Blessings

Care-giving is a noble calling.  That is a theme you have heard often from this writer.  Yet it also is a calling which sometimes is a source of heartache, as we see our loved one deteriorate in his or her health.  As I look back on those days when I was a caregiver for my husband and his eventual death, there is a still an ache which comes into my heart.  Yet I remind myself that it is more than that.  I see it as a place where God met me and blessed me in a special way.  I want to see it as place of surrender to His will and hence the place of His blessing.

We often think of blessing as God giving us the things which we want, things that are comfortable, and that we perceive are good.  Yet the blessings often come through the struggles, because God is there in a special way during those times.  The blessings come when we see how weak and desperate we are without Him, and then run to Him in surrender to His will.  The blessings are in seeing Him meet our needs, comfort us, and give Himself to us.  The blessings then comes in a changed life through a surrendered life.

The blessings comes from seeing and trusting God in a new way during difficult times.  It also comes from praising or as some translations of the Bible say blessing the Lord in the times of struggle and uncertainty.  We often do not "feel" like praising God in such moments, but when our lips praise Him, our hearts eventually also begin to get the message of God's love and grace.  Joy, peace, and blessings are the result.

Dear caregiver, let your care-giving role be the place where you not only at times struggle with pain and heartache; but let it also be the place where you meet God like never before.  Let it be a place of surrender and blessing.