“Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter–when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” — Isaiah 58:7

Not long ago I was back in Baltimore and spent time with Connie, a high school girlfriend. She is one of millions of American women who are in the “sandwich generation.” They are raising their children at the same time they are caring for an aging parent. In Connie’s case, it’s her elderly mother-in-law, who has emphysema.

I watched my friend gracefully handle all the needs around her. That was typical of Connie. It helps that she is part of a large family, and she has lots of support from her own folks. But that’s not true for many women in the sandwich generation. A woman I know takes care of her mother and has to deal with a teenager who resents the change in routine. There’s not much support for this caregiver.

If you’re helping a family member who is ill or an aging parent, consider these suggestions. Don’t be afraid to let others know you need help. The “I’m doing fine” mentality is self-defeating. Investigate the whereabouts of a local day care or respite center. Let your friends and church family be aware of specific ways they can lend a hand. Listen to the counsel of others — they may observe your husband’s mood shift and alert you that he needs attention. And, finally, look for hidden blessings. Your elderly parent sacrificed much when you were growing up to care for you. Now God is giving you the chance to extend the grace back.

Isaiah says that not turning away from your own flesh and blood is a sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord. When you care for a family member, God says “your righteousness will shine like the noonday sun.” That’s not a bad reward for taking care of your young and your old.

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Lord, strengthen me to serve You by gladly serving others. Provide help for me when I need a break. Help me to see my service as pleasing to you.

Blessings,
Joni and Friends

“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?’” — Isaiah 40:26-27

When New Testament Christians read this verse on an Old Testament parchment, or even when the early Church fathers, such as Wycliffe, read it from the newly compiled Bible, what did they think when they lifted their eyes and looked to the heavens? Surely they were overwhelmed to see the autumn constellations. As today’s verse advises, they no doubt bit their tongues from complaining when they considered how God named all the stars within their sight. Surely, they were awestruck at the number of stars — and the telescope was many years from being invented!

But today we have many more reasons to be overwhelmed and awestruck. Galileo’s telescope has given way to powerful, computer-enhanced telescopic images of many more billions of galaxies than he ever dreamed, than Wycliffe could ever imagine. So many, that they are far beyond counting. Yet God has looked at each one, rubbed his chin, so to speak, examined the distinctiveness of each star, and has given it a name that fits. Trillions upon trillions of stars, each with a special name. If God cares about the names of each star, why should we complain, thinking that our problems are hidden from him, or that he has no regard for our situation? You are far more precious to him than a nova, or even a super-nova. He has made you co-heir with the Creator and Name-Giver of the stars.

The lightning and thunder They go and they come; But the stars and the stillness Are always at home. — George MacDonald

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Greater light rules the day, lesser, rules the night. Sun or moon, it doesn’t matter; we are always in your sight.

Blessings,
Joni and Friends