What they want may not be what they need…

First off…and how could I not say it???

Congratulations to the Cubbies!!!!

Even if we weren’t fans, we just might be now.

And God bless Cleveland as well. It was a great World Series – if you are going to wait 108 years to win won, you may as well do it up right! Good job. 

And now…amidst the celebrations and Cub Fever….today’s blog….

This is a special week here on the Journey…

as it has been on my heart to promote a fundraiser for Alzheimer Association by offering two tickets as a giveaway…

By leaving a comment, sharing the post or subscribing to the email on this site, you will be entered to win.

You can also purchase tickets to pick up a nice lasagna dinner on November 17th by calling Carol Smith at 422-1877.

If you aren’t available that evening you can always buy some and gift a sweet busy family with a yummy dinner!

Because we can all use a break from time to time.

And that’s the point of today’s post…because another thing I learned in that season of being a care-giver was that sometimes what my people needed most of all was not that I fulfill their wants…but that I be rested.

I had to learn that self-care is a priority if I am going to care for others.

As I rushed around, one too many days in a row, trying to figure out how I was going to be all the places everyone needed me to be I reached a point where I hit the wall of complete exhaustion.

I prayed for strength to keep going and felt the Lord whisper to me…why don’t you stop and just rest?

I mentally listed out all the things I needed to do…things that needed to be done for our kids, our home and my elderly family.

And again I felt the impression on my heart…those are all things they “want” you to do for them…

or YOU “want” to do for THEM…

but what they NEED is you, rested.

A rested mom….a rested wife…a rested daughter and niece.

So I laid down that day.

And I slept for an hour or so.

And when I got up, things made more sense…I was more efficient….I could think clearly and lo and behold…some of the things that I thought only I could do for those I love had been taken care of without me.

Hallelujah….

From that day on, I did my best to make sure I ate right, kept soundly feeding on God’s Word, rested when I could and got exercise when I needed it.

I learned to delegate when multiple responsibilities demanded my presence by determining where the one place was that only I could be.

Sometimes I was the only parent that could attend a game, but a nursing care staff or friends could cover my role as care-giver.

Sometimes Russ could attend the concert, but I was the only daughter who could attend the nursing home Christmas party.

If you are ministering to a loved one during the care-giver stage…

as much as possible…

by all means…

take care of YOU <3