Caregiving is relentless. The needs don't pause, the stress doesn't politely wait, and the temptation to put ourselves last feels almost virtuous. But in this episode of Hope for the Caregiver, I push back on a lie many of us live with: that our health is expendable.

Joined by my longtime friend and health coach Dale Richardson, we talk candidly about weight, stress eating, and the quiet ways caregivers drift into unhealthy patterns, especially during the holidays. This isn't about shame, gimmicks, or willpower. It's about intentionality.

I share my own journey, losing weight, gaining it back during months in the hospital with Gracie, and then recommitting again, not out of vanity, but out of necessity. I'm no good to my wife if I'm fat, broken, and miserable. That hard truth drives everything.

Dale helps reframe food not as comfort, reward, or failure, but as fuel. Emotional eating isn't a moral flaw. It's often a stress response. The question isn't "Why am I weak?" but "What am I carrying?" Caregivers already know the answer.

We talk about simple, sustainable choices: • Eating with a plan, especially at holidays • Understanding portions without demonizing food • Why "starting over Monday" keeps us stuck • The value of accountability that doesn't condemn • Staying active in real life, not just gyms and step counters

We also explore why community matters. Lone-ranger caregiving is dangerous. Having someone who understands the weight you carry, and walks with you toward healthier choices, can change everything.

The episode closes with a reminder grounded in Advent hope and the hymn Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Christ did not come for people who had it together. He came for the weary, the burdened, and the broken. That includes caregivers.

You don't accidentally get healthy. But with intention, support, and grace, you can move toward strength, not just for yourself, but for those who depend on you.

Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. Your future self, and your loved one, will thank you.

Alzheimer's often reveals itself around the holiday table, when families see one another more closely than usual. My guest this week, author and longtime caregiver Carol Steinberg, knows that experience well. Her father was diagnosed decades ago, long before the disease was widely understood, and the journey reshaped her life. She eventually helped lead one of the largest Alzheimer's organizations in the country and continues to write for Voices of Alzheimer's, staying close to the families living with this disease every day.

We talked about what gives her hope now. More people are being diagnosed earlier. New treatments can slow the progression for some. Communities are offering more practical support, and families are learning how to build what Carol calls "bunkers," healthy habits and safeguards that strengthen the whole household.

One of the most meaningful parts of our conversation was how Alzheimer's affects children and grandchildren. Carol regrets that she sometimes pulled her own daughters back from their grandfather. Her new children's book, Come Grandpa Meow, Let's Fly, helps families give kids the language and confidence to stay connected rather than afraid. She offers simple ideas that help children engage in small, steady ways, which can lift the spirits of everyone involved.

Caregivers often lose independence, connection, and identity. Children lose clarity when they are pushed to the sidelines. Carol and I both believe the better path is to walk toward one another, even when the road is rough. There is sorrow in Alzheimer's, but there is also purpose, comfort, and moments of unexpected grace when families choose connection instead of retreat.

If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's, or if you wonder how to explain the changes to your children or grandchildren, I think this conversation will encourage you. There is life beyond the diagnosis, and there is a way to face it together.

Gracie joined me for the program to give an update on her journey, how she's doing, and even sing a song or two.

Plus, we demonstrated the goofiness of our lives - and what's kept us laughing for 40 years.

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I opened the show with Balaam, the original for-profit prophet. He was not the last one. We still have plenty today with nice suits, studio lighting, and partner plans "…if you act now!"

Balaam took the job, hopped on his donkey, and headed out. God blocked the road. The donkey saw it. Balaam did not. After a few detours and a smashed foot, the donkey finally spoke. And instead of freezing or questioning reality, Balaam argued with her as if this was completely normal.

That part always gets me. Did animals talk a lot back then?

I live around horses and cattle here in Montana. If one of them said, "Peter, we need to talk," I would like to think I would pause and reconsider a few things. Balaam did not. He snapped right back at the donkey and missed the angel standing in the road.

And thinking about it, as a caregiver, do I often do the same thing? I get locked in on what I am trying to do … and miss the very thing God may be using to protect me. Sometimes the obstacle is not the problem. It is the rescue.

In this episode of Hope for the Caregiver, I share three ordinary moments from life in our Montana cabin that turned into extraordinary lessons for caregivers.

First, I finally leveled our refrigerator—a small victory that reminded me how good it feels to make one crooked thing straight in a world that leans. Then I talk about a tough situation a friend faced with her aging father, and what it really means to honor our parents when impairment or sin clouds their judgment. Using the story of Noah and his sons, I call it "walking backward with a blanket"—protecting dignity even when it's painful.

Finally, as I cleaned the big new windows in our addition for Gracie, I saw a picture of how resentment, fear, and fatigue can cloud our hearts—and how only Christ can wash us clean. The episode ends at the caregiver keyboard with one of my favorite hymns, Fairest Lord Jesus, and a reminder that He truly makes the woeful heart to sing.

Out here at our home in Montana, I had one of those nights that turned into a sermon I didn't plan to preach. A young calf had wedged himself tight in a fence — and if I hadn't gone back to check the mineral bucket, he'd have been mountain lion food by morning. I cut the chain loose, he bolted off without so much as a "thank you," and I stood there on that hillside grinning like a fool, feeling lighter than I had in weeks.

It had nothing to do with caregiving — and that's exactly the point. Every caregiver needs something that lifts the soul, something that reminds us we're still alive, not just functioning. For me, it was freeing a calf. For you, it might be painting, gardening, music, or a quiet moment with a puzzle. These aren't hobbies — they're oxygen for the spirit.

I wrapped the show with Gracie's favorite hymn, This Is the Day That the Lord Has Made. We've sung it in hospital rooms and now here at home with the mountains out our window. It's not a children's song to us — it's a statement of faith when the day looks hard.

Zephaniah wrote, "The Lord your God is in your midst… He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing." That's the kind of God we serve — one who doesn't just command us to rejoice, but actually rejoices over us.

So that's my message this week: find your thing. Give yourself permission to breathe, to laugh, to live. Because the God who called you into this life is already singing over you.

Each week on Hope for the Caregiver, I take listeners into the heart of what sustains us when life's weight feels too heavy. This week, I shared why our deepest comfort as caregivers doesn't come from rest, money, or even help—it comes from knowing we are not our own, but belong body and soul to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

From the Heidelberg Catechism to the story behind the hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord, I explored what it means to surrender our weariness to the One who shapes and reshapes us like clay in the hands of a potter. Caregiving forces us to face what we can't fix—but it also invites us to trust the One who holds every broken piece.

I also shared about our new addition at home—Built for Grace—and the moment Gracie saw her new accessible space for the first time. It reminded me that love doesn't cling to what used to be; it builds again with what remains. "Love that endures learns to build again with what remains." — Wendell Berry

🎧 Listen to this week's episode: Have Thine Own Way, Lord – Hymns Every Caregiver Ought to Know 📘 My new book: A Caregiver's Companion More resources: PeterRosenberger.com Support the ministry: StandingWithHope.com/giving

After 40 years of caring for my wife Gracie — a double amputee who's endured 98 surgeries — I know what it means to retrofit life around disability. For decades, we chased our tails trying to adapt spaces in our Nashville home and later our little Montana cabin. This year, we finally stopped retrofitting and built a space custom-made around us. From wide doorways and a roll-in shower to moving our grand piano into the bedroom so Gracie wouldn't have to leave her bed to make music, every detail was designed to restore her dignity and independence.

When she walked into that new room with her walker and saw it for the first time, her eyes were wide. Later that night, with firelight flickering across the walls, I sat at the piano and played Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Gracie sang — filling the room with music. In that moment, I thought of Christ's words, "I go to prepare a place for you," and the joy of preparing a place for someone you love. I also share the powerful story behind This Is My Father's World — and how its message strengthens weary family caregivers like me to remember that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. What does it look like for you to prepare a place — physically or emotionally — for someone you love?

In this powerful episode of Hope for the Caregiver, Peter Rosenberger shares a deeply personal story from Aurora, Colorado — a chance encounter with a frightened young woman that turned into a moment of grace and truth. Instead of debating or preaching, Peter reminded her of a truth many caregivers and wounded souls need to hear: "You are worth protecting." Drawing from Hebrews 7:25, he reflects on Christ's ongoing intercession for us and calls listeners to join Him by offering compassion to those who are hurting — even when their pain looks different from our owntranscript_2025-10-14T16_37_22.….

Peter is then joined by psychologist and fellow caregiver Dr. Barry Jacobs, author of The Caregiver Answer Book. Together they unpack the emotional weight of caregiving — deferred grief, family conflict, sibling rivalries, and the burnout that comes when caregivers try to "muscle through." Jacobs urges caregivers to acknowledge their grief, be kind to themselves, and even reclaim joy, reminding them there's no such thing as a perfect caregiver — only "good enough" ones who show up with lovetranscript_2025-10-14T16_37_22.…transcript_2025-10-14T16_37_22.….

Peter also shares updates from Standing With Hope's prosthetic limb outreach in Ghana, marking 20 years of service to the wounded. And at the caregiver keyboard, he performs "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," reflecting on its origins and why this timeless song continues to comfort weary hearts. It's not a performance piece, he says — it's a song "sung in the watches of the night" when despair looms, a reminder that God sees, knows, and watches over ustranscript_2025-10-14T16_37_22.….

Whether you're deep in the trenches of caregiving or just beginning the journey, this episode offers biblical hope, practical wisdom, and heartfelt encouragement to help you stay strong — body, mind, and soul.

Order A CAREGIVER'S COMPANION TODAY!

If you've ever wondered how to hang on—much less laugh—while caring for someone you love, this episode of Hope for the Caregiver is for you.

I recently joined Dr. Jessica Peck, known to her listeners as Dr. Nurse Mama on American Family Radio, for a conversation about faith, humor, and the realities of caregiving. We talked about my new book, A Caregiver's Companion: Scriptures, Hymns, and 40 Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role, and the lessons Gracie and I have learned through her 98 surgeries, chronic pain, and the daily challenges that come with four decades of caregiving.

You'll hear how I've found strength in Scripture, laughter in the hardest places, and peace in trusting God when nothing makes sense. We discussed what it means to be healthy while caring for someone who isn't—and why I believe healthy caregivers make better caregivers.

I also shared one of the most powerful moments of my life: Gracie singing "In My Life, Lord, Be Glorified" while nurses worked on her open leg wound—and later, singing hymns with Joni Eareckson Tada over FaceTime. Those moments reveal what the world can't understand but what believers know deeply: even in the ICU, there is hope.

I close the program at the Caregiver Keyboard with one of my favorite hymns, "Near to the Heart of God," and the story behind its writing—a reminder that even in sorrow, there is a place of quiet rest near to His heart.

If you're a caregiver—or love someone who is—I invite you to listen, share, and visit HopefortheCaregiver.com for more resources, music, and encouragement.