Self Care and Soul Care for the Caregiver

In today's episode, I'm reflecting on the last month of life under the COVID 19 restrictions. I'll share 3 hard things about this season, 3 good things, and 3 things I'll remember. As we talked about in episode 17, we know God is at work right now and we don't want to miss what He's teaching us. Taking time to reflect is important!

You'll get the chance to share 3 hard things, 3 good things, and 3 things you'll remember this week in our Facebook group, self-care for the special-needs mom. You can find a link to the group in the show notes at sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast or just search for it! We'd love to have you join us. 

Today I'm joined by my friend Kim from the LOMAH podcast. I asked her to join us because we are opposites in so many ways. I'm an introvert who would rather keep James home than go anywhere. She's an extrovert, who makes getting out part of the daily routine with her daughter Miranda. In this episode, we discuss how introverts and extroverts handle being a caregiver in different ways.

We cover:

I know you'll want to connect with Kim after you hear the episode: her website is lomah.org and her Instagram user name is journey2lomah.

Thanks for taking time today to listen to our conversation! We hope it's as much fun for you as it was for us!

We're all starting another week under social restrictions that include our kids being out of school and many people home from work or working from home. And one of the hardest parts is not knowing when this season will end. But we can have hope as we think about gifts to give our future selves. What can we do now that will benefit us when this season is over? It's an exercise in hope that we can start today.

Visit sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast for show notes and links.

And if you're looking for one more gift to give your future self, hit subscribe on this podcast so it automatically shows up each Monday!

Bad days can happen for small reasons (like burning dinner) or big reasons (like everyone being home for the foreseeable future as a result of the coronavirus threat). In this episode, Sandra shares 5 ways to reset a bad day. Many of them take only a few minutes, but can totally turn your day around. She also goes deeper into ways to communicate to your body that it is safe again after a flee, fight, freeze situation (like she experiences when her son with autism has a meltdown).

Take a few minutes to listen to this helpful episode so you can face tomorrow with a plan for challenging moments!

Today we're taking a few minutes to talk about how caregiving families can prepare for emergencies and epidemics. I’m going to draw on our experience with Hurricane Harvey a couple years ago and the lessons I learned then that I still apply today. And like in the aftermath of Harvey, I’m praying this worldwide epidemic is an opportunity to protect our families, love our neighbors, and to remember our trust in God’s plan.

As a bonus, I’ve created a downloadable check list you can print off to help you prepare. Just head to sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast and look for the link to episode 15.

Scripture says we don’t mourn like those without hope, and we also don’t livelike those without hope, and that includes how we react to global pandemics.

In this episode we're joined by my friend Stephanie McKeever. Stephanie is a special-needs mom who cared for her son Evan during a long hospital stay after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. What she learned during that time can help you prepare for a time you might be in her situation.

No matter what she is going through, Stephanie stays focused on Christ and points others to Him as well. My favorite quote from this episode comes at the end when I ask her what one message she would want to share with people going through similar circumstances, "What is God doing that's bigger than cancer? What is God doing that's bigger than special needs? What is God doing that's bigger than our circumstances?" When we focus on that, we can find hope.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Stephanie as much as I do!

This is episode 13 and we’re talking about cleaning out your closet so what’s left really works for you.

Your overflowing closet isn’t giving you more options. It’s actually limiting you. Let’s transition to a minimalist wardrobe for maximum efficiency.

I'm also sharing the big wardrobe decision I’ve made to decrease decision fatigue and what I’ve created for you to make Monday mornings even easier. Be sure to listen to the end!

Find all the links in the show notes at sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast

This is episode 12, and today we’re talking about solutions for extra stressful seasons. No matter what the cause, there are times when we have to focus on what’s most important and put everything else on autopilot.

First let’s look at what the Bible says we are to focus on no matter how busy we are, and then let’s talk about practical ways to make stressful seasons go smoother.

"In times of high stress, we are reminded of what’s most important—relying on God and others. And those lessons are important to carry with us when life gets back to normal again."

Visit Sandra's site for the show notes and a transcript: sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast

Menu planning truly sets the tone for my entire week. When I skip it, I’m more stressed than I need to be. In this episode, I share three benefits of menu planning and my method. I do all my menu planning on Sunday nights, picking meals that go with the themes I've set for each day. I'll walk you through each step, and all the links to recipes will be in the show notes on sandrapeoples.com/thepodcast

Caregivers are always on, and while that’s necessary, it’s also exhausting. And often our marriages suffer. So today I want to offer a solution—we’re going to talk about setting a feeling-based goal for our marriages. Instead of the goals you may have set at the beginning of the year that were easy to track and see success or failure, this one is about changing the mood of your marriage. If I just set the goal of more date nights, there’s a clear pass or fail there. Either I’m successful at going on more dates with Lee or I’m not. But when I focus on an emotion, a feeling, there are 100 ways to be successful at meeting that goal.

In this episode, I’ll share my goal and then we’ll reverse engineer it to see how to make it happen. You’ll be able to apply the same process to your feeling-based goal.