One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 30. That's not way to speak to yourself!
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 30. That's not way to speak to yourself!
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 30 That’s no way to speak to yourself! Romans 8.1 Guilt. It lurks, waiting for the inevitable: you get exhausted and say something less than kind, do something unfriendly. You find yourself blaming your loved one for your feeling of bein…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 33. The messy stuff
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 33. The messy stuff
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 33. The messy stuff John 13.4–5 Unless you are very fortunate, you’ll have to deal with the messy stuff sooner or later. We’re talking incontinence here. (Is this the only ‘religious’ book to deal with such basics?) Paid carers seem to m…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 31. The evolving carer
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 31. The evolving carer
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 31. The evolving carer Isaiah 58.11 Some professionals refer to the experience of caring as a journey – and it is; it is a journey with your loved one as their illness or disability progresses, and they need more or less care. But it is …
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 34. Thorns and thistles
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 34. Thorns and thistles
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 34. Thorns and thistles Ezekiel 2.6b Life seems to sprout thorns and thistles when you’re responsible for caring for someone else, especially if it wasn’t originally your role to deal with money matters and the like. If you now have to f…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 32. The key to getting help
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 32. The key to getting help
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 32. The key to getting help James 4.2b, GNB When I was young, clamouring for something that took my fancy, my grandmother used to say: ‘Wants never gets.’ That effectively silenced those demands! In our situation as carers, though, I thi…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 29. Telling it how it is
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 29. Telling it how it is
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 29. Telling it how it is Luke 10.16 Most people, when they stop to ask how things are, usually ask how your loved one is. They seldom ask how you are. But when they do, what do you say? If you’re like most of us, you mutter, ‘I’m okay.’ …
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 37. Unwelcome visitors
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 37. Unwelcome visitors
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 37. Unwelcome visitors Proverbs 3.24, 26a I worry. I wake in the middle of the night in a panic. All sorts of things rush into my barely awake brain, one after another, till there’s a flood of them and I can’t get back to sleep. Then I s…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 36. Time out means time out!
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 36. Time out means time out!
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 36. Time out means time out! Luke 10.41–42 You know the feeling: you want to take some time out. You need to take some time out. But when you get a few moments alone and you try just to sit quietly and rest, all the things you haven’t do…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 35. Time off
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 35. Time off
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 35. Time off TMatthew 14.22–23, GNB I’m starting the week refreshed. I’m feeling much calmer and more able to cope because I took the whole of yesterday ‘off ’ – just like people who have salaried jobs and get a day off! It was wonderful…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 4. Fight the good fight
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 4. Fight the good fight
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 4. Fight the good fight 2 Timothy 1.7, GNB It’s strange. Before we became carers, we probably had a lot of faith and even pride in our country’s health and social services. We assumed there was a safety net there to catch the needy. Until …
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 5. Fire-fighting
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 5. Fire-fighting
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 5. Fire-fighting Psalm 121.5a, 7a I wonder if anyone’s ever tried to write a job description for the at-home carer? I’d want them to include things like juggling – too many things! – and fire-fighting – dealing with the unexpected disast…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 10. Heroes
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 10. Heroes
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 10. Heroes Joshua 1.9 Remember Superman? And the actor who played Superman, the late Christopher Reeve? After he was paralysed, he is reported as saying: ‘When the first Superman movie came out, I was frequently asked, “What is a hero?” My…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 3. Danger! Unexploded bomb!
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 3. Danger! Unexploded bomb!
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 3 Danger! Unexploded bomb! Romans 8.16, GNB What’s your flammability score? You’re probably just like me: I work, as full-time as I can, as a writer. I am my husband’s fulltime carer. And I also look after the house. And the garden. And …
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 6. Fit for purpose
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 6. Fit for purpose
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 6. Fit for purpose 1 Corinthians 3.16 When travelling by plane, does anyone pay attention any more to those in-flight demonstrations of where the emergency exits are and where the life-jackets are kept? Flying has become so commonplace…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 9, Here to help!
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 9, Here to help!
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 9. Here to help! Matthew 25.35, 40 There are so many lovely people out there, kind and willing to help. And then there are the ones who say, ‘Do call us’ and, ‘We’re here to help!’ as they turn cheerfully away leaving you no better off t…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 7. Forgiveness
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 7. Forgiveness
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 7. Forgiveness Psalm 32.1, 2a It’s weird – I just didn’t recognize what was going on. I look back and wonder why I didn’t see that he was ill. Now that I know better, I feel so sorry – for wasted time while he was in the earliest stages wh…
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 2. Coming out
One Day at a Time: Meditations for Carers - 2. Coming out
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
ONE DAY AT A TIME Meditations for Carers 2. Coming out Psalm 27.1, 3b, GNB Other people’s reactions are unpredictable. Some folk are lovely and supportive: they tell me they’ve encountered the problem before, and add, ‘So please don’t worry.’ The best of them reassure me of our w…
Reflections for Holy Week - The Uncounted Disciples