Journaling Through Caregiving – Part 1 – Guest Post @Beyond the Nook

I have journaled since I was in high school.  It has been my way to express myself, to pray, to release emotions, and to create.

My heart overflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.  Psalm 45:1

As I praise the LORD, so too may my pen place the words or the drawings down in creative ways that glorify God.  Not all journaling will be praises, but it can lead to time with Him and time in prayer for those we care for and about.  When we fill our hearts with praise, the power of that praise can come tumbling out on paper.

I willingly took on the care of my mother with the help of facility staff and a Christian woman twice a week.  We cared for her for fifteen years.  I have two sisters, but they live thousands of miles away so their annual visits were really all I could count on from them.

As a caregiver, no matter what your individual circumstances may be, there will always be many things that cause you to need an outlet of some kind.  There usually are unrelenting demands, no time for yourself, stress, and frustration.  You may feel a physical toll on your body, loneliness, anxiety, even depression.  On top of these and other stresses, if there is a struggle with family members over the way you do things or have an accusation tossed out about you by an angry sibling or even by the dementia-riddled mind of the one you care for, you feel burdened and weary.  Feelings as a giver of care well up and can be a heavy weight upon you.

Please join me for the rest of this post @ Beyond the Nook.