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Still Caring - Is it time?
Still Caring - Is it time?
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
1 Is it time? There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3.1) We struggle with this. We’ve been struggling with all of this caring business for a long time and this, one more decision, looms over us as the almost impossible on…
Still Caring - Be Prepared
Still Caring - Be Prepared
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
5 Be prepared At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (Matthew 25.1) We often battle on too long, so a crisis erupts and our loved one suddenly needs to be admitted to residential care. When this happen…
Still Caring - Baby Steps
Still Caring - Baby Steps
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
8 Baby steps Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6.31) It feels a huge thing to do, moving your loved one into residential care. And it can be. Especially when you’re stricken with guilt as well as exhaustion to the point of burn-out. And worse, i…
Still Caring - After the visit
Still Caring - After the visit
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
32 After the visit Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you . . . , as though something strange were happening to you. (1 Peter 4.12) We know it’s hard to do, sometimes very hard to do. You gird your loins, pray your prayers, fix that smile on yo…
Still Caring - In this together
Still Caring - In this together
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
23 In this together And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1.7) They’re everywhere: folk with loved ones, especially parents, spouses, older brothers and sisters, in residential care…
Still Caring - Dealing with the hassles
Still Caring - Dealing with the hassles
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
21 Dealing with the hassles For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23.4b, av) Being on the outside is difficult, especially when your informant may not be 100 per cent reliable. This is something I trip over, and come home feeling, ‘I really did not d…
Still Caring - Mrs Fix-it gives up
Still Caring - Mrs Fix-it gives up
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
35 Mrs Fixit gives up Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (Luke 12.25 –26) Are your shoulders, like mine, bent with the burden you are carrying? There is another way, and last week…
Still Caring - Powerlessness
Still Caring - Powerlessness
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
34 Powerlessness Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4.23) It was one of those days. Maybe it was time for one of those days – we had had a run of good ones. Anyway, I had a plan. It’s always better to have a plan. But today it went ou…
Still Caring - Need a refill?
Still Caring - Need a refill?
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
28 Need a refill? Love one another, for love comes from God. (1 John 4.7) Living on our nerves is exhausting. Squashing our normal reactions, forcing calm and patience and pleasant responses to that question or that comment for the nth time, costs us. Dealing with upsets without …
Still Caring - New faces
Still Caring - New faces
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
24 New faces A new command I give you: love one another. John 13.34 Just when you’ve got your loved one settled, and you’ve built up good relationships with the staff (well, at least you know their names and can recognize them when you visit), inevitably there will be staff chang…
Still Caring - September songs
Still Caring - September songs
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
37 September sings Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12.1b) I’m watching the folk on the beach this sunny September afternoon. They’re different from the summer visitors. This crowd is made up of people at either end of the happy family spectrum: y…
Still Caring - Thank you
Still Caring - Thank you
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
38 Thank you Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5.18) There are good days. Good visits. Moments when the fog lifts and the person you knew and loved is there again, smiling at you, knowing who you are. And even when…
Still Caring - What's the name for it?
Still Caring - What's the name for it?
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
30 What’s the name for it? The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. (Isaiah 25.8) You’d think you would get used to it – the pattern of visits each week. You would expect to fall into a pleasant routine, with your life working again, but something weird happens…
Still Caring - Time to let go
Still Caring - Time to let go
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
14 Time to let go There is a time . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain. (Ecclesiastes 3.1, 5b) It was probably guilt that had me running backwards and forwards from our house to the residential home. If he’d lost something, needed anything, I’d drop everything and rush d…
Still Caring - Relax!
Still Caring - Relax!
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
29 Relax! The Lord is my shepherd . . . he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. (Psalm 23.1a, 2b, 3a) I’m visiting my sister for the first time in years and I’m sleeping late every morning. At home I usually wake around 6 a.m., but here it’s more like 9 a.m. before…
Still Caring - Trouble at mill
Still Caring - Trouble at mill
by SPCK - Dorothy M Stewart
20 Trouble at mill Blessed are those who have regard for the weak. (Psalm 41.1a) There was a new resident on my husband’s corridor. She became upset when she was left on her own and cried out. This was distressing to the other residents and my husband told me about it. Several ti…
Still Caring - When disaster strikes