One of my wife's favorite authors, George MacDonald, wrote:, "How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven."
I journeyed throught the storm of the beginning of my caregiving, lost in what I called the FOG, hoping to see a lighthouse to guide my way. In the dank grey of FOG, without diagnosis and with confusion, I just expressed my trust in God to help me. It took time. I gained knowledge from those who gave their professional opinion. I tried my best to honor my mom and to give her good care. It was the journey with other Christians who understood what I was experiencing that I missed most. Today I find myself in what I believe to be the desired haven. God wanted to teach me about this caregiving journey of honoring, loving, depending and seeking. There is so much God can teach us in this journey. I don't want to miss any of the wisdom about life and death, God's care and presence, the encouragement Christian community can provide.
I journeyed throught the storm of the beginning of my caregiving, lost in what I called the FOG, hoping to see a lighthouse to guide my way. In the dank grey of FOG, without diagnosis and with confusion, I just expressed my trust in God to help me. It took time. I gained knowledge from those who gave their professional opinion. I tried my best to honor my mom and to give her good care. It was the journey with other Christians who understood what I was experiencing that I missed most. Today I find myself in what I believe to be the desired haven. God wanted to teach me about this caregiving journey of honoring, loving, depending and seeking. There is so much God can teach us in this journey. I don't want to miss any of the wisdom about life and death, God's care and presence, the encouragement Christian community can provide.
Being a caregiver is stressful, complicated and few of us are experts at it. Yet there are simple truths of faith that are so profound and so helpful. My prayer is that you will recognize God's desired haven in your caregiving.