"But in this world, bones will still break."

What do you know about acrylic resin? Hi, I'm Peter Rosenberger and at Standing With Hope, acrylic resin is a critical part of what we do. After losing both of her legs, my wife Gracie wanted to be able to provide quality prosthetic limbs for her fellow amputees. And so we started working with the government of Ghana to help train and equip local workers to do this. And part of this is providing them with acrylic resin.

Now, one gallon can make four to six legs depending on the patient, whether it's an above knee or below knee or with children and so forth. And so this is an important part of the journey. It makes these hard shell sockets that the limb fits into so it's lightweight but very durable.

Gracie uses the same materials herself. We have a real need for that. And if you could go out to standingwithhope.com slash giving and be a part of that, we'd be most grateful. It's the gift that keeps on walking.

They go walking and leaping and praising God. You can be a part of that right now. Standingwithhope.com slash giving. Live on American Family Radio, this is Hope for the Caregiver.

This is Peter Rosenberger. This is the show for you as a family caregiver. More than 65 million Americans right now are caring for a loved one with a chronic impairment. Maybe that's you. Maybe it's an aging parent. Maybe it's a child with special needs. Maybe it's somebody who has a disease or some type of trauma. Maybe it's somebody who has an addiction, alcoholism or drugs.

Maybe it's somebody with a mental illness. Whatever the chronic impairment, there's always a caregiver. And this show is here to strengthen that individual. Let them know that there is a place where they can go to catch their breath, take a knee if they have to, and then develop strategies for a healthier life. Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. And if you're not healthy, what happens to your loved one? And that is the whole purpose of this show is to strengthen you as you care for someone who is ailing. I'm glad that you're with us. 888-589-8840.

888-589-8840. If I sound a little congested this morning, it's because I am. But I will try to work through that and punch through it. It is not COVID.

It is allergies. And we've got season changes heading our way. And so it's... I got up yesterday morning. We live up at the Rockies in Montana, and it was 28 degrees. So when the seasons change, sometimes it gets a little gnarly. All right.

888-589-8840. If you want to be a part of the show, and as usual, I'd like to start off with a hymn. And we'll talk about why that hymn is important to us as caregivers and what we are able to do in the context of this. So these hymns that I pick, I just go through the hymn. No one picks hymns that I grew up listening to throughout my journey in church. And I get more people say, I wish we still did these in church because we've kind of let a lot of this slide.

In our churches. And so I'm hopefully reintroducing, um, these hymns to you in a way that makes sense. And then also for those who've never heard them before, that you will find the treasures, um, in, in them that, that so many others have had. And, uh, and so that's why I do that. So this is one, uh, this may be a little bit easy.

It's, it's one of them. I'm stepping over here to the caregiver key. I'm going to give you a little bit of a break.

I'm going to give you a step it over here to the caregiver keyboard. One of these, um, uh, this is one of those ones that have a melody that is so catchy. Now, the guy that wrote the melody, um, is not the same guy that wrote the lyrics, but we're going to talk about the lyrics today, but this is one of those really catchy melodies. And everybody, I was playing this before the show and Richard on the board, um, he was singing along with both words, but he couldn't think of the title. And that's how catchy this melody is.

So. So that is an easy melody. Do you know the lyrics and more importantly, do why are those lyrics important to you?

Why are, uh, why are those things driving home in your life? And I'll give you a hint on the first verse. When upon life's billows, you are tempest tossed. When you are discouraged thinking all is lost. And, uh, now how many of you as caregivers feel that way when you're on life's billows and your tempest tossed, when you're discouraged thinking all is lost, do you ever feel that way as a caregiver? If you, if you don't, if you haven't felt that way as a caregiver, hang on because you will.

It's just a matter of time. And, but there, there's a powerful message to this. This was written by a wonderful minister.

Um, and, uh, he, he also wrote, uh, well, I'll tell you that in the next block because I want to get into a couple of things. First of all, let me give you an update on my wife. She is doing much better. Um, she's moved back into our County.

Montana is a small town with long avenues. So everything is kind of spread out out here, but it's, um, they had to take her to Billings, Montana. They, they airlifted her there to do surgery. And she stayed there for a couple of weeks. And after breaking her femur, she had a bad fall, caught her prosthetic foot on something and it twisted her, but her prosthetic leg did not. And so something had to give and it was her femur. She is, um, going to be recuperating for a couple more days at a local community hospital and then bringing her home on Tuesday. And then, um, we continue the healing process until she could wear her prosthetic legs again and get going. So this was been a very unfortunate and unpleasant, uh, certainly very painful experience for her, but she is, uh, um, she is recuperating nicely and we expect to get her home.

It's it, you know, it is what it is. Fortunately, our home is set up for her. And so it won't be too terribly much of an adjustment. Um, her, uh, her caregiver will have to work a little harder.

Oh, wait, that's me. But she is, uh, she's hanging tough and she's, she's a tough gal. So I appreciate your continued prayers for her. She's been through a lot. Um, it was, it was, you know, a little bit surreal watching her go into surgery again, her 81st that I can count. And so that, that those are, those are difficult things to have to endure.

And, uh, I've, I've certainly seen her go off to surgery plenty, plenty of times in my 35 years, caring for her, but it's, um, it is what it is. And we, we accept this and move on. All right. I wanted to also tell you something very quickly before we go to the break that may resonate with some of you all. I used to go to a support group when I was in, when we lived in Nashville, we lived in Nashville for many, many, many years. And, um, I went every week to a support group.

There's a great group of guys and I'm really in boredom. And, um, there was a soda machine in the, in the room where we met at this church. And it was, uh, I went in there every week and I liked to get a soda and sit there and enjoy the meeting. One time I put my money in there and, and nothing came out and I was rather frustrated. Uh, and I was, uh, you know, vexed about it. Well, then I, I got the, the next week I came back and I tried it again. I put money in it and two sodas came out.

So I was like, well, okay, we balanced out. And I put, um, I gave one of them to a buddy of mine and thought it all balanced out. The following week I came back or the next time I came back and, and it was, and I did it and it didn't, nothing came out again. And I called the number on the, uh, thing and said, you know, Hey, look, your machine is a little messed up here.

I never got a response. The next time I came back, I thought, well, I'm gonna try this one more time. Nothing again. And I shake the machine, uh, fussed at it, call it names and that kind of thing. And, uh, nothing came out and I gave up and I started bringing water, which is healthier for me anyway.

And that, that signaled the, uh, the change I made to stop drinking as many sodas. Well, what's the life lesson for this that I learned as a caregiver. Sometimes we put our treasure into things that are broken, that cannot deliver no matter what we do. We can shake it, we can shake, yell, cuss, fuss, whatever.

It's not going to change anything. It's broken. The machine is broken and we are putting our self-worth, our treasure, sometimes into individuals to respond to us in ways that they cannot do because they're broken. Does this resonate with you as a caregiver? You ever felt like you are looking for approval? You're looking for value. You're looking for gratitude. You're looking for anything from someone who can't give it.

I've talked to so many caregivers who are dealing with this and they're doing as much as they can for their aging parents, for example, and they can't, they don't get the response back because they're broken. Where are you putting your treasure? Where are you putting your self-worth?

Where are you getting that from? And that's what we're going to spend some more time talking about today. This is Hope for the Caregiver.

This is Peter Rosenberger. But when you think in the context of who's singing, that's Gracie, that's my wife, who just had a helicopter, her first helicopter ride, and this traumatic event that's happened with her leg and everything else on top of all the stuff she's gone through since her car wreck back in 1983. And what does she know that the rest of us would benefit from knowing? That we could say with that kind of conviction that our life is in his hands. If you want to get a copy of that CD, you can go out to our website, hopeforthecaregiver.com. We'd ask you, get involved in what we're doing.

Do you like this show? If you like this show, you find it meaningful, help us do it more. And you can do that out at hopeforthecaregiver.com.

You'll see where it says giving. And we have two programs for what we do. We do this show and then we also have a prosthetic limb outreach that Gracie founded. We've been working in West Africa for many, many years. I'm just texting with some patients right now.

We're trying to work out. We've got patients in Nigeria that we're sponsoring for treatment. Some of them come to Ghana where we work, but some of them are working with local outfits there. We just sponsored our first patient in Kenya and we've got a ship over some resin.

We really need some help with that. If you want to get involved, it's fairly expensive, but it's cheaper to buy it there than it is shipping because we're having some shipping problems with stuff because of COVID. So we're trying to get as many things on the ground there in Ghana that we could help sponsor for the patients. We work with the clinic there.

They treat these patients. And then we have artificial limbs that are being recycled. The parts are being stripped down at a prison in Arizona. It's run by an outfit out of Tennessee called CoreCivic that they run these prisons all over the country. And the one in Arizona is the inmates volunteered and they disassemble all the prosthesis for us so that we can use the usable parts. It's an amazing program. So if you want to be a part of all that, go out to hopeforthecaregiver.com.

You'll see the link to Standing with Hope is the presenting sponsor and we'll send you a copy of Gracie's CD. But if you like what you're hearing here, help us do it more. All right, the song that we have. All right, the song that we have. Maybe one of the most catchiest, one of the most catchiest, listen by English.

Maybe one of the, I don't even know how to say it. That is a catchy tune. That's a catchy tune. But if you know that song, 888-589-8840.

Now somebody's going to get this before I get through all the calls. However, I still want you to tell me why does that song mean something to you? Now listen to the second verse. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear. Could you think of a better lyric to say to caregivers? And this was written by a wonderful, wonderful pastor named Johnson Oatman Jr. Johnson Oatman Jr., I think his father had a hardware business and he worked for the, or lumber business or something like that.

And he worked with him with it. So it's, it, and he became a pastor and he wrote another song that you might know. And I'll play that for you maybe in the third block here. So let's go to, uh, now some of you guys are going to get this before everybody else does, but if you know the song and it's meaningful to you, please let me know. Okay.

Cause that's the whole point is to talk about why it's meaningful, not necessarily see who's the smartest him person in the world, but let's talk about why the song is meaningful to you. Alan in Texas. Alan, good morning. How are you feeling? Just fine, sir. How are you? Well, you know, I think I've done a middle inventory. Most of me is here, so, uh, I think I'm doing okay.

What you got on your mind and how, uh, what do you know about this song? Well, we have, uh, some poor little blessings in there. There are granddaughters, um, for one thing, uh, wonderful, uh, daughter who, uh, allowed those to be our granddaughters and, uh, they live a whole 150 feet away from us. So it's really nice to be able to interact with him on a daily basis. Just a real blessing. And, uh, so that's one of the many blessings that we have, um, used during this, uh, time and, uh, where, um, we don't believe that, uh, um, COVID is, I know people have health concerns and they may have this.

First off, let me back up. Do you know the name of the song now? Oh, certainly count your blessings. I think that would, uh, uh, that, that would help put a context in there and you're counting your blessings with your grandchildren being so close to you. And, uh, I appreciate that because I love this. I love this hymn and, uh, it's, uh, it's, it is, it did a catchy tune. Um, and it's, uh, it's very simple key of the city. No, you know, not very many black notes, so it's really good.

Well, it depends on what key you played in. I know I, um, I put a capo on the piano and we just were off to the races, but I appreciate you calling it and checking on that. I'm going to go to, uh, Roger in Arkansas. Roger, good morning.

How are you feeling? Roger, you with me? Yes, sir. I am. All right. Did you know the song?

I sure did. And what's a blessing you got this morning, Roger? Uh, I'm going to count my blesses because my savior died for me and, and now I'm free. Then upon life's billows, you are tempest tossed.

When you are discouraged, think is thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Is that a great lyric for caregivers or what?

Yes, it sure is. I, uh, one of my biggest blessings is I've got 10 great grandchildren. And when I look into their faces, uh, uh, I can see what a blessing that the Lord's give me. That is, that is wonderful, Roger.

And I really do appreciate you sharing. I'm going to run to, uh, Sherry in Georgia. Sherry, good morning. How are you feeling? I'm good.

Thank you. Did you know this song? I did from the very first time I had three or four notes she played, I knew it. It is a catchy tune. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a really easy tune to remember. Um, but I, uh, what a message though.

And I'll soon be 68. So, well, tell me, tell me what this song means to you. Well, it means to me, even looking back over the years, as old as I am, and I've just lost my dad as of last night, I have many blessings to be thankful for, and I couldn't name them all if I tried, but, uh, he's been precious to me and he has sustained me through this time because I can't, could not be with my dad. And, uh, of course my husband, tell me about what happened with your father in the hospital with COVID, sir, your husband's in the hospital with COVID, but you lost your father last night.

I did. What was going on with your dad? Well, he's been going down, I guess, for maybe the last five years or so with Parkinson's and dementia. And he, we were praying for a very peaceful transition from here to heaven. And the Lord answered that prayer. He, we just seen the hand of God move in all this time when he was in, um, the hospice COVID unit, even though he was never positive, they said he was positive, but he never had any symptoms or fever or anything.

And he went in there for dementia and Parkinson's and, uh, this was his, he didn't come out this time. The Lord took him home and I'm so thankful for his sustaining grace and mercy and strength. The fourth verse of this hymn, uh, Sherry is a good one for you. So amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings.

Angels will attend. Help and comfort give you to your journeys in. Is that a, is that a good verse for you this morning? It is, and I appreciate it so much. Well, Sherry, I know that you have a lot of mixed feelings this morning. I, I know that this must be very, um, I know that this must be very um, uh, difficult. And at the same time, you, you also rejoice in the life that your father lived.

Um, as your husband is struggling with COVID. And it's not that we live in some kind of, as believers, what it says, count your blessings. And it's not to be trite because these lyrics are nothing tried, but there's nothing tried about these lyrics. It's meant to reorient our thinking. It's very difficult to despair when you're grateful.

It's very difficult to be hacked off when you're grateful. And, and so the message of this song is one that says, okay, I'm going to reorient my thinking and I'm going to learn to be grateful in the midst of whatever. And scripture says that we can do this. Uh, and, and so, um, I think this is, this is the point that we have a lot to be grateful for. And it's not that we're not recognizing the, the painful things that are going on. Um, but it does, but, but, but first Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, rejoice, always pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And, and so I think that that is our message.

Now, this, this guy that wrote this hymn, I'm going to tell you about it in the next block of, of what another hymn that he wrote that I think you're going to know as well. So hang on to that because I think it's, it's the same message of, of, of reorienting our thinking and recognizing, okay, yeah, this looks bad. And it is, are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the crossing heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly and you will be singing as the days go by. Is that not a great lyric for caregivers? It is.

It's beautiful. Well, the fact that you're even able to just chuckle this morning, recognizing there is something greater than even death. And that is the, that is the message we have as believers to the world that is a world that is completely unsettled right now, but can we be settled? Can we be clear? Can we be focused on our message and offer that same grace that is given to us, that same comfort that is given to us to a world that is in desperate need of it. And that's the message of the show. That's the message we have as believers. Welcome back to Hope of the Caregiver.

This is Peter Rosberger. This is the show for you as a family caregiver. And we're so glad that you're with us. 888-589-8840, 888-589-8840 if you want to be a part of the show and our song today is Count Your Many Blessings.

Name them one by one. Count Your Many Blessings. See what God has done.

And I love these lyrics. When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings. Money cannot buy your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

Money cannot buy your reward in heaven nor your home on high. And that is a great lyric. So amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings. Angels will attend. Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

These are tremendous lyrics for us as caregivers to hang on to. And why do I do this? For those of you just down here in the show, you just stumbled into this show. We get that a lot.

And people just stumble into the show. When you go through the brutality that any given day can bring as a caregiver. And in my case, just two weeks ago, a little over two weeks ago, we were having dinner with our son and his date. And it was just a wonderful time.

I left them, came up the mountain to our home. I walked into the house, put Gracie's purse down on the table, went back to go get her. And before I could, I mean, it was in 30 seconds and she's laying on the ground, just in agony where she'd fallen and broken her leg. I mean, it was just, you know, and that our whole life was upended within seconds. And then the moment of the trauma, you can't think through all the craziness.

It gets nuts. You have to have simple things you can just hang on to. That's why these little phrases and hymns that are so anchored in our soul, count your many blessings, name them one by one. Are you burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear. And these things remind you of reality in the midst of the craziness. You know, great is our faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. And he touched me.

I've done that one before here. You know, just these, all these hymns that I've done and oh, the joy that floods my soul, something happened. And now I know there's a reason I'm doing this because I know what it's like to be in the trauma of that craziness that happens. And I know that it's hard to think clearly.

And so I'm providing myself and you with something that just kind of helps you settle yourself down so that you can think clearly in the moment. This is, let's see, Anne in Tennessee. Anne, good morning. How are you feeling, Anne?

Hello. Good morning, Anne. Is this Anne? This is Anne. You are Anne.

Yes, I am. I want to be sure I heard it correctly. You did. And Peter, I've been listening to you about a couple of years and it was right after my husband died. And I have felt such a kindred spirit with you and your wife. I've been caregiver and for myself as well. But anyway, Count Your Blessings is a wonderful song among so, so many of our favorites. I was a singer for many years.

I'm 87 now and I'm not in a choir or anything like that. But I was in a wreck in 1973, 10 years before Gracie's. And it's been a lifetime of chronic illness from that. And I just woke up and I heard the music and I said, oh, they're on. So I said, this is the day to call.

Well, I'm glad you did. I pray for you and Gracie and just feel like I know you. Well, you do know us and we know you now. And we know each other through the Lord.

Absolutely. And there's just so much. My husband died just a couple of years ago. And 11 days before that, I was at home.

I had been going back and forth to the VA where he was staying at that time for a few months. And my shower rod came loose and knocked me backwards and broke my femur. I have come back from that and I am living alone. I'm 87 and God is so good.

He is, even in the midst of broken legs. That's what helps me through the night as well. And I just, when it happened, I was so lonely. We had been married 60 something years, had three children. I just dived into the Lord.

Everything I could hear, I would turn 89.7. But staying in the Word to anyone out there is one of the keys. When you lose somebody, you know it's for the best. God has the best for us always, no matter what happens.

Well, you know, and that brings me to a point where, you know, you could listen to the news all day long, or you could listen to this station and then see, see what your demeanor is like after each, each of those events, you know, because if you listen to the news all day long, you're going to be agitated and, and whatever, but you've got to, you've got to take yourself up. And that's why I do this, you know, every Saturday morning here, and I play these hymns because I know that when the stuff happens, when the shower rod breaks and you're laying there with a broken femur and the trauma hits, you, you, you, you cannot, you cannot recall things that Tucker Carlson said, but you can recall things that Jesus said, you know, and, and, and I've not, I'm not slamming Tucker Carlson or anybody else or whatever, but, but you're not going to want to, you're not going to want to hang on to those things. You're going to want to hang on to, you know, are you burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear, you know, count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly and you will be singing as the days go by. And, you know, it's, that's, that's the whole point for us as caregivers is to anchor ourselves that we're going to live with very painful things. What are we going to do?

How are we going to deal with it? And, and you were just such a delight this morning. What do you got, what do you got planned for today? Well, let's see. I was thinking about, I do use a cane and I walk weird, but, um, I go to the farmer's market whether I need to or not. I see people for a few minutes and they seem to be glad to see me.

And they think, wow, she is still crying. But anyway, um, I have, I know I don't have much time and I'm so thankful that you could call in. I have written a little booklet finally. I've had friends through the years. I did a lot, I'm pretty self-taught. When it happened, the original wreck, I became allergic to the world. It damaged my bone marrow.

And so that's what ensued the last 48 years. Different things, I would be this problem and that problem. And I read many books and then I really couldn't afford to, but I went to different states, to different specialists who knew something about environmental illness. And believe me, folks, don't judge anybody.

They may look okay, but you have no clue. Some of it I will die with. I'm still so allergic to chemicals and things like that, but God has helped me through learning natural medicine, as well as allopathic, um, you know, to survive.

And I, I knew I had a lot to live for, so I couldn't give up and have pain pills totally, uh, you know, or antidepressants. So that's where I am now. And I've passed that on to others as I have been. At 87 years old, I would say that you have a track record, don't you think? I surely do, honey.

Yes. I've spoken at a few places where I'm asked to, and I have written a little booklet and recently I did a little booklet signing at my health food store. And I'd like to send you one from Gracie. If I can get your address where I can send it.

You can. I'm going to put you, I'm going to put you on hold and Richard will get all your information and I would be thrilled to read that. Thank you very much for that, Anne. And thank you for thinking at 80.

You know, when somebody has lived through what you lived through at 87, I'm going to listen to what you got to say. So thank you for that someday. We may meet in heaven. I'm counting on it.

I'm counting on it. And, uh, so listen, I'll put you on hold and Richard, get your information and, and tell you, uh, and, uh, actually I'll, I'll let him, uh, give you all the stuff where to send it to. Okay. And thank you so much. You're quite welcome. And thank you for calling.

I'm glad you're doing okay today. I miss, by the way, I do miss the farmer's market, uh, out here where we live. We don't have much of that. We have the, the, the ranchers, we have, we have a lot of beef out here, but, uh, I miss the south and the farmer's market. Uh, those, the, the smells of a farmer's market to the south is like, there's like nothing else. So, um, I do miss that.

All right. Let's go to, uh, uh, Carol in Kansas. Carol, Carol, good morning.

Good morning, Carol. How are you feeling? Oh, been a little weak, been kind of battling with some stuff.

Um, physical, physical for me. Um, but anyway, that song, it's the first one I've known right off as soon as you started playing it. And, um, anyway, counting my blessings has been, I don't know whether to call it an adult or my way out of becoming, um, kind of depressed or, you know, feeling sorry for myself, you know, because I'm going through this or I have to do this or that. And, uh, so that song is really, really helped me a lot. And I'm thankful for the reminder, um, you know, for you to play that today because I needed it. And, uh, there's another song, the goodness of God.

It's really popular right now. Christian song. I don't know if you've heard it or not.

I have not heard that one. All my mother, one of the phrases is all my life you have been faithful. And that's what I have to lean on when I think, you know, this is really going down or how am I going to do this for that? I do have a husband and he hasn't worked since he was 42. I'm 80, going to be 84 this month and he's 83. And, um, he's, I pretty much, I had to come in the bathroom to tell this, but I pretty much had to carry the load. I had a daycare in my home for 45 years. And, um, God was so good to, you know, to keep that all giving me the strength. I've been healthy, you know, through all those years and was able to do it and to earn our living.

And then we raised and I raised Boston Terrier puppies and we told them that, you know, helped too. But anyway, what I've been wanting to call other days, and I didn't know the song, today I knew the song, so I thought today's the day to call. Well, I'm glad you knew it. We've got to go to a hard break here, so I've got to run here, but I want you to know how much I appreciate you calling.

And I'm glad you got the song right off the bat because that's a great one to be able to get. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. See what God has done. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. This is the show for you as a family caregiver.

We'll be right back. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you? I'm Gracie Rosenberger, and in 1983 I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated.

I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me, but over time my questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God. That understanding, along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs, led me to establish Standing with Hope. For more than a dozen years we've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people.

On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies, and with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up. That's standingwithhope.com.

I'm Gracie, and I am standing with hope. Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger, and in my three and a half decades as a caregiver, I have spent my share of nights in a hospital, sleeping in waiting rooms, on fold-out cots, chairs, even the floor. Sometimes on sofas and a few times in the doghouse, but let's don't talk about that. As caregivers, we have to sleep at uncomfortable places, but we don't have to be miserable. We use pillows from mypillow.com.

These things are great. They have a patented interlocking feel that adjusts to your individual sleep needs, and for caregivers trying to sleep in all the different places we have to sleep, believe me, our needs get ramped up significantly. Think about how clean your pillows are. In the COVID world, we're all fanatical about clean. Can you wash your pillows with mypillows from mypillow.com? We throw them in the washer and dryer.

We do it all the time. 10-year warranty, guaranteed not to go flat, 60-day money-back guarantee, made in the USA. As a caregiver, you need rest, so start by going to mypillow.com, type in the promo code caregiver. You get 50% off the four-pack, which includes two premium pillows and two go anywhere pillows. You'll also receive a discount on anything else on the website when using your promo code caregiver. That's mypillow.com promo code caregiver. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver. This is Peter Rosenberger.

This is the show for you as a family caregiver. That is Keith Green, and I did two Keith Green songs this morning, so I've got a friend of mine who listens to the show, and when I do two Keith Green songs, I get a smiley face because she's a big Keith Green fan, and I am as well, and just had a profound impact on me as a musician and as a believer, and so I love that song. I love that there's a line that goes on there.

It says, Jesus rose from the dead, and you, you can't even get out of bed, and I thought, wow, Keith. But it's a point of changing our focus. Are we deluding ourselves? Are we thinking ourselves into misery, or are we retraining our mind? Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and this is what happens to us when we get involved in all this pain and all this sorrow and all this loss, all this trauma, all this heartache, all this bitterness, all this rancor.

It has a debilitating effect on our ability to think, and when we retrain our mind, renew our mind, and we focus on gratitude and the plight of others, and being able to be a source of encouragement to others, even in the midst of our heartache, you would be amazed what happens to you. And by the way, on this song that we did today, Count Your Many Blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done. The guy that wrote the lyrics for this, his name is Johnson Oatman Jr.

I think he's a Methodist episcopal, Methodist, Methodist, however they say that, episcopal Methodist, born in New Jersey. He also wrote another hymn that you may know, I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on, say it if you know it, higher ground. Do you know that hymn? Johnson Oatman wrote that.

Same guy wrote this. So obviously he had a theme going on in his life, Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on Canaan's table land, a higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, lift my thoughts. So you got two hymns that are embedded in our church history from the same guy saying the same thing, basically, which is to retrain your mind, retrain my mind, Lord, retrain my mind.

And I love this second verse though, and count your many blessings. Are you ever burdened with a load of care? How many of you today are burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy? You were called to bear. Have you ever just put your head down on a table or against the wall and just said, Oh Lord. I mean, if you have it as a caregiver, give it time, you will. Count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly and you will be singing as the days go by, not singing as somebody who is checked out of reality, that you're somehow ignoring the fact that this is going on in your life.

That's not what this is talking about. We're not talking about delusion. We're talking about retraining your mind to recognize, yes, this is painful. Yes, this is hard, but Lord, lift me up and let me stand. A higher plane than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and tears dismay. Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground.

Now, this is how we do it as caregivers. And you say, Peter, there's no way I could do it. Really? How do you know that? How do you know that? What makes you so sure of that?

Because this is where I am today. And I'm not dismissing how painful this is. You know, Gracie and I certainly understand it. You know, as she approaches the anniversary date of her wreck, it's 38 years ago this fall. And even scripture says 38 years is a long time.

Look at the Gospel of John when Jesus goes to that pool with the guy there. He'd been there 38 years. It says 38 years. And then scripture repeats.

He said he'd been there a long time. Anytime scripture doubles down on something, you might want to pay attention. Even scripture recognizes it's 38 years and it's a long time. Even scripture recognizes this. So I'm saying to you, yeah, we understand this.

We get it. So amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. If he's Lord at all, then he's Lord of all. Even broken legs.

Even 81 surgeries. Even as a caller called in earlier today, her father just passed away. He is even Lord over that.

He has conquered death so that we may live. Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? And as a caregiver, it's okay for you to answer in the affirmative.

Yes, it is. And I know that what many of you are carrying right now is overpowering you. And I know that what many of you are carrying right now will overpower you as time goes on.

It's relentless sometimes. That's one of the more challenging aspects of the caregiving journey is that you can't get out in front of it. You just have to just sit in the canoe and ride down this river. And hopefully you don't hit too many rocks and capsize. Because you're not going to be paddling upstream.

You're not going to be getting out of this anytime soon or any easy way. And it's the relentlessness of never being able to say, okay, I'm done with this until you get to a funeral. And even then you're dealing with the residual impact of this. I get all of this. And yet I would still say to you, does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Then count your many blessings. Every doubt will fly and you will be singing as the days go by. When you see a lariat that says the cross you carry and then flip it just around and said you'll be singing.

Somebody spent some time with that. This pastor spent some time with that particular thought of contrasting cross with singing. And I get that. And that's why I love to listen to my wife sing. Because I know how difficult her life is. And as I tell her when she sings, she's not broken.

The part of her that sings is not broken. And there's something that happens. It's transformative. I don't know how to explain it any better than that. But I've seen it. And I've seen it so many times. I've witnessed it so many times that I cannot deny its reality. And so I'm just offering to you what I have seen. My opinion is irrelevant.

My experience is not. And so I say to you right now as caregivers, as fellow caregivers, those of you who are hanging your head in grief, beating your head up against the door, frustrated, you're cussing and fussing and everything else. I would say to you what this scripture, I mean what this verse says, so amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged. God is over all. He has not forgotten you.

He has not forgotten your name. And there are very, very difficult things that you find yourself in. And as I said in that emergency room over in Billings, Montana, a couple of weeks ago, I'm looking at Gracie and I'm thinking, how many times have I seen her in this place? And your heart just sinks. You think, Lord, how much more does this woman need to go through?

If you allow yourself, you could go down some very dark path. On another show, I'll tell you how I know this, because I've been there, done that. A friend asked me the other day, and I said, I've been there, I've been there, I've been there, I've been there, I've been there, I've been there, a friend asked me the other day, how have you done this?

Because she's taking care of aging parents and it's really, really wearing on her pretty hard. She said, how have you done this? And I said, well, I've done it extremely well at times and I've crashed and burned a lot of times, but through this journey, I've learned that God is Lord regardless, and that His faithfulness is not contingent on my discomfort or my trauma or Gracie's trauma or anything else. And there's a point when you've had the ample time I've had, which is three and a half decades, to work through this and to look at this mountain, you start to see things.

I have the benefit of experience. So I can see these things now that I couldn't see before when you're in the throes of it. But I still need to be reminded that I have people in my life who remind me of these things.

I have caregiver amnesia. I have to go back and listen to my own show sometimes. I have to read my own book. I'm going to put this out on the podcast here later today, so please go take a listen to it. I'll put out a snippet from the audiobook of Hope for the Caregiver, because I forgot about this chapter I wrote in there. And it's chapter 39. It says, they're going to fall.

And how appropriate is that for me in my life right now? And I wrote that some years ago, but they're going to fall. And Gracie did fall, and she got hurt. And your love for the care giver and your loved ones may as well. But he is Lord of all in the midst of that. This is Hope for the Caregiver.

Hopeforthecaregiver.com. We'll see you next time. Some of you know the remarkable story of Peter's wife, Gracie. And recently, Peter talked to Gracie about all the wonderful things that have emerged from her difficult journey. Take a listen. Gracie, when you envision doing a prosthetic limb outreach, did you ever think that inmates would help you do that?

Not in a million years. When you go to the facility run by CoreCivic, and you see the faces of these inmates that are working on prosthetic limbs that you have helped collect from all over the country, that you put out the plea for, and they're disassembling. You see all these legs, like what you have, your own prosthetic legs. And arms.

And arms. When you see all this, what does that do to you? Makes me cry, because I see the smiles on their faces. And I know what it is to be locked someplace where you can't get out without somebody else allowing you to get out.

Of course, being in the hospital so much and so long. These men are so glad that they get to be doing, as one band said, something good finally with my hands. Did you know before you became an amputee that parts of prosthetic limbs could be recycled? No, I had no idea. You know, I thought of peg leg. I thought of wooden legs. I never thought of titanium and carbon legs and flex feet and sea legs and all that. I never thought about that. As you watch these inmates participate in something like this, knowing that they're helping other people now walk. They're providing the means for these supplies to get over there.

What does that do to you, just on a heart level? I wish I could explain to the world what I see in there. And I wish that I could be able to go and say, this guy right here, he needs to go to Africa with us. I never not feel that way.

Every time, you know, you always make me have to leave. I don't want to leave them. I feel like I'm at home with them. And I feel like that we have a common bond that I would have never expected that only God could put together. Now that you've had an experience with it, what do you think of the faith-based programs that CoreCivic offers? I think they're just absolutely awesome. And I think every prison out there should have faith-based programs like this because the return rate of the men that are involved in this particular faith-based program and other ones like it, but I know about this one, it's just an amazingly low rate compared to those who don't have them. And I think that that says so much.

That doesn't have anything to do with me. It just has something to do with God using somebody broken to help other broken people. If people want to donate a used prosthetic limb, whether from a loved one who passed away or, you know, somebody who outgrew them, you've donated some of your own for them to do. How do they do that?

Where do they find them? Oh, please go to standingwithhope.com slash recycle standingwithhope.com slash recycle. Thanks, Gracie. Thank you.