Wisdom of the Wounded

By Chris Marlink   “A great marriage takes TIME.” — Captain Obvious A flourishing marriage takes time A flourishing marriage requires the investment of significant amounts of time. That’s obvious, right? No one stumbles into relational bliss. You have to sweat for it. You have to put in the time. The thing is, even if […]

Are you ready to make care giving a regular part of your life? As the New Year begins, many people are thinking about making resolutions and starting new habits to live better lives. Now, maybe New Year’s resolutions aren’t really your “thing.” But perhaps you could resolve to include caregiving in your daily life. Imagine […]

Letty Pogrebin in her book, How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick, gives advice on how to care for a sick friend. Her advice can be applied to all caregiving situations. One of her suggestions is: “Don’t infantilize the patient. Never speak to a grown-up the way you’d talk to a child. […]

Imagine that at 12:01 AM on New Year’s Eve, God gives each of us a brand new notebook.  This notebook has 364 pages, and all the pages are blank.  On the cover of the book is the title, “Your New Year’s Opportunity.” What would happen, if every day, we turned to a fresh page and […]

What was one of the most meaningful gifts you have received at Christmas? When I reflect on special gifts received, one that immediately comes to my mind didn’t cost money or require hours of shopping. Yet this gift continues to lift my spirits whenever I think about it.  It energizes me when I am feeling […]

“I feel like a caged bird!” This is what a 60 year old woman said at one of our caregiving workshops.  She was the full-time caregiver of her husband who had Alzheimer’s. “My freedom is gone. I am on duty 24 hours a day!” Donita Robards understands this feeling. She is a registered nurse (and […]

Are you providing long-term care for someone? Caregiving can be a thankless, exhausting job. When you’re so busy taking care of someone else, how do you take care of you? Even though it may seem selfish to think about taking care of yourself when the care-receiver requires so much attention, you must do so.  In […]

Being a caregiver for someone can be stressful, especially if you are the primary caregiver to someone who needs full time assistance. Although there are many ways to practice self-care, one idea that’s often overlooked is the ability to rely on your sense of humor to help you get through the challenges in your day. […]

Sometimes, words meant to reassure have the opposite effect. Jeri, whose son served in the military, offers an example of well-meaning friends who tried to make her feel better by giving her “pep talks” about her son’s time in the military. Jeri says: I received a number of “reassuring” pep talks from well-meaning people when […]

How can we care for the families of military service members? There are so many ways! Here are several ideas from Jeri, whose son served in the military. The suggestions below help the parent who is managing all the details of their everyday lives while their spouse is away. Laundry duty:  Offer to do the […]