First Friday Prayers: Prayer for the Caregiver
Today is World Day of Prayer. How appropriate for the first Friday of the month, when we alway pray together. It’s also Caregiver Appreciation Day. Caregiving can be rewarding, exhausting, heartbreaking and up lifting. And those feelings can change on a dime. I can’t think of a better prayer to offer today than a prayer for the caregiver. (It’s also National If Pets Had Thumbs Day, but I wouldn’t know where to begin praying for that!)
The term caregiver covers a lot of ground. It can be a family member or a paid helper who looks after a child, the sick, the elderly or disabled. In just my close family we have foster parents, adults taking care of their elderly parents, adults taking care of their sick spouses and Chuck and I taking care of our disabled daughter. I know for us personally, there are moments I’m not sure we can continue to do it, and moments we can’t imagine our lives any other way. But caregiving is always a lot.
If you fall into the caregiving category, seek out some social supports for yourself, if you don’t already have them. Find ways to take breaks when at all possible, and look into counseling if you feel overwhelmed. Caregiving can be isolating, so stay involved in church to the extent you can and ask for help! And pray this scripture over yourself or others you know in this situation:
“I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14 NIV
If you are a caregiver, I see you. I am you. Know that you are not alone and I am praying for you. If you have a specific prayer request or just need an ear to listen, please send me a message to lauren@laurensparks.net. It would be an honor. And if you don’t want to miss a Praying God’s Word post, subscribe over on the right hand side of this page.
And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!
I don’t know if it’s because my baby is a senior in high school this year, but Lois Flower’s post The Unexpected Blessing of a Newly Surfaced Photo gave me all the nostalgic feels. Thanks, Lois.
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MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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