Spring Blessings

When fighting discouragement, pain, or trials of any kind; it is wise to think about God's precious promises in His Word and also the beauty all around us in God's world.  I would like to share a few of those beauties today.   Most of these flowers are right from my back yard.  Enjoy and be blessed.

Mothers on Mother's Day

As I write this post, it is Mother's day weekend in the United States.  If  you are a Mother, may God bless you with a wonderful Mother's day.  May He bless you with sweet experiences and sweet memories.  May He fill your heart with thankfulness for the blessing of being a Mother and perhaps also a Grandmother.  

If you are a caregiver for a Mother who is ill or disabled, may God bless you and strengthen and give you joy in your care-giving task.  If you are a Mother of a a child who is ill or disabled, may the Lord also bless you in the same way.  May the Lord fill you with joy and fill the gap where the gap is wide and deep.   

If you are a Mother who has lost a child due to death or estrangment, may God comfort and bless you with His sufficient love.  If you recently lost a mother to death or even lost a mother many years ago, I pray the overflowing unbounding and comforting love of your Savior will overflow in Your heart.   Once again, may the Lord fill the gap where the gap is wide and deep.   

There is no love like the love of the Lord. Like a mother bird cares for her young, the Lord will care for and comfort His own. Psalm 91:4-5 says, "He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."   Wherever you are in life's pathways, revel in the Lord's love for you!

The Tight-rope of Care-giving

 

(The following post is a chapter from my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.)

On June 15, 2012 some of you may have seen televised Nik Wallenda’s dream come true, as he walked across Niagara Falls between the U.S. and Canada on a tightrope. He covered the 1,800 feet in approximately 25 minutes walking the two-inch wire in elkskin-soled shoes and using a balance beam.  Now I would not recommend viewing Niagara Falls in this fashion. One might even argue the wisdom and even rightness of taking such a risk. I think there are lessons we can learn from this incident, however.

Much of life-and certainly caregiving-is filled with challenges. Because of the uncertainties and constant changes and declines of care-giving, it can feel as if one is in imminent danger.  During care-giving days, one is not able to predict what the next year, let alone the next month or day will bring. It can feel like one is walking in a fog on a tightrope. As Wallenda made his walk across Niagara Falls he found the heavy mist to be very challenging. Also the winds hit him and were definitely more than he expected. After awhile his forearms started to tense up, and he began experiencing numbness. The steps and days as a caregiver can feel the same way. 

ABC televised the walk, but insisted Wallenda use a safety tether to prevent him from plunging into the roaring waters of Niagara Falls should he fall. I do not know how great a safety measure this was in reality, but I do know that Christian caregivers have a wonderful source of strength and safety in the Lord Jesus Christ. Care-giving can feel like walking over stormy waters, but the Lord is a reliable source of safety. Also Wallenda walked across that tightrope putting one foot in front of the other. That is what Christian caregivers and all believers need to do. They need to take life one step at a time focusing on the Lord and trusting Him.

When Wallenda stepped onto Canadian soil he was immediately asked for his passport, which he extracted from a protective pouch in his jacket. To me that passport is a picture of God’s Word and its promises. It is what helps us walk the tightrope and stormy situations of life like care-giving. 

Wallenda said that the prayers of others helped him immensely. He said it helped him reach the safety of the other side. So we too need to be willing to ask for and rely on the prayers of others when we are going through stormy times. Wallenda further said that in the middle of the wire he started thinking about his great-grandfather. His family’s legacy for performing daredevil stunts is what helped him persevere to the end. So we also can follow the examples of the Biblical saints and our godly ancestors who have gone before us. Their past faith can encourage us to be faithful and to trust God.

Christian caregiver, walk step by step focusing on the Lord as you experience the stormy waters of care-giving. Rely on God’s Word and prayer. Trust that God will get you to the other side. 

Once again here is the Amazon link to the order page for my book:
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

A God Thing

 

"Most of us still rate the events of our lives as either a 'good' thing or a 'bad' thing. but when we're finally able to merge all the events of our lives into the category of a God thing, then we will be where He wants us."  Such was a quote I recently discovered in a devotional called The Twenty-Third Psalm for Caregivers by Carmen Leal.

Some events in life are very difficult.  The illness of my first husband was very difficult.  The diffiuclties of caring for him and His subsequent death was very diffiuclt,.  My cancer diagnosis during that time was very difficult.  Watching my sister struggle for years with her cancer and then her death in February of this year was very difficult.  My chronic back and other issues are difficult at times.  Other unnamed issues which are going on in my life right now are also difficult at times.

Yet through all these things God has been with me step by step.  I have seen that over and over.  Even when I fret and worry, God is always there.  Very recently God has used people in my life to greatly step up and help in situations that seem overwhelming or even unresovable. This has also brought a closer relationship with these special people.  That is a God thing.  I have seen how life's trials have also been an avenue for me to help others as well.  That is a God thing.  Further, as weary as I get with life's trials, I have grown in my love for my Lord and dependence on Him through the trials.  I have also grown in my love of His Word.  That is a God thing.

What are the trials going on in your life right now?  What are the "bad" things?  How is God using even these things to become a "God" thing?

Anniversary of My book

 

It was in April of 2014 that I published my book, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers. Writing and promoting the book nine years ago stirred up emotions about my own difficult days of seeing my first husband decline in his body and then losing him to death.  I also had some fears.  Satan would have liked me to feel like no one was going to read the book, but I also knew it was in God's hands.  I further felt a passion to help current caregivers.  That is the reason I originally started this blog, and that is the reason I wrote my book.

In spite of the emotions I was excited  about the new book.  This book and other events in those nine years since the publication of this book has helped other family caregivers including my current husband who read the book while taking care of his wife at that time.  For that I am very thankful to the Lord.

If you are a family caregiver or know someone who is a family caregiver consider reading this book.  It is available at the Amazon link below, but it also available at Barnes and Noble and elsewhere online.  It is further available from me directly at jesuschild54@hotmail.com  Just contact me there for details.

Once again here is the Amazon link to the order page for my book:
rhttps://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

God's Plan A

I ran across a devotional a few years ago which reminded me of a truth which God has laid on my heart in the past several years.  Nancy Guthrie writes this in her book, The One Year Book of Hope, "God's plan for your life is unfolding, and nothing and nobody can hinder it---Whatever is happening in your life, you can welcome it as God's sovereign Plan A.  God carries out His own good purposes without mistakes or regrets, and His plan is never thwarted."

Nancy also says that Satan tries to scheme and destroy, and many things in this life are difficult and sometimes tragic.  God doesn't run behind Satan, however, frantically trying to clean up his messes.  God is not forced to go to Plan B.  Satan's schemes do not catch God off guard.

God, even in the tragedies and sad moments of life, always has a good plan for our lives.  He is always working for His glory and for our spiritual good.  It was God's Plan A that I was a caregiver for my first husband, Wayne.  It  was God's plan A that I became a widow.   God's plan A was in operation for my life in the years and events that have followed in both the times of joy and heartache.  What is transpiring in my life right now in both the trials and joys is still God's plan A for me even in moments when it does not feel that way. 

God's Plan A is always in place for you as well, dear reader.  This is true in all the events of your life.  He is rejoicing with you in your joys and is always there to comfort you in your sorrows.  In this post Easter period let us join the believers of old and today and sing "Hosanna to the King of Kings."

(P.S.  If your missed the Easter post of last week, you can read it by clicking on the following link:

https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2023/04/easter.html

Easter

 

I love Easter best of all the holidays.  I love it for its deep spiritual significance.  Yet how does Easter relate to us?

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.

Finally, Easter means that there are those whom we have loved in the past who are now celebrating with their Lord in Eternity this Easter.  I personally think of my grandparents, parents, my first husband, Wayne, and also very recently my dear sister, Nancy.  I love to think of them now free from all pain and trials rejoicing and singing before the Lord's throne.  They have the joy of being in the Lord's precious presence.  They were saved by His grace and their life's race is now completed.  

This Easter let's rejoice with both those who have gone on ahead of us and with those of us who still walk this life's path,  One day because of Easter we too with joy shall behold our Lord face to face.  Furthermore, on the glorious final ressurection day when Jesus returns, we will have new glorified bodies.  Praise the name of the Lord for his salvation and grace to us!