Caregivers are the strongest people I know. I mean that in all sincerity.

We (yes, I include myself) care for someone else’s total well-being while juggling our own responsibilities. We may:

• Handle their financial business—which can be very time consuming, especially when dealing with government institutions.
• Interface with medical personnel.
• Shop for groceries.
• Research their health conditions.
• Arrange for care when we can’t be there.
• Make sure they take their medications.
• Spend hours on the phone with insurance companies.
• Chauffeur them to doctors’ visits, hairdresser appointments, or wherever they need to go.
• Watch for symptoms that could warn of illness.
• Take them on outings.

All this on top of making sure they eat, sleep, maintain personal hygiene, and stay safe. Many caregivers work a full-time job or raise young children in addition to caregiving. Some may be running on little sleep because they have to get up at night with their loved ones.

As far as I am concerned, this is only a partial list of all the things caregivers do on a regular basis without any fanfare, without complaining, and often without help.

So yes, YOU are strong. YOU are hardworking. And YOU are valued.

So thank God for supplying your strength. Then give yourself a pat on the back and take a long bath, read a favorite book or watch a movie.

YOU deserve it!

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness. A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 29 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, produces a newsletter for writers, and does freelance editing. But her most important job is Grandma to eight completely unspoiled grandchildren.