Your Treasure and Your Strength

(In my last post I talked about the publication of my book.  The post this week is a chapter from my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.)

Dear Christian caregiver, the Lord is your treasure and strength in the storm of family care-giving.  God may be using the storms of your care-giving days to show you His strength in your weakness, as you seek to deal with the overwhelming challenges.  Because of your relationship with the Lord, dear Christian caregiver, you can approach God with confidence and freedom for help and strength as you face each new day.

I felt so inadequate for the task of being my husband's caregiver.  It was not a role I would have chosen, and I certainly felt unprepared for that role.  However, God, delights to use unlikely ordinary, weak people to do His will.  When you yield your limitations and even failures to the Lord, dear caregiver, you become a wonderful instrument in the Lord's hand.  His strength and not your own will then fill you.

Also, I know of no greater work in the kingdom of heaven than family care-giving.  It is often a thankless job accompanied by grief and perhaps tears as one sees one's loved one's health deteriorate.  It is never a pointless role, however.  For whatever is done for others is done for the Lord, and it will produce a harvest of blessings and joy in God's perfect timetable.

The family care-giving role is a role that often feels as if it is leading down blind alleys.  Christian caregivers, however, can be assured that their Good Shepherd is leading and guiding them each step of the way.  Depend on Him for guidance and protection just as lambs follow their shepherd.  As your Good Shepherd, He will walk before you and lead you.  He is your hope for today, as you face your care-giving challenges.  He is also your hope and the hope of your loved one for the future!  He is your treasure and Strength, dear caregiver.

(As I indicated last week, If you wish to purchase my book you can purchase it from me directly by contacting me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com for specifics.    My book is also available at Amazon at this link:  https://www.amazon.com/DEAR-CAREGIVER-Reflections-Family-Caregivers-ebook/dp/B00JQFJJRA/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Dear+Caregiver+by+Sharon+Vander+Waal&qid=1617808237&s=books&sr=1-1  

You can further find my book at Barnes and Noble and elsewhere online.  The Barnes and Noble link is here:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dear-caregiver-sharon-vander-waal/1119198854?ean=9781629524269  There are Kindle and Nook versions of the book as well as print copies.  Consider giving this book as a love gift for a family caregiver you know or buying it for yourself.)

April Memories

 

April marks the remembrance of significant events in my life.  Some events were difficult and some were very exciting.  It was in April of 2006 that my first husband, Wayne, went into the doctor's office, and we received our first indication that something was wrong.  This was followed by a four and a half year struggle with his ever increasingly disabling neurological disease.  

Yet it was in April of 2008 that I completed eight months of breast cancer treatment.  What an exciting day!  I remember dancing a little jig with a couple of my granddaughters that day.  Seven years ago in April in 2014 also marks the publication of my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.  What an exciting day that was as well!  

Based on my experience as a family caregiver, I wrote my book to encourage current family caregivers.  Family care-giving, while a noble calling, is also exhausting and sometimes discouraging.  If you are a family caregiver, or you know a family caregiver, they may be blessed and encouraged by my book based on my own experience as a caregiver.  In fact, my current husband, Bob, was blessed by reading my book when he was caring for his first wife, Gloria. 

My book starts with a brief synopsis of my care-giving story followed by over one hundred brief chapters meant to encourage current caregivers.  While writing my book I sought to stay connected with my readers by relevant examples from my own care-giving experiences.  I did this by seeking to drive home messages that would encourage readers to persevere in the challenges of family care-giving.  I tried to be vulnerable and honest about the feelings and emotions that I experienced during that time in my life as a caregiver for my husband.  I also tried to express both the blessings and challenges of that time period in my life.  I further tried to share the importance of drawing closer to the Lord in difficult and challenging moments.

If you wish to purchase my book you can purchase it from me directly by contacting me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com for specifics.    My book is also available at Amazon at this link:  https://www.amazon.com/DEAR-CAREGIVER-Reflections-Family-Caregivers-ebook/dp/B00JQFJJRA/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Dear+Caregiver+by+Sharon+Vander+Waal&qid=1617808237&s=books&sr=1-1  

You can further find my book at Barnes and Noble and elsewhere online.  The Barnes and Noble link is here:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dear-caregiver-sharon-vander-waal/1119198854?ean=9781629524269  There are Kindle and Nook versions of the book as well as print copies.  Consider giving this book as a love gift for a family caregiver you know or buying it for yourself.  

Out of Control Situations

Have you ever felt as if you were dropped into an out of control situation?  Have you ever felt as if you had no clue how to handle a certain set of circumstances?  I felt that some years ago when my first husband, Wayne, was diagnosed with an terminal neurological illness.  I felt that many days, as I cared for him in his ever declining body disabilities.  I also felt it when I was diagnosed with breast cancer a year after Wayne's diagnosis, and sometimes in situations living as a widow after Wayne's death.  My current husband, Bob, also felt it when he cared for his first wife.  The knowledge of God's presence helped us through these circumstances.

Bob and I have also felt we were dropped into an out of control situation(s) when praying for and counselling family members.  Sometimes we have felt at a lost for wisdom in navigating this/these situation(s).  We in addition have felt it as we have navigated through the COVID 19 era.  Praise God that we are now both fully immunized!

Situations that tax our wisdom and endurance have huge benefits, however.  They reveal to us our own pride, fears, and even sinful selfishness.  They reveal to us what we are sometimes wrongly relying on besides the Lord for our security and peace.  They reveal that only the Lord can fill that need for security and peace.  They show us His love, forgiveness, peace, and wisdom.  Out of control situations show us that we are desperate and inept in ourselves, but strong in the Lord.  Let's always run to His open arms for help, guidance, and comfort.   

Easter Joy

Easter is a special time of year.  I would say it is my favorite holiday.  I love the deep spiritual significance of the true meaning of Easter, and I love that it has not been so commercialized as other holidays.  

Easter means that the Lord Jesus came to this earth and lived a perfect life for you and me.  He later died on the cross to pay the price for our sins, and then He arose again on the third day to prove that He had won over sin and death and Satan. If you and I have accepted his gift of salvation by repentance and faith, we are His child now and for eternity.

Easter also means that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, identifies with our pain and the pain of our loved ones. As we struggle in our own needs or to help our loved ones, Jesus Christ identifies with us. Having suffered the worst possible pain for us on the cross He is able to sympathize with our heartaches and weaknesses. He is also an all-powerful Savior to whom we can freely go for grace in our moments of sadness and overwhelming and crushing needs.  (Check out Hebrews 4:15-16 in the New Testament.)

Because of Easter and Christ's sacrifice, we can freely approach God the Father Himself with both our needs and our loved one's needs. We can cry out to Him for help and call Him our “Abba Father,” because He considers us His special children (Romans 8:15). Easter also means that when our hearts are so weighed down with the heartaches and overwhelming circumstances of life that we do not even know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede and pray for us! (Romans 8:26)

Easter means that although we will always face trials and troubles in this world, the Lord Jesus Christ has overcome the world.  He is also our source of peace even in the most challenging of times (John 16:33).  Even in overwhelming circumstances and even when we do not understand God's ways in allowing certain things in our lives, God is working for our ultimate good. We are victors in Him! (Romans 8:28 & 37)

No matter what happens in our life situations we will slowly heal emotionally and spiritually. God will always be with us, and joy will return one day. His love for us will never fail. He proved that love for us on the cross. That is the meaning of Easter for all of us.