Welcome to my new blog series Caregiving Straight Talk. For the next several Fridays, you will hear from multiple people who have served or are presently serving in the position of Caregiver.
Caregiving is necessary at some point in our lives. It comes our way in many forms and for multiple reasons. Sometimes it is voluntary, but many times it falls on our laps whether we’re ready or not.
Caregivers rarely express their personal feelings when caring for others, especially a loved one. Meeting the needs of those we love is rewarding, knowing we’ve helped them find some comfort, but as caregivers, we can grow weary or find ourselves in a place where we need to know someone is praying for us.
Regardless of the reason, caregiving requires consistency, compassion, and inner strength that we can’t muster up alone. God, in all of His power, glory, and mercy, is the only source who grants us wisdom, knowledge, and supernatural strength to fulfill our caregiving responsibilities and maintain a positive demeanor. Yes, we experience a smorgasbord of emotions while trying to understand exactly what the patient needs and wants. Sometimes they don’t know what they want.
Caregiving Straight Talk is a way to share experiences and emotions about fulfilling or taking on a difficult task, successes or failures, anger and frustrations, lessons learned, weariness and lack of sleep, etc. We are all human, and our emotional journeys can take a hit. No two are the same.
Note: I’m not a doctor, nurse, nurse’s side, or in the medical field in any form or fashion. I don’t claim to know everything. But I know many of the challenges of being a caregiver. I’ve cared for my mother-in-law while she was in hospice in my home, my mom, who lost her battle with Alzheimer’s, my dad, who lost his battle with cancer, and my double amputee husband, who lost his battle in our home on January 13, 2023, from complications after being subjected to Agent Orange while serving in the Navy.
In this series, it is my prayer that these stories will touch your heart and quicken your spirit to the value of caregivers and yet, the tremendous responsibilities that rest on the shoulders of said caregivers.
I’d love to hear your stories, pray with you, and increase awareness about the needs of a caregiver. If you’d like to share your story, you can reach me at loretta@lorettaeidson.com
Loretta
Award-winning author Loretta Eidson loves writing romantic suspense. Her first novel, Pursued in the Wilderness released in September 2022. Blue Ridge Mountain Escape releases in June 2023, and The Marine’s Deadly Reunion releases in December 2023. Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency represents her.
Loretta is a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), ACFW local chapter, AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association), and is an AWSA Certified Coach. She is a member of Faith, Hope, Love Christian Writers, Heart of America Christian Writers, and is on the executive board of the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference. She is a member of Sisters in Crime (SinC) and is one of eight members of the Suspense Squad, where suspense authors interview authors on YouTube.
Loretta believes in the power of prayer and enjoys putting her characters in situations where they must trust God to pull them through.
MORE CAREGIVING Information:
Caregiver’s Corner Newsletter
I invite you to join my author friend, Tracy Crump’s monthly newsletter for caregivers. Here’s her information.
Caregiver’s Corner shares short stories of joys and heartaches along with tips now and then to help you survive this season and even make sweet memories. Together, we’ll cheer and encourage each other through the caregiving journey.
Link to subscribe to Tracy’s blog
Tracy Crump knows from experience the burdens caregivers shoulder after caring for both her parents and her 100-year-old mother-in-law. A former ICU nurse, Tracy dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness Twenty-two of her stories have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and she has published hundreds of devotions, articles, and short stories in diverse publications such as Guideposts books, Focus on the Family, Woman’s World, and Ideals.
So excited for your new blog Loretta. It is very much needed! I’m looking forward to hearing others stories that will encourage caregivers and let us know we are not alone.
Thank you, Deborah. I’m excited about all the stories that people are sharing. I hope everyone is encouraged and finds comfort in knowing there are others out there in the same situation.
So glad you’re doing this series, Loretta. Caregiving has skyrocketed, and caregivers need so much support.
You know, Tracy, I knew caregiving was a thing, but I never knew the depth or whole meaning of the word until I found myself in that position. Now, I am more aware than ever of the sacrifice caregivers give and how much they give up when taking care of those they love.