Witnessing God's Faithfulness

I was reminded recently through Facebook memories that a little over ten years ago my first husband, Wayne, and I moved into the condo where I lived until a few months ago. Being a February day in Wisconsin it could have been a snowy or wet day, but that held off until AFTER we were moved in. I am sure this was due to the prayers of others in particular of a young granddaughter in IA who was praying specifically for that.

Wayne and I had previously lived 27 years on an acreage in the country and then 3 years in an apartment in town before moving to the condo. We had initially moved from the country because of Wayne's disease. We knew because of the prognosis of Wayne's disease that it would not be possible to stay living in our country home that I loved. I just would not be able to maintain a two acre place in the country without Wayne's help.

From that county home we first moved to an apartment in town, as I already stated previously. But ten years ago we moved to the before mentioned condo. Wayne lived with me in our condo for about 10 months before moving to Heaven. In the meantime I had more space to handle the equipment to take care of Wayne's needs those last months of his life than I would have had in the apartment. I also now had a nice home which met my needs even after Wayne graduated to Heaven.

This is what I wrote on Facebook the evening of our move ten years ago: "We are all moved in including pictures up thanks to the wonderful help of people---! Everything went right today. The weather was sensational. Our home looks beautiful, and everything has fallen in place. I feel so blessed tonight. I love our new house, but I also feel blessed by the overwhelming love shown us in the last few days. God is so good!" 

Those last ten months of Wayne's life after moving to the condo were difficult months. There were rapid declines in his health during that time. During that time I was able to acquire a mobile wheelchair for him and later was able to rent a lift. These were big pieces of equipment which I would not have been able to have in our apartment. In fact, my home began to resemble a nursing home. Wayne passed away on January 2, 2011.

As I said, those months were difficult months. In fact, the whole four and a half years that I took care of Wayne were difficult. Seeing my husband's body deteriorate during those years were definitely the most challenging experience I ever encountered on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. This was especially true since I fought breast cancer for eight months in the midst of those four and a half years.

Yet I grew so much during those years. I learned of God's faithfulness, and my faith matured. My deep personal love for the Lord grew also during that time. He is using that experience in my life even today.  And now this past January I sold my condo because of my marriage to Bob Nyhuis.  God was faithful in providing a buyer for my condo at the right time.  God was also first faithful in leading me to begin to date Bob and then to marry him on July 13, 2019.  God will be with you, dear Reader, as well. He will provide step by step giving you the strength and direction that you need.  He is a faithful God.

Fighting Discouragement

(This is a chapter in my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.

Satan loves to try to discourage us and rob us of our joy as believers. Satan can never snatch us out of the hand of our Lord God, for we are safe in the hands of the Lord forever. So Satan tries to do the next best thing in his eyes. Satan tries to rob us of our joy and effectiveness as Christians.

As a caregiver, it is so easy to become discouraged. The heartaches of seeing one’s loved one suffer and deteriorate in his or her body can be very overwhelming. Even the psalmists in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament often expressed feelings of discouragement. In some cases they were experiencing deep trials in spite of their present faithfulness to the Lord God. Hence, they sometimes felt abandoned, crushed, and devalued by God.

One strategy for fighting discouragement demonstrated in the Psalms is prayer. Prayer should be our first recourse for help, deliverance, and restoration in times of trouble and challenge. Prayer should also be our first recourse in fighting the discouragement which sometimes accompanies difficult times. Through the avenue of prayer we can gain peace, joy, and relief from discouragement in facing life’s challenges.

Another strategy for fighting Satan’s attempts to discourage us is a firm confidence in the Lord’s directing and unfailing love, kindness, and faithfulness. We must also pray with the psalmists of old for the Lord God’s guiding and directing light and truth on our paths throughout this life. If we saturate our lives with prayer and the truths of God’s Word, we will have the confidence of the Lord’s presence in our lives. We will also have His joy in full and a song in our hearts (Psalm 42:8).

Remembering and praising God for His past mercies among His people and in our own personal lives is another great way to fight Satan’s attempts to discourage us. A powerful deterrent to discouragement in present trials and in future challenges is remembering how the Lord God has helped us in the past (Psalm 77:11-12).

Yet another strategy for fighting discouragement is God-directed self-talk (Psalm 42:5 & 11 & Psalm 43:5). Saturating one’s mind with God’s Holy Word and then verbally reminding oneself of the awesome truths and promises of God’s Holy Word is one of the best prescriptions against Satan’s discouraging lies.

One final strategy in fighting discouragement is to vow to praise God during our trials and in excited anticipation of the Lord’s answers to our prayers and wonders in our lives (Psalm 43:4). May the Lord God’s song and joy (not Satan’s discouraging lies) reside in you, dear caregiver, and in all of us!


If this blog post was a blessing to you, you can order my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.  It can be ordered on Amazon 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    You can also order it directly from me by contacting me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com  Consider ordering it for yourself or someone you love.

Divine Valentine

We are approaching what is called Valentine's Day.   It is a day for lovers to express their love for each other with cards, and perhaps candy and flowers.  For some people it can be a day of sadness because of past losses or current trials, however.

During those moments of sadness remember that the Lord loves you with an infinite love.  He in effect is your Divine Valentine.  He is sufficient.  He alone can give you all that you need.  People may fail you at times, but the Lord never will fail you.  Below is a poem called Your Divine Valentine:


Your Divine Valentine

A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe.  (Zephaniah 3:17)

A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all, Jesus.
(Song of Solomon 2:1)

A Valentine may bring you chocolate, but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word.  (Psalm 119:103)

A Valentine may love you for a lifetime,but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity,
(Jeremiah 31:3)

Reading the Word

Last week in my blog post we discussed the need for prayer and a constant awareness of the Lord's presence in our lives.  This week we are going to discuss the need for getting into God's Word, the Bible.  Both are necessary for the soul in the same way as food is to the physical body.  In fact, the survival of one's soul is dependent on how much we feed on God's Word. Prayer and Bible reading, coupled with an intimate relationship with the Lord, add joy and completeness to our lives.  Things and people of this world may give temporary happiness and pleasure, but only these things can eternally satisfy.

The Word of God id different than any other book, magazine, or social media source.  It is the only real source of truth.  Truth is not found in ourselves or some other outside resource.  It is only found in the Word of God, the Bible.  The Bible is living and active in our lives.  It is a source of comfort like nothing else when we are hurting, because it is the very words of God to us.  It gives perspective and can relieve our confusion.  It is our source of guidance and often can convict us of our need to change attitudes or actions.   It can further convict us of our shallowness.  Above all, it tells us of salvation which is found only in Jesus (Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23).

There is a sweetness in God's Word.  The Psalms speak of God's Word as being sweeter than honey which was the sweetest thing available in the time the Bible was written and before refined sugar was invented.  God's Word when read and applied to our lives gets rid of bitterness, sorrow, and pain.  It can add vigor and vitality to our lives.  When our days become sad or life feels like it has no purpose, the Word of God can sweeten and encourage us.  The Word of God and its promises can strengthen and help us when even the unthinkable occurs in our lives.  Spending time in God's Word has helped me immensely in past trials and difficulties, and it continues to be a blessing to me today.