Caregiving.

It’s a HUGE job. You’re offering medical/emotional/spiritual/physical aid and assistance, reassurance, and rehabilitation, often for someone you love: a child, parents, a spouse, or a friend. Caregiving is demanding, physically and emotionally draining, exhilarating, exhausting, practical, heart-warming, gut-wrenching, and profoundly rewarding – while at the same time the caregiver is all too often underappreciated and overworked.

I’ve been there. For nearly twenty years, my life was devoted to caregiving for my father who suffered from dementia, my husband who suffered with brain cancer and my mother’s heart  disease. My support network of family and friends was critically important in helping me, but I wish I’d had a group like Faith4Caregivers when I most needed it.

This private Facebook page was founded in 2020 by Cathy Bennett, who is caring for a husband suffering with ALS. She immediately caught my attention with the welcome she posts for new members: We pray you find hope, peace, and strength for your caregiving journey in our community. These sentiments are echoed every day as the members share prayer requests and praise reports. I’ve had the privilege of being asked to write several pieces for the group, which now number over 200 members.

Two of my posts in particular remind me of those caregiving days that were so difficult and yet so necessary and rewarding. If you are a caregiver—or you know a caregiver—one of the best gifts you can offer is a connection to Faith4Caregivers.

Two of my posts that seemed to lighten spirits and provided encouragement follow:

April 2021

It has been forever since I cleaned the glass in that mirror. I walk by it, glance at it, and think to myself, “I need to clean that.” Only to move right past it on to something more pressing.

Today is the day. I took my little bottle of glass cleaner, determined to clean every mirror in the house. Just a spritz, a few wipes, and presto done!

What took me so long to do such a simple task? I know compared to my day-to-day challenges as a caregiver, the mirrors seem insignificant. But as I walk through the house and see those clean mirrors, I realize how much pleasure this small task brought me.

Today’s scripture is part of a thanksgiving psalm, Psalm 66. It implores us to praise God. We are to, “Come and see what God has done,” Psalm 66:8.

I’m aware I don’t notice what God has done often enough. I usually complain about what is wrong. Perhaps my vision is cloudy and dirty, like those mirrors. Maybe I need to wipe away the grit from my eyes and heart.

Next time I look in those mirrors, I need to remind myself of the little things that are good in my world. I also need to look at my reflection and know God loves me. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me so I might have eternal life with Him.

Jesus, help me have eyes to see what You are doing around me. Help me reflect Your love and care today. Amen.

 

May 2021

I read recently, “There ain’t much fun in medicine, but there’s a heck of a lot of medicine in fun.”” When was the last time you really had a belly laugh or heard the one you are caring for really laugh out loud?

With all that goes on in our lives as caregivers, the worries, anxieties, and fatigue, it’s amazing how a good laugh can seem to lighten our load, even for a little while. I’m reminded of the movie starring Robin Williams, Patch Adams. This film captures the healing power of humor. The good doctor helped his patients focus on something other than the overwhelming health crisis and pain they were encountering. Learning how to let joy offset our stress can be helpful for all of us. I know our bodies produce endorphins through laughter and help us relax. When my mother was ill, decades ago, her doctor prescribed a daily dose of The Three Stooges or The Marx Brothers, as a natural painkiller. It seemed to work.

We read in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” I think we all could use a dose of good medicine.

God gave us the ability to laugh for a reason, and it is contagious. When you start you just can’t seem to stop. Try bringing more humor into your world. In our house, we still enjoy reading the comics in the newspaper, we always smile when we watch those TV programs that have kids saying funny things, and we even have a joke book in the house from when the boys were small.

Maybe you are thinking of a funny joke right now, write it in the comments. Who knows, your laughter could be infectious.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessing of laughter. Open my eyes to become more aware of moments I can fill with laughter. Help me bring a smile to someone’s face today. Amen.