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Three women have asked me for prayer and I have been praying for them and will keep praying for them every  day this week. They are all like me, a caregiver, a survivor, or as I like to call us, the last woman standing.  We’re tough, but that’s a real double-edged sword. We can also take on too much, neglect our own selves, ignore our health.

I do a lot of respite care for primary caregivers, that’s my job. I’m a caregiver at work, a caregiver at home, surrounded by other caregivers, many of us so overwhelmed, trapped in impossible situations that we can’t fix, crying out to the Lord, silently, begging for some emotional and spiritual relief. Silently, because for the most part we stay strong for others.

That’s dangerous, and I know this because I’ve face planted a few times. You want to quit, you want to resign, but this is life…..and love. You can’t quit either one. It’s hard to ask for help and it’s harder to accept help. It’s worse when there is no help forthcoming.

There are men too who are caregivers, quite a few. I sometimes joke about this being a lifestyle choice, because it is, it is choosing to love. It is choosing to provide care. Emotional care, physical care, spiritual care. We tend to take that for granted, especially if we’re looking out for a loved one,  we tend to believe this is just “normal.” It’s not normal at all, it’s extraordinary.

Lord, I pray for strength and good health for all the caregivers, I pray that you make your presence known to them, and I pray that you wrap them in your grace, that you comfort them. I pray that you teach them to put their own oxygen mask on first, show them that they are not alone, and lead them to trust in you, in your Divine hand that orchestrates such beautiful teamwork.

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