There were young kids, teens, young adults, even his best friend, all playing together, learning and laughing. But, there was no sign of my child. I searching the parking lot where everyone was talking and hanging out with their families; not there either. Here is where most people panic. But, deep down I knew; look with the younger kids. It was there I found him, rolling down the hill, filled with that bold childhood laughter, having the time of his life. No pressure here. No one asking him to make quick decisions he had to worry about in that football game. There was only freedom and joy. I want him to be something he isn’t sometimes, but I’m learning to start finding the thankful in disability.
How many of us counted the cost (both emotionally and financially) of what it would take to raise a child and/or care for an aging parent? Many are doing both…Because we love our child, we don’t often consider the cost because we simply do what is needed and want the best for them.
My daughter arrived in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the middle of the night on the eve of Thanksgiving. A tough respiratory virus attacked her lungs, and she needed a substantial amount of oxygen support. And now, this unexpected illness meant Thanksgiving was going to be completely different than we had all planned.
Are you scrounging for thankfulness this holiday season? Holidays can be a challenge for those walking through hard days. Perhaps you feel like you've been handed the short-end of the stick; your child is struggling, you’re exhausted and it seems like everybody else has life with a bit more gravy. It’s easy to focus on our circumstances, take stock of what we have and where we are and end up feeling completely void of thankfulness. Is there a cure for this?
Seeing many of our friends on social media taking trips to Japan, Italy, France, Greece, Egypt, and all around the USA, keeps us ever mindful that our feet are firmly planted in the nation of “caring for special needs”. But what if if several couples take turns getting to know the needs of this family and meeting those needs, so you can make a “WEEKEND TO REMEMBER” happen for them?
Our choosing to serve God must be taken seriously. We will have many opportunities in our everyday dealings to decide who we will serve. We must decide what, or to whom we will choose to serve, and how. We need help to choose His will over our own, because we know that He knows what is best for us. In this, we will have amazing gratitude because of what we’ve learned, how we’ve grown, and how we serve
It’s sometimes even hard to fathom, but I am now a caregiver caring for multiple generations of my family. Like me, there are many finding themselves sandwiched between two generations and caring for both. It is without a doubt, one of the hardest roads to walk. I’m thankful for the strategies that I’ve learned along the way which have helped me to not merely survive but thrive on my journey as a caregiver.
I would like to drive up to some magical office building and order into a speaker, “Yes, I’d like to order an easy day for my family please.” Then my daughter, if only for a day, would have a fully functioning heart and lungs. Many healed in the Bible, while healed in a moment, suffered for long before. This gives me hope to press on another day, and to keep praying for the Lord and His healing.
