Often
caring for a terminally ill loved one can become so overwhelming
that it can stir up all kinds of negative emotions. I think this is
also true of any difficult or heartbreaking life
challenge.
I
was a caregiver for my husband for about four and a half years. By
the fall of 2010 my husband’s disease had progressed to the point
that he was pretty much dependent on me for everything. At that time
I found myself becoming increasingly stressed. By God’s
grace, through the extra help of my son, and the use
of a lift we were able to navigate through that period of time.
Little did I know at that time that just a few months later on
January 2, 2011 my husband would pass into eternal life.
In
November of 2010 I was challenged to write about my thoughts on the
idea of letting go. Below are the words that I scribed at that
time:
“I
want to let go of fear for the future. My husband’s health is
declining, and there have been significant changes lately. It is easy
to fear the future, but I want to let go of fear, and I want to just
trust. I want to let go of fear and replace it with trust, faith, and
peace. I also want to let go of the daily stress or any form of
self-pity that I feel, and just take a more peaceful
attitude about the events of the day. I want to approach them calmly
step by step.
I
want to let go of “what ifs” from my thinking. I want to let go
of how I wish things were in my life, and I want to truly accept
things as they are. I want to let go of both the expectations I have
in my life of myself and the perceived expectations I think others
have of me. I also want to let go of the expectations I have of
others. I want to let go and watch God work.”
Dear
Christian caregiver, what negative emotions do you need to work on
releasing? Releasing them will add to your peace and even joy.
The
above post is taken from a chapter from my book Dear Caregiver
Reflections for Family Caregivers. It is available from Xulon, my
publisher, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Amazon and Barnes and Noble
have Kindle and Nook versions respectively. Here is the link to the
order page for my book on Amazon:
I
recently discovered a Christian book site called DeeperShopping.com which is also carrying my
book: The link for the order page for my book for that site can be
found below.
http://www.deepershopping.com/item/sharon-vander-waal/dear-caregiver/6160139.html
Finally, if you want a book directly from me, you can e-mail me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com for specifics.
Finally, if you want a book directly from me, you can e-mail me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com for specifics.
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