Sunday, July 28, 2019

Beauty From Ashes

There is a verse in the Bible which speaks of beauty coming from ashes.  Those who have read my last blog post know that I have found that to be true in my life in my walk of faith.  I was my first husband's caregiver for a few years.  Recently I remarried.  In fact, that blessed event transpired two weeks ago yesterday.  In my last blog post I wrote about my care-giving years and my anticipation of my upcoming wedding a couple weeks ago.  You can read that blog post here by clicking on the link:  https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2019/07/wedding-day-is-near.html

As an update I will enclose a wedding picture as well.  Next week I hope to return to my regular care-giver format for my blog posts.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Wedding Day is Near

At this time next week I will be a married, Lord willing.  On Saturday, July 13, 2019 I will be marrying my fiancee, Bob.  It seems difficult to believe that the day is almost here after these months and weeks of planning.

Most of you know my story of being a caregiver for my first husband, Wayne.  Those years of being his caregiver and watching him deteriorate physically step by step were difficult years.  During that time I learned the importance of resting in the Lord.  My relationship with the Lord became very intimate during that time.

As a result of that experience I also developed a deep concern for other family caregivers who often are carrying heavy loads, as they care for their loved ones with serious diseases.  Hence, I wrote my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.  The order page for that book on Amazon can be found here:  https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Caregiver-Sharon-Vander-Waal/dp/1629524263/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482027543&sr=1-1&keywords=Dear+Caregiver  I also experienced God's grace and love in many other ways during those years since my husband's death.  God has used my story in beautiful ways.

It was eight years ago last January that my first husband, Wayne, passed into Glory.  Now God has added a wonderful blessing into my life in the person of my soon to be new husband, Bob.  Our story is special to us.  I was one of his first wife's caregivers at a place called the Gathering Place where I volunteer.  I also volunteered with his daughter at that time.  At a certain point I gave my book to this daughter.  She in turn gave it to her dad.  It proved to be a help and blessing to him in his care for his wife.  Later after his wife's death, Bob also began volunteering for the Gathering Place.  After a period of time he asked me for a date, and the rest is history.  We believe it is a beautiful story of God's plan for our lives and His love for us.

One of our favorite verses is Hebrews 13:5, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."  It is a verse I write in every one of the books that I sign.  It is God's promise to us, and it is our promise to each other.  Pray for us as we marry at the end of this week.

(I may not be posting for the next couple weeks.  Use this time to read some of my older posts.)