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Smart, fun, generous…and difficult—my mom died one year ago
How God is way ahead of us and with us in the Valley of the Shadow It’s been a year since I’ve regularly posted here. After Mom’s death I needed time to process. Grieve. Reflect. Rest. I didn’t intend to pull back this long. One thing that has drawn me back: I’ve wanted to tell the story of how amazingly God provided for us during her final three years fraught with vascular dementia. I’ve also wanted to encourage others on an all-too-common yet nearly impossible journey. Nothing really prepares you for the unimaginable twists and turns of caring for someone who has always been so sharp and fiercely independent, who…
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20 Ways to Care for the Caregiver
Many of my friends and family members have parents with Alzheimer’s. Others have loved ones in assisted living who require additional attention. Caring for them well is the right thing to do (1 Tim. 5:4, 16). But the caregivers also need care. Research indicates that about a third of caregivers die before the person for whom they’re caring. It kind of makes sense. Caregivers have little time to get to their own doctor appointments. They’re sick of sitting in clinics with loved ones. And they put off routine care. So they may miss the benefits of early detection. Many of those to whom we minister are caring for others, and…