There was a long stretch of my caregiving when my daughter needed to stay at home. My mom did our grocery shopping. My husband took the older kids to church. And I stayed home with Leah. She was in a place where she couldn’t get sick without very negative consequences.

I love picking up my teenagers from church. There is always joy and excitement bubbling over, which they can’t wait to share with me. Last week they took a test that helped them identify their spiritual gifts.

From the time I received my daughter’s diagnosis in 2017, I knew God had something special for her life, no matter how long it was. As it turned out, we had just two years with her. Her sunny smile and joy touched many lives.

How often do you receive advice when you share with people about being a caregiver? I bet it is easy to pick out who has actually gone through your type of situation.

I am NOT a confrontational person. This is important to tell you because you probably realize that a large part of caregiving is being an advocate for your loved one.

Do you have a favorite song? It probably comes to mind when you are sitting quietly at home or driving down the street. You may hum it under your breath or shout it out loud in the shower.

I have a journal amongst my daughter’s belongings. Actually, I have several journals for her that are filled with daily stats such as oxygen saturations, fluid intake, etc., but the one I’m writing about has a special purpose.

Have you ever been told you are salty? It probably wasn’t a compliment. But it should be and now it’s a goal of mine to make it my Christian testimony.

Have you let worry creep into your life? It happens with great ease when we take our eyes off God. In the middle of caregiving tasks we become distracted by our to-do lists. When we finally look up we realize that a whole day, week, month has gone by without spending time with the Lord.

I never felt so lost as the day I brought my daughter home from the PICU after her second surgery. Up to that point I felt like an experienced caregiver to my six month old baby.

My daughter had her first heart surgery the same week she was born and she resided in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for about a month. When she was finally discharged I had strict instructions to keep her well until her next surgery.

I first memorized this scripture in my early twenties. Let me tell you, up to that point in my life, my trials were shallow and few. I listened to this scripture (I had the KJV Bible of CD for my car) as I drove to work every day and wondered at why I would “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”

I am at a point in my walk with the Lord that I am realizing just how big He is. Putting God into a box wasn’t intentional, but I was at fault for it just the same.

While caregiving we often get distracted by the myriad tasks that are set upon us. I remember mornings when I went through our med schedule on auto pilot because I hadn’t slept well. It’s a miracle I didn’t give the wrong dose. The whole day would be a fog. At the end of day I couldn’t tell you what I had done, but I knew I had been busy.