On Sunday my caregiving friend came up to me and told me thanks for the caregiver’s devotional book by Terry Hargrave that I had given her the week before. She said that one day when she was at “the end of her rope” the first devotional in the book was just what she needed. It is so great to see how God works! It is also good to see that I am not the only one to have struggles. It is easy to think that as a Christian I should be showing joy all the time. I am going through the book of Psalms in the Bible, however, and they also express struggles and questions.
As part of her thank you to me for the devotional book my friend gave me a refrigerator magnet. There is this picture of a frazzled woman on the magnet who is trying to juggle a million things. The words say, “What part of REST IN HIM (God) don’t I understand?” Then the magnet goes on to say “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28″ That is a good reminder to me, and I have that magnet on my refrigerator.
Monday I had a chance to substitute teach in a second grade classrooom. It was a refreshing break as always. Yesterday afternoon I was gone for awhile doing some necessary shopping, but that too was a nice little break. I happened to run into a friend while I was shopping. Her husband had cancer the same time that I did, but he had it in his esophagus. He unfortunately did not survive. She has been going through a grieving process since. She said she was going on a vacation with her sister now. She almost feels gulity about having a nice time. I told her that she is here for a purpose and to enjoy her time with her sister. I do understand her lonliness of having fun doing things that she used to do with her husband, however. My husband is physically still with me, but in so many ways we have lost the fun things we used to share together.
Today my husband and I went to see our chiropractor. I have been seeing him for years for back and headache issues. My husband has been going for a few months. Since the medical profession says there is no cure for my husband’s disease, we decided to try a nutritional approach with my husband. So far we have seen no benefit from this either, however. In fact I can still see more decline in my husband just in the last months. The chiropractor himself sort of hinted today that perhaps this was not helping. For now we will continue the nutritional stuff for awhile. It won’t hurt, although it doesn’t seem to be helping either. We knew that this would probably be the case when we tried this, but it still is disheartening. I sure do hate this disease!
I am thankful, however, for the many things I have learned in the past few years. Even though I could do without difficult circumstances they may have been necessary to make me stronger in the Lord and more dependent on Him. They have strengthend my faith and opened up doors to help others. The difficult times also make the joyful times more joyful and have made relationships with our children and siblings stronger. Thank You, Lord!
Hi Sharon–We know there are no such things as coincidences.
I also think it’s so great when you can give someone just what they need. In a caregiving situation, it can be so frustrating in that it can be so hard to give a care recipient just what they need (good health). I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! And, that the sun shines both days…