Believing caregivers, how do I reconcile that scripture says to put others before me whereas the secular world says put me first?

Psalm 71:5
"For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth."

Oh, how lovely smeshque.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
1 John 3:1

smeshque: Yes, a good day and night thus far. Same to you. Praise God!

Thank you LL. I did have a good day, and I hope you did as well. I hope you are doing well.
God is wonderful!

Smeshque: Spot on excellent synopsis of that scripture. Good evening dear and have a good day tomorrow. Thank you for your well wishes.

Thank you for the verse Llama. It makes me think of our lesson this morning. It was on Most people know Jesus as the Christ, and the Saviour, but how many people remember or know HIM as our LORD.
And do we understand in biblical time the relationship of a servant and their Lords or master.
It really makes me think, how much as a servant do I do for my LORD.

Happy evening to you and day tomorrow.

Psalm 119:76 "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. "

Oh, how beautiful, smeshque! Thank you for the St. Patrick's Day wishes!

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.”
Psalms 62:1

You too Llama.

Thank you so much, dear smeshque. I'm actually feeling better and my husband just went and got a ton of goodies that we wanted for St. Patrick's Day. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, smeshque!

True Llama we never know, only the Lord knows. Best to do today what you can out of until tomorrow. I am so glad your husband is taking good care of you. You deserve and need good care.
Hoping those splints are not being too tough on you.
Much prayer and Care! Hang in there.

Smeshque: Oh, thank you so much for your comforting words! It was ironic that a cousin commented that I sent our Easter card out to her a little bit early and my response was "You never know what's coming at you down the path of life." Then my shin splint happened. Yes, my husband has been taking good care of me. And you're very welcome-I mention your kindness because you're so deserving of it.☺

Rosses003: Thank you. It's people like you who are truly wonderful and Godly.
Have a great night.

What wonderful words shared this day. Thank you all for your lovely thoughts. And the Lord for putting them in your hearts.
Rosses it is always great when you write.

Llama- Thank you for your kind words towards me, and Ditto to you. Hope you are managing with your pain.

May God bless you all in this season of life, and provide you with all spiritual blessings and physical needs.
We have a difficult job, and we can do it well with HIS help.
Jesus Loves you!

AndiFisher: My heart is gladened that you can find some form of relief through wonderful people like smeshque! We all need a support system when we go through the caregiving process. GOD bless you!

Indy,

Isn’t it wonderful to know we all are loved and accepted exactly as we are? It amazes me. It enables me to keep going and fuels me, even in my darkest times.

Don’t let guilt take over and cloud your faith! Every day, every minute is a priceless opportunity to forgive and receive forgiveness.

God has wonderful ways to make himself present, let me tell you, I also needed to remember that He is always ready to forgive..seventy times seven times! As we should be too. He put that thought in my mind today and helped me share it here for us His children in need to remember that we all deserve mercy and acceptance, and He is ALWAYS ready and willing to give it to us.

Thank you Lord, for the wonders you work in us and through us!!

Thank you Lord for giving me this day my daily bread, and showing me more about how to forgive others' trespasses, as You forgive us ours. Thank you for reminding me that You are aware that I am but dust! Thank you that my failures are forgiven, and for freeing me from crushing guilt so I can forgive others. It is such a vicious cycle for me--when I feel guilty about getting impatient and frustrated with my mother; turns into a snowball on a mountainside heading down, gathering speed and size. LORD keep us ever mindful of Your forgiveness of us, that we may be free to forgive others.

Thank you Rosses and other sweet sisters in Christ for this discussion on forgiveness. Truth I really needed to hear right now. It is hard to forgive others, and sometimes even harder to forgive ourselves! What a wonderful reminder that though he asks us to forgive seventy times seven, He also forgives US seventy times seven!!!

Matthew 18:21-22

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven”.

I believe this applies to self forgiveness too, as we know our journey is a journey of love. And even more to our parents! who gave us life and love us...their way, it’s still love.

Jesus became a man precisely to understand our nature. He knows we need forgiveness..seventy times times seven!

A caregiver is tested as a Christian and simply as a human being many times during a day!
A child of a mother or father with a troubled mind is tested all life! 

So, if we know we are trying to do what is right, our falls are part of that journey, and God knows it. He knows our intent, knows where, when and why we fall short. But He is there to receive our sincere, tired and troubled hearts and forgive..seventy times times seven!

For all of us carrying the heavy burden of GUILT, keep that in mind. ...Seventy times times seven...not as permission to sin, but as a hope to know we will always count on His open arms, even if we have trouble opening ours to others or to ourselves. He will teach us how, every day.

Dear Smeshque, Andi, Llama and all, we are Children of the most compassionate heart, if we have a tiny bit of that same compassion in ours to  give to ourselves and to others, we will be able to navigate through the most troubled waters in the sea of life!

May He bless us today, and every day of our life!

I'm praying for you! It is tough but God will be with you through all of it. Just take one step at a time.
May the peace of God and His comfort fill you now.

Rosses thank you for your comment to Andi, it is also exactly what I needed to hear at this time. Very much appreciate you.
May God continue to bless you.

Hi Andi! I love to read comments from people blessed with the understanding of the love of God.

And along that line of thinking, I truly believe it’s important too, to remind ourselves of our human nature and learn to forgive our weaknesses. Sometimes I catch myself feeling very guilty or even angry, or frustrated, or simply..done...! Then I realize, God who knows me better than I know myself, is probably looking at me with the most loving eyes imaginable! Knowing All I’m facing & also all I’m giving, knowing my weaknesses and also the strength that has grown in my heart and spirit through this experience; and also knowing my mom’s situation, which is incredibly hard.
As I’m being constantly tested, I’m also constantly encouraged and forgiven by Him! And I know without the shadow of a doubt that I’m constantly blessed..

If He is so understanding, why am I so intolerant? Forgive yourself, forgive your mom..TODAY. Tomorrow is work for another day, and if you’ve to forgive again, do it again. That doesn’t make you any lesser of a person or a Christian, on the contrary. Sometimes and in some situations in life we aren’t able to sign up for a permanent “fix”. It’s an everyday job, and that really makes it so much more meritorious as Christian.

Llama I am glad to hear all was good with ex-ray and ultrasound. Shin splints are no fun. I hope the Ibuprofen helps ease it. That was a sweet thing your husband said. Especially at a time you were feeling bad. You will get relief soon, hang in there. Much love and continued prayers, always.


Andi, I am so glad you are gaining an understanding of things and that you are getting some release. It is a difficult thing and I think at times we all have to fight that reverting back to being scared little girls. It is great that you find your strength in Jesus. Knowing the Lord alone is truly our only help and strength. I continue to pray for you and am proud you are acknowledging what you are. May God continue to bless you in your growth.

Thank you Llama and Smeshque and Rosses! You have encouraged my heart so much. I do have so much guilt over the hard relationship. I have taken it to the Lord over and over again, and then at some point, I take it right back again. It is getting to a point of knowing that I really have to go beyond forgiving and really use the power that I have in the Holy Spirit to put it all at the feet of Jesus and leave it there..... with finality. With the most recent problems, I began to feel hopeless. There is something about disruption of anger that takes me back to being a little angry girl who feels completely powerless and abandoned. But knowing that, I have the key to overcoming it. Through Christ Jesus, and the strength that comes from him, I know that I am neither powerless nor abandoned. I have gone to see my mother and she did apologize for this recent trouble and we made peace. You are all exactly right. I haven't really accepted her mental illness fully in the past. My husband has tried to get me to see this is her problem, for many years. and I did agree with him, but there has been an unwillingness to really accept it. Accepting that she has had this illness throughout her life does make it easier somehow. I do believe that understanding this truth will really set me free......and her as well. I can release her in a sense. This makes me sound very self focused and I am uncomfortable with that. But the struggle does turn me inward. This is not the Lord's will for me, or for any of us who have this difficult relationship. Thank you ALL so much for your sweet hearts and for sharing the wisdom that the Lord has given you.

smeshque: Thank you!! You're always so sweet! To rule out something bad (think blood clot), I took myself to the ER. Got exray and ultrasound. All was good, but I have a shin splint on my right leg. Have ice on it now. I didn't get home till 3:15 A.M. and husband said something really kind-"He didn't like being alone." I was there a long time. But at least I got a diagnosis. Also taking high dose Ibuprofen. Thank you dear smeshque for your prayers.💜💛💜💛💜💛

Oh Llama, I am so sorry to hear that. Two weeks, a long time to wait huh? Maybe they will learn something from ex-ray to be helpful, I hope.
I will keep you in my prayers, hang in there Dear one. I so hope you get some relief soon.

smeshque: Lovely scripture!☺☺

smeshque: Rough day so far. Leg starting hurting. Have a orthopedist appt 2 weeks away. Took myself to ER for exray and ultrasound.