reign in my heart. Will you join me?

__________________________________________________

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.

Download Poems for Caregivers for free!

Solid!

This morning for my live Facebook devotions, I shared out of 2 Timothy 2. (See video below!) I talked some about all the crazy stuff going on in the world today. Who knew gas would be nearly $5 a gallon, and more in some regions!?! I'm pretty sure we didn't anticipate baby formula shortages. These and other things going on around the world are enough to shake us all. While I do have a lot of compassion - I'm also a little bit like welcome to our world.

For caregivers, our world is rocky all the time. For me, supplies may come regularly for a while, and then just disappear with me scrambling to fill the gap out of my own pocket. Don't even get me talking about the irregularity of aids who may or may not show up and who may or may not work even if they do! Am I right? lol

Our lives are often topsy-turvey, and we never know what a day is going to bring. The only "constant" in our lives is change. Yet, we adjust. And one reason we can just adjust and keep moving is because no matter what changes occur on the surface of our lives, we are standing on a foundation that is solid and secure.

2 Timothy 2:19 in the NKJV says Nevertheless (which basically means no matter what else is going on - in the world, in our lives, or what is on our plate for the day), the solid foundation of God stands having this seal - He knows those who are His! Man, what a promise to help me get through this bound-to-be-hectic day! Every step I take, no matter what direction, no matter what arena (caregiving, finances, family) will be taken on a foundation that does not and cannot shake or move. I love that.

Today, I'm steppin'! And with every step, I will rejoice that He is holding me up. As I take my walk this morning, and as I go about this getting busier by the minute day, I'll trust His foundation remains under me, continues to hold me up, and will not move. I'll thank Him for knowing that I am His - and for calling me by His name. That makes me smile. I'll wear this smile all day knowing I am His and He's undergirding my steps. Will you join me?

_______________________________________________________________

Check out my bookstores! Downloadable eBooks are on my DFM website. Print and Kindle books are available on my Amazon store shelf.

New stuff coming soon!!

Short Days

Are the days getting shorter? They must be because I keep running out of time and energy before I'm done! Can you relate? When Chris came home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago, he had to have IV antibiotics three times a day for 10 days. Man, did that stretch my scheduling and organizing abilities! lol But we got it done and yesterday, the nurse removed the med line. I was so relieved! (I'm sure he was too!)

I didn't realize how much hooking up an IV and removing it three times a day would take out of me. Sounds a little bit silly to those who don't understand, right? As caregivers, our days (and nights) are already packed full of tasks and responsibilities. Adding one more might not seem like much, but it is when you are already on overload. (I know you understand!)

Most nights I go to bed feeling like I failed because there is still so much left to do. I've had to change the way I talk to myself though. Instead of beating myself up, I started saying- You maybe didn't finish this or that - but today you did do this, this, that, and something else. It seems to help me give myself a break to look at all I did do for the day rather than rolling all the things I left undone.

I'm pretty sure the days are not getting shorter, I'm just trying to cram more stuff in them. lol. For caregivers, it means facing each day with courage and bravery; short days and the long ones too! :-) It doesn't take bravery or courage to lay on the couch and wallow in self-pity all day, right? Who has time for that anyway! We don't need to be brave when everything is going good and easy. Caregivers must get up every morning (if they got any sleep at all) and face the day with bravery. The good thing is that we are not facing it alone. We have His strength to help us and hold us up.

David said in Psalm27:14 -Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart. We can be courageous because we are not facing the long or short days alone. He is in our today - all day long. And He is in our night - all night long until the next day breaks through the dawn.

Today, I will take courage knowing He is facing the day with me. I'm not walking through the next 24 hours alone. He is walking through the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years with me. He won't let me go - so I can choose to go bravely into the known or the unknown because He is upholding me! I'll trust Him for the seen and the unseen that may come at me today - will you join me?

____________________________________________________________________

Even in this Place

chris in the standing frame with me beside him

I don't know about your day-to-days, but I know mine can be hectic. Sometimes, even our calmest days can't compare to the "norm." Caregiving is not for the faint of heart! But that doesn't mean we don't have our moments of full-blown breakdowns. No judgment here! Every once in a while, a good cry releases pent-up emotions. It's healthy, actually.

We may feel like we are in a desert place, a wilderness, or secluded from society. Sometimes, we feel surrounded by loving people, but the struggle remains. And honestly, some days I can go from a desert to an oasis, and back to the desert again emotionally - just in a matter of a few minutes, or even seconds. lol. Do you relate?

Here's the thing - no matter where we are - or where we feel we are - God is still working in and for us.

Yesterday, I sat with my guitar and sang for a few minutes. I poured out my heart to Him, and He answered. It was like I was feeling Him bringing restoration, healing, and refreshing right here in my living room. I was in awe. Then, I began to sing a spontaneous song about His love being even in this place. I was a bit overwhelmed to realize He would walk right up to my pain, right up to my heartache, right into my desert. Even in this place - He restores, heals, refreshes, and is present.

Then, I thought of Hagar and how God came to her in the desert when she was feeling alone and without hope. I thought of how Jesus went through Samaria - the forbidden territory - just to meet a woman (of all things) at the well. Why wouldn't He walk into my desert? Why wouldn't He meet me even in this place?

Today, I will remind myself that He chooses to come into my pain. I'll turn my thoughts toward how He chooses to walk with me in the deserts and through the rivers of life. My meditations will be on His presence and how He is right here - wherever "right here" is for each of us. He isn't scared or put off by our circumstances. Instead, He seems invited and comfortable in them. I'll enjoy His presence today - will you join me?

_____________________________________________________

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. My devotional 31 Days in Psalm 31 is all about seeking God from the cave! Check it out!

Plus - check out my live devotions and Bible studies on my Youtube channel!