There Is A Redeemer

As caregivers we have so many things that hit us all the time and we can't always nail these things down by ourselves. Who helps you?

What does that look like? I'm Peter Rosenberg and I want to tell you about a program I've been a part of now for almost 10 years and that's Legal Shield. For less than $30 a month, I have access to a full law firm that can handle all kinds of things.

If I get a contract put in front of me, if I got a dispute with something, doesn't matter. I've got a full law firm that can help me navigate through all the sticky wickets that we as caregivers have to deal with. Power of attorney, medical power of attorney, I will.

Every bit of it. As a caregiver we need someone who advocates for us and that's why I use Legal Shield. So go to caregiverlegal.com. Look on the left-hand side where it says Legal Shield. Just select it.

It turns purple. It says pick a plan. It'll give you some options.

If you don't need any of those, don't select them. Check out and be protected starting today. That's caregiverlegal.com. Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio.

This is the nation's number one program for you as a family caregiver. I am Peter Rosenberger and I am so glad to have you with us here today. How are you feeling? How are you doing?

What's going on with you? This program is designed for those who put themselves between a vulnerable loved one and even worse, disaster. Those who are caring for somebody with special needs, a child with special needs, a family member with special needs, a parent that's aging, somebody with Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's, somebody who has had some type of traumatic event, stroke, somebody who is caring for somebody who's an alcoholic or an addict. There are so many different types of afflictions that are chronic that affect so many people and there's always a family caregiver. Somebody asks what's the difference between a caregiver and a family caregiver?

A paycheck. A paycheck is the difference because family caregivers are people that just step up without remuneration, without a check, without any type of training, most of us, and we throw ourselves into the herculean task of caring for a chronically impaired loved one. How do you help the family caregiver? Why should you help the family caregiver? Because healthy caregivers make better caregivers and it's a two-for-one deal if the caregiver goes down and so this program is designed specifically to help those of you who are doing that right now. If you're not a caregiver you're going to get something out of what we do here but the program is for the family caregiver and I used to start off every call with how are you feeling because I want caregivers to get comfortable talking in their own voice, speaking from their own heart, sharing what's going on with them. It doesn't matter what comes after the word I. There's no wrong answer.

They can be distressed, resentful, whatever. It doesn't matter but now we can have an honest conversation and I am glad that you're part of this program. The difference between this program and any other program for family caregivers is that I don't do a how-to program. This is how you do it. I don't do that. I can't tell you how to take care of your loved one anymore and you can tell me how to take care of mine.

This program is a this is how I do it. I'm still a caregiver and I have been now for more than 35 years and so as I journey alongside you these are things that I've learned along the way that I have mostly foraged for but I've tried to put it in a way that makes sense to you as a caregiver to me as a caregiver and I'm going to get into that a little later in the program and if by the way if you want to be on the program 888-589-8840 888-589-8840 and I like to play a hymn of something that means something to me as a caregiver as I go through these things and what anchors me and the goal is excuse me that's not COVID. The goal is not to see who knows all the hymns but to say why is this important and why is this important to me as a caregiver. So I want to go over to the caregiver keyboard here and play this one if you know this one give me a call. So so so so That's one of my all-time favorites and I played it a little bit longer today because I did it for me. I love that hymn and it anchors me in ways that it's hard to explain and so you know I've said this often Hans Christian Andersen said when words fail music speaks and oftentimes when words fail for me I just go to the piano. I just play songs that connect with me and that express what I've got going on in my soul and these hymns just do that and if you know that one eight eight eight five eight nine eighty eight forty eight eight eight five eight nine eighty eight forty. Romans 826 a friend of mine sent me this scripture last night likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray for as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words you ever not know how to pray you ever not you ever struggle with with the words you don't even know what to say you don't know what a prayer even looks like I mean it sounds like you know you don't even know you know you can't even form the words you ever been there as a caregiver I was talking about that with last night with a close friend of mine and he sent me that scripture and the spirit knows sometimes the the two prayers that I lean on sometimes and one of them is Lord I believe help my unbelief and the other one is thou knowest and the other one is thou knowest sometimes that's all you can say thou knowest we're heading into a very difficult week at my house next week and it's it's hard to know how to pray and it's and it's hard to know how to pray thou knowest sometimes that's all we got Lord you know and it says right here in Romans 8 26 likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words what does that mean to you I know what it means to me it means that I have not left to flounder around that when I don't have the words he's already praying for me the spirit is already interceding for us and the chorus of that song I just played and leaving your spirit to the work on earth is done and Jesus said you know when he when he left he said you know I'm going to leave now because um the comforter will come and that's what the Holy Spirit does is comfort us in these moments as we look around at this broken world I remember doing an interview once and they were asking about difficult times and I told them you know I live here in Montana and I'm looking out at the rockies and every place I look is a postcard it's just so beautiful but it's all groanings scripture says all creation is groaning waiting for the final redemption of all of us but it's beautiful but it's groaning but it's beautiful but it's groaning that's us and there's beauty in each one of you as caregivers and there's beauty in each one of you as caregivers but you're groaning the great news is there's one who's groaning on your behalf this is peter rosenberger this is hope for the caregiver hopeforthecaregiver.com we'll be right back welcome back to hope for the caregiver this is peter rosenberger sorry I got caught up listening that song I every just about every time I talk with Gary Chapman I tell him thank you for that song I absolutely love that song and I've loved it for 40 years and I'm grateful that he wrote it and it's um it's a very meaningful song to me this is peter rosenberger this is hope for the caregiver 888-589-8840 888-589-8840 if you know the song that I played in the a block feel free to call and tell me why that's important to you and I'll give you just a taste of it let's see uh it's a very simple song but boy it packs a punch theologically and it is um it's a staple for so many let's go to uh Troy in Mississippi Troy good morning Troy how are you feeling I'm feeling great how about you brother you know I I think I'm hanging tough what uh what did he tell me about this song well I have a lord and a savior that is awesome and I heard that song and I heard that song back in the 80s by Keith Green and uh there is a redeemer Jesus God's own son and that's what's important to me and that song is uh is the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and the lives of his believers and I am just I'm not a caregiver but I listen to your program on the way to work every Saturday morning I just find inspiration and hope and I find uh power in the words that you expressed us through the word of God I just want to say thank you for what you do because you're not just touching caregivers you're touching the lives of those that are just seeking God's truth and God's words so thank you so much Troy that means a lot and I appreciate that very very much what do you do for a living where are you heading to work well I'm an operations manager for a propane company and it's kind of chilly down here in south Mississippi this week so we're staying pretty busy I bet you are originally from Illinois but move down here in 83 and enjoy it a buddy of mine does that here and he uh he has to chain up this time of year a lot oh and uh yes sir it gets a little gnarly up here in the Rockies so um well you stay you stay safe out there and uh thank you for listening and thank you for being a part of the AFR family and for uh just being a part of the family of God it's a treat to know you and uh you call it anytime you want okay Troy thank you brother thank you for all you do all right yes sir let's uh let's go to art in Ohio art tell me about this song there is a redeemer indeed tell me about tell me about the first time you heard the song or why is this song important to you well probably when I first heard the song peter I was a young lad then and as my days expanded and I became 78 and eight months years of age plus I realized that that song is the bottom line to eternity you can put it that way it really is and one of the things I like about this song uh melody green wrote at keith's widow and and one of the things I like about it is that it just so clearly states clearly states a bedrock of our faith there's a redeemer jesus god's own son precious lamb of god messiah holy one thank you oh my father for giving us your son and leaving your spirit to the work on earth is done and I I think that um um so many of us there's so many songs that were written about getting out of this place uh getting out of this this broken fallen world that we live in and hurry up and get to heaven and I I understand that sentiment but we have worked to do he has worked to do and he invites us to be a part of it and this song anchors us that this is all going to be redeemed and we have been redeemed and he is uh and then I love that last verse when I stand in glory I will see his face there I'll serve my king forever in that holy place you know and I just I just love the the conviction and the the bedrock that melody gives us to this and and if you've ever heard keith perform it I mean you talk about somebody who just slams it I mean he you could just tell every cell in his body was was invested in this song and uh uh he left us a great legacy of music and this is this is certainly one of the most profound ones that that he performed so I'm glad it meant something to you art and what are you doing today well I'm just doing some paperwork uh we're going to get together to study our senate school lesson sometime today and we have taken in a young lady who lost her husband a little over a year ago and my wife and I have kind of taken her in under our wing and we try to keep in contact with her to like as an example today we've asked her if she would want to join us as my wife and I study the sunday school lesson sometime today and she has agreed to do so when she finds out whether this older lady needs her sometime today and the time that she won't be working for this teresa our friend pam will be joining us as we study our sunday school lesson for tomorrow what's the lesson on uh uh uh I'm not really sure but I'm I'm slowly pulling open my drawer and flipping uh we have really a fantastic teacher uh we got a pop quiz going on here art uh-huh pop quiz lesson tomorrow is about justice judges and priests um well that is that is a very um current topic um scripture says I believe it's in in uh proverbs but I'm not don't don't hold me to task on that where there is no justice the people groan yeah and um and I think we're seeing this played out in our country right now so this is a very appropriate topic uh back to what you and your wife are doing james 1 27 says religion that is pure and undefiled before god the father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world and so uh you and your wife are modeling that by caring for this young widow and uh in her affliction and so that is a beautiful testimony to your walk with the lord so uh art you go and study up on uh justice and judges and priests and I trust it'll be a a fine sunday school lesson tomorrow morning I'd like to say something if I can I've heard your program before and brother you are on target you are on the money and I appreciate your program so much plus the uh parts where you play the piano that's a big time blessing I'm just I'm very well pleased very well pleased well that means a lot art and I thank you for for listening for listening to the station this network and for this program um we're a little bit different I sit down with my fellow caregivers and a cup of coffee and we talk the journey and how we can strengthen ourselves and it always comes back to the word of God and I've been doing this long enough to know that we don't need a how-to manual we need to go back to the word of God and anchor ourselves so that when these trials and these tribulations and these tests come and whatever faces us each day as caregivers that we can anchor ourselves in this and these hymns help us do that so thank you for your kind words art and you I'll let you get to studying and call in any time all right just keep on keeping on Peter thank you but thank you art this show is designed to anchor us in this because I learned a long time ago and I'll get into this story by the way if you want to be a part of the program 888-589-8840 888-589-8840 and I may take this right up to the break but some years ago as a caregiver and I don't know if I've ever shared this on this program I've shared it on um others but I was in a very very difficult place and it was um it was it was heartbreaking it was I was just I was really I couldn't sleep I was exhausted and uh I was just not in a good place so I tried to check myself into a local mental health facility in Nashville when we lived in Nashville for many years and I walked in and I was just so I was so lost and so discouraged and I I stood there at the doorway and the um the people the death said are you lost and I kind of teared up and I said yeah I think I am and um I said do you guys take walk-ins and they looked at me kind of odd which I thought was a little bit insulting because I thought this is a mental health hospital that cannot be the weirdest question y'all have gotten and uh they took me back to a back room that looked like it's seen better days they took my wallet took my keys took my blood pressure and they sent me in this room and a counselor came in and we talked for a while and they said I'm going to take a walk-in and they when a counselor came in and we talked for a while and I think I just kind of verbally vomited for about an hour and a half just kind of poured it all out the counselor looked at me and she said well you know we we can't keep you here you're not crazy and I said well can I get that in writing because there's a lot of people that would would want to see that she laughed she said no you're not crazy you're you're burnt out and I can give you some names of some counselors that you can see and she gave me a couple and I went and saw one and all he wanted to do was give me meds that doesn't help me and it would that wasn't what I needed and uh that just didn't go anywhere but she said she said two things to me one of them was uh uh she said we've got box lunches we've been giving out all day long and we've got one left do you want it and I said yes ma'am I do and it was tuna fish and I've never turned down a tuna fish sandwich in my whole life I wasn't about to start then and then as I was leaving with my little box lunch in my hand going out to the parking lot she said you know I'd recommend a book for you to read but you're the guy to write it and I sat there in my car ate my tuna sandwich and I thought about that well what would I say to fellow caregivers and then I thought what would I say to myself and I thought about a young man that was 22 when I fell in love with Gracie asked her to marry me and got married two weeks after my 23rd birthday dumber than a box of hammers and I thought what would I say to that young man what's coming down the pike how do you how do you stay strong that's what this program is about 888-589-8840 we'll be right back I'm Peter Rosenberger and this is your caregiver minute most caregivers regularly take someone else to see a physician but when was the last time we saw our physician we often grow so weary of taking others to a doctor's office that the thought of going to another one or taking time off of work again well it's just too much caregiving can be daunting and relentless those challenges sap the desire to fix a healthy meal much less scheduled time to go to yet another doctor visit yet that visit can very well save a caregiver's life caregiving can often feel like a full contact sport and it's hard on the body as well as the heart make the call keep the appointment for yourself as a caregiver doing so ensures treatment of the one body standing between your vulnerable loved one and even worse disaster and that's yours this has been your caregiver minute with Peter Rosenberger brought to you by standing with hope a ministry for the wounded and those who care for them there's more information at standingwithhope.com Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio this is Peter Rosenberger this is the program for you as a family caregiver we're glad to have you with us eight eight eight five eight nine eighty eight forty eight eight eight five eight nine eighty eight forty one of the joys of my life was being able to hear Gracie and Russ Taft sing that song that was uh that was just such a treat and that's uh I love the way they they knocked that one out of the park so that you can get that on her CD resilient at hopeforthecaregiver.com you can follow instructions see how to get that let's go to um Deb in Texas Deb knows the song Deb tell me about the song that I played at the A block this morning good morning um how are you feeling by the way Deb I'm doing great today I am good to hear um I live in Texas and first time we heard the song my husband and I was in the 80s and our children were at this wonderful little Christian school and um Keith and Melody Green's children were there as well and I worked there as in the preschool and so I knew the children and that song was a favorite of my husband's who passed away a couple of years ago and uh that was the last one of the last hymns that he listened to before he went home but the song like the other gentleman was saying is the bottom line and the song brought back a lot of memories for the day that the plane crash happened and um just it just meant so much to my husband and every time I hear it now I think of those days back in the 80s when um Keith and Melody Green were here well it was a um well you're quite welcome and and I love that as well and it is it's it's for caregivers it's awful hard to know where sure footing is yeah we we get we get so disoriented in the journey it is so difficult and and this song is bedrock there is sure footing on this song and and what Melody wrote in this is just extraordinary and it gives us a anchoring of what's real which is there is a redeemer it's Jesus God's own son and then it it takes us into that place of thanksgiving which is thank you oh my father for giving us your son Cicero said that gratitude is the parent of all other virtues and I believe that because we we we as believers should be more grateful than anyone else on this planet and and it should exude from us it's just this gratitude uh thank you oh my father for giving us your son and then we affirm that he's left his spirit until the work on earth is done and it's just it's an extraordinary song that anchors us back into reality when when reality seems awful murky and um I um I appreciate you sharing that story of getting to know the the children of this family and this this extraordinary family it was a hard day when that was that plane crash that took Keith and kids and it just it was a hard day and uh yes but it it's one of those um he left what a legacy he left and uh and we're we're grateful for it so I've got a a whole bunch of calls that are evidently resonating with this so I want to uh jump in real quick to these but I appreciate very much you calling Deb I really do thank you thank you for your program yes ma'am I appreciate you day David in Louisiana David good morning how are you feeling well I am feeling great it's so wonderful to be able to talk to you I've been listening to your show for a long long time I uh I play music for the Lord I'm 60 69 and uh you play all these old hymns uh 30 years ago I started my uh journey with the Lord playing music at a first Baptist church in Lake Charles and so all these hymns just resonate plus I grew up Baptist so uh this one I'm not too familiar with but uh I just want to tell you it touches my heart every time I hear you on the piano I turn my radio up so I can hear exactly what you're playing but uh what instrument do you play well I play drums that's my main instrument but uh when I was incarcerated a wonderful man taught me how to a wonderful man taught me how to play bass so and I have perfect pitch and and uh God gave me that so when I hear you playing I can hear the bass parts going along with what you're playing I get that I wish I I always envy drummers uh my wife said she calls me Indiana Peter in the tempo of doom and uh because these these drummers are just um I envy what you can do and um I love to play along with a good drummer and uh I have great great respect for bass players as well bass players always seem like the most mellow players they just kind of hang out they don't get all worked up the only bass player I know that it shows any kind of activity is Vernell from Earth Wind and Fire the rest of them are just sitting standing up there just they're very cool and they just you know they just hang tight and uh but I'm glad that you you like these songs I'm glad that they mean something to you and uh they they mean something to me and and I think that um I get more letters and emails and calls over these hymns than anything else that we do evidently just strikes such a chord with people David and and I am grateful to be able to introduce them and reintroduce them to people who may not have heard them before and uh and need to hear them now because I think we've done ourselves a terrible disservice in our modern church by getting away from the hymnal and um and some of the hymns I'll play and reference are are 300 years old and then some of them like this one are less than 50 years old they're they're wonderful wonderful hymns I appreciate very much that you you call and listen to the show you know I get a lot of guys in prison that listen to the program and write me and I treasure every one of those I save all those letters um you know I I never cease to be amazed where this program goes uh whether it's hospitals or hospice or prisons or wherever places than you think that's yeah and it just you know and when I get a letter from an inmate um recognizing that sometimes this this network is the the only Jesus they get to encounter with uh the only words of comfort and strength and encouragement and salvation that they get to hear and um so I am very grateful for that and were you able to listen to this uh network in this program while you're incarcerated or has that been too long ago or what what's the story on that well no I've been out I've been out a year and I didn't know anything about it when I was incarcerated and I listened to AFR I mean that's my station and uh just real quickly you know your caregiver I I have so much love and respect for that I do the same thing uh I have a prayer ministry through JPAY I've got 10 or 11 young men that uh I I knew while I was incarcerated I still email them I pray with them uh I'm a dad I see I'm a pawpaw twice in jail and a lot of these guys you know they they don't have family or family threw them away one young guy's 24 and was abused as young as three years old and I'm his pawpaw now so I know all about it man and that I just wanted to share that with you too I don't want to take too much of your time I know there's other no no you you keep doing that because you know jesus said very clearly sick naked hungry prison thirsty this these are the things he's looking for you keep doing that we minister out of our wounds and you know you obviously were able to walk with god through your time in prison and you are able to extend the same grace we wrote paul says and uh I think in corinthians we comfort one another we comfort one another with the same comfort that we ourselves have been comforted by the god of all comfort and that's what you're doing yeah and I I I think I could speak for all the listeners on here keep doing it keep doing it okay amen and um all right there are a lot of guys that need a pawpaw and you go and you be that pawpaw okay yes sir all right let me go to your time well you're quite welcome and feel free to call anytime steven in arkansas steven good morning how are you feeling I'm doing great I'm blessed tell me about what's going on with you oh I lost my wife over the night and uh that song reminds me of us being out on the streets of central Florida helping homeless and needy and uh and her her and I she took care of the ladies and I take care of the men and she's uh in a much better place than I am now so I praise god for that and I thank him I thank him it was a thing not wanting her to go but she's in a better place I understand what what about that song reminds you of that time well just uh the the things that it's hard to explain the people excuse me it's still pretty fresh but uh you know when you're out on the street helping people and and we were giving out food uh bucks and all kinds of things and uh when we did that it was just amazing how he would provide somebody would come up and say this jacket's too small and maybe one or two people later somebody would fit him perfect and just so many things occurred that just made it was the lord it wasn't us and I miss her I know you do and we we mourn with those who mourn and we grieve with those who grieve and um and Steven I want you to just feel free to call in and I want you to continue listening uh get your hymnal and go through some of these hymns that mean something to you and um look at the text a lot of the great hymns that we we have overlooked were written out of great sorrow and great challenges and I believe that God God gave us a a wonderful gift with these hymns that that anchor us in such difficult times and um and so this and this is one of them and and of course melody right here and and so this and this is one of them and and of course melody wrote this hymn and she herself went through such great sorrow uh losing Keith and her children and but yet this hymn endures because the the meaning of this the bedrock of this hymn does and it sustains us in these these dark moments yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me and he is and he's with you right now Steven uh through this time we appreciate you very much for taking the time to call we've got to go to a break but I do appreciate you listening and taking the time to call feel free to call in anytime this is Peter Rosenberger this is Hope for the Caregiver we'll be right back have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happened 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 the word of God tells us many times in one form or another fear not today in the world many people are very fearful about some of the many perils and dangerous happenings that are going on in the world psalm 91 verses 1 and 2 tell us he who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God in him I will trust I'm Joseph Parker and we here at the American Family Association would like to remind you fear not put your trust in the Lord we'd like to both encourage and challenge you to aggressively put your faith to work and one way to do that is to pray psalm 91 daily for yourself and your family and keep your trust in him if you'd like to get a copy of the psalm 91 prayer for yourself email us here at psalm91 at afa.net again at psalm91 at afa.net welcome back to hope for the caregiver this is peter rooseberger this is the program for you as a family caregiver we're glad that you're with us 888-589-8840 and if by the way please go out to hopeforthecaregiver.com we have 600 almost getting close to 700 episodes on our podcast that are free you can download them share it with others some of them are the entire program of like today's show will be out there next week and uh then we have you know one minute caregiver things that we do and we have songs we have all kinds of things that we offer and please take advantage of it hopeforthecaregiver.com and if you if you find this program meaningful please tell others about it and at hopeforthecaregiver.com you can help us do it better and do more of it and you can donate through there it'll go to standing with hope which is the presenting sponsor of everything we do and we would love to have you as part of that we have two different program outreaches one of them is the family caregiver outreach and the other is prosthetic limbs for gracie's fellow amputees we work with two different clinics in okra gana and we help sponsor patients as far away as kenya and we're actually got one now in kamaroon that we're talking with and we have several in nigeria and but most of it is in gana and it's um we purchase a lot of materials we have inmates that disassemble use prosthesis for us so we can recycle things and it's done at a prison in arizona um run by a company called core civic and there's there's lots of different uh things that are going on it's for the wounded and those who care for them and we'd welcome your help and you can go to hope for the caregiver.com and see more about that uh let's go to tony in ohio tony good morning how are you feeling huh i'm uh you know god has made a beautiful day in ohio indeed so yeah how are you feeling um better better i don't usually feel you know better until april my husband passed in uh march it'd be four years this march 20th um years it's rough uh to be four years when we were together and march is usually a dreary kind of month anyway and yeah well and he passed two days before our daughter's 15th birthday that was rough and you took care of him oh yeah all our marriage we married um we had to postpone our wedding he was in the hospital getting work done on his pancreas he had some cysts on his pancreas so we had to postpone our wedding for that um so we married in sickness and in health literally um we got married october 3rd my grandmother's birthday at the courthouse and um then again uh we had our wedding so i could wear my pink dress um november 6th um so we had two weddings but we celebrated the one on my grandmother's birthday and we got married by a judge janet jackson so yeah i trust it's not the same janet jackson no no no no but she was fabulous so you know we always had that little joke and he was a man of god and god put us together we were just you know he was 11 and a half years older than me um a lot like my grandfather who was very instrumental in raising me because my mother had you know rough teenage years and had me at 17 my my older sister at at 16 and my younger sister at 21 so my grandparents were instrumental in helping her um they had six other kids they were army brats my my grandfather was a master sergeant in the army master sergeant in the army and um then after they raised their kids they took in foster kids of army people that when the husbands passed they took in the kids until the women got their mental health on track and felt better so i would say like they sound like wonderful people oh my gosh my grandmother's the reason and my grandfather my grandfather i was his buddy because i was hyperactive as a kid you know he handled me but grandpa so i called him daddy until i was four because my father you know stepped out on my mom and denied me as being his and so yeah it was rough um but my grandpa was my buddy and they raised us what was uh we lived with them and were they were they involved in their church um they weren't involved in church however we were free to go to sunday school um the bus came and my grandmother was involved in church when she was younger and so was my grandfather um and the army and stuff so we were raised on the bible um straight out of the bible and you know went to all kinds of different churches i'm a nazarene now um that's just what i gravitated because it's straight out of the bible and compassion and stuff like that but you know they were just god-fearing people who raised six god-fearing kids my mother she's still christian and she's you know she is uh the love of my life i love my mother i will honor her i do not hold my past against my mother because we're not to do that and um my two sisters still are kind of dealing with that but they're not as long in faith as i am because i've had a lot happen that yeah i accepted jesus at five years old in vacation bible school so and that's thanks to my grandmother because i had health issues and she's just that i was in a plastic bubble at children's hospital and she'd sit there that side of that plastic crib and read the bible and sing me the jesus song so i've always been a little different a little you know knowing that i'm not from this this place what's a um place to be what's the song that she used to sing to you oh you know jesus loves the little children jesus loves me this i know all my hope is in jesus um you know just all of them yeah yeah i mean i just yeah jesus love me yes oh yeah all of them i mean this little light of mine i mean we i uh my grandmother she you know i played the organ we had a kimball organ i grew i mean these people and then i married a man who was raised by his grandparents his grandmother had polio she was crippled and you know his mother died of breast cancer when he was 11 his aunt stepped in i had a wonderful aunt named debbie who stepped in and helped my mom she's like hey you need a break from the kids you know i mean so his aunt was gloria she lives with us on and off throughout our marriage well it sounds like you guys had a lot of care of her it sounds like you guys had a lot of family support and i i appreciate you sharing it with us but what's the uh what's the date of your husband's passing in march uh he passed 3 2018 all right i will i will remember that and i appreciate you calling to share that god is good my husband's name was paul my grandfather's name was paul and who wrote two thirds of the new testament well i thought it's good well you hang on to that and on march 20th we'll remember that we've got to run and i thank you very much tony for taking the time to call to call this morning and for listening i really do appreciate it we've got to wrap it up today um listen i need a i i got a favor to ask of you all um next week's gonna be a hard week for gracie 20 years ago she had several discs in her back that um were were falling apart and they fused her and the way they did it 20 years ago is it kind of pitched her forward a little bit and double amputees tend to hyperextend their back anyway and and so her back is kind of a train wreck but it's pitched her forward and over the years it's gone even more and more and now she's she can't stand up straight she's been over about 40 degrees and she has to use canes there was a time when she didn't have to use canes and she has to use canes to push back so she doesn't just lean over and it's it's becoming such a problem and we knew this about eight years ago but she wasn't physically ready for the surgery at that point we talked to the chief of neurosurgery at vanderbilt in nashville we lived there we've gone through an extensive process this year um and the surgery is just too big of a surgery for any of the hospitals in montana that's what they told us we talked to the neurosurgeon at one of the large at the largest hospital in montana and they said we're going to have to escalate this up it's a big surgery it's the biggest surgery that gracie's ever had and that's saying something um certainly since her wreck 38 years ago and this will be her 82nd that i can count we're going to go to denver and do this um we're leaving sunday night and so we'll be there and surgery wednesday i think is when she goes in as it stands it's been pushed back and forth because of covet and everything else and uh this is going to be a very difficult time it's it's a very big serious surgery where they have to go in there and refuse all this undo what it was done 20 years ago refuse it to straighten her back up and um there are a lot of risk involved with this but her options are thin so i would appreciate your prayers i don't tell people how to care give because i can't tell you how to take care of your loved one any more than you can tell me how to take care of gracie i just share with you what i've learned as i've done it and as i do it and that's why i play these hymns that's why i did this hymn this morning which obviously resonated with a lot of people there is a redeemer jesus god's own son precious lamb of god messiah holy one when i stand in glory i will see his face and there i'll serve my king forever in that holy place but in the meantime we say thank you oh my father for giving us your son and leaving your spirit to the work on earth is done that's our journey as caregivers that anchors us that's bedrock that's my bedrock that's where i stand this is going to be a hard several weeks and months to follow and we'll give you a report when i'm back on the air but in the meantime i would appreciate your prayers and you go to hopeforthecaregiver.com for more information and we'll see you next time thank you so much so much you've heard me talk about standing with hope over the years this is the prosthetic limb ministry that gracie envisioned after losing both of her legs part of that outreach is our prosthetic limb recycling program did you know that prosthetic limbs can be recycled no kidding there is a correctional facility in arizona that helps us recycle prosthetic limbs and this facility is run by a group out of nashville called core civic and we met them over 11 years ago and they stepped in to help us with this recycling program of taking prostheses and you disassemble them you take the knee the foot the pylon the tube clamps the adapters the screws the liners the prosthetic socks all these things we can reuse and inmates help us do it before core civic came along i was sitting on the floor at our house or out in the garage and when we lived in nashville and i had tools everywhere limbs everywhere and feet boxes of so forth that i was doing all this myself and i'd make the kids help me and it got to be too much for me and so i was very grateful that core civic stepped up said look we are always looking for faith-based programs that are interesting and that give inmates a sense of satisfaction and we'd love to be a part of this and that's what they're doing and you can see more about that at standingwithhope.com recycle so please help us get the word out that we do recycle prosthetic limbs we do arms as well but the majority of amputations are lower limb and that's where the focus of standing with hope is that's where gracie's life is with her lower limb prostheses and she's used some of her own limbs in this outreach that she's recycled i mean she's been an amputee for over 30 years so you go through a lot of legs and parts and other types of materials and you can reuse prosthetic socks and liners if they're in good shape all of this helps give the gift that keeps on walking and it goes to this prison in arizona where it's such an extraordinary ministry think with that inmates volunteering for this they want to do it and they've had amazing times with it and i've had very moving conversation with the inmates that work in this program and you can see again all of that at standingwithhope.com recycle they're putting together a big shipment right now for us to ship over we do this pretty regularly throughout the year as inventory rises and they need it badly in gana so please go out to standingwithhope.com recycle and get the word out and help us do more if you want to offset some of the shipping you can always go to the giving page and be a part of what we're doing there we're purchasing material in gana that they have to use that can't be recycled we're shipping over stuff that can be and we're doing all of this to lift others up and to point them to christ and that's the whole purpose of everything that we do and that is why gracie and i continue to be standing with hope standingwithhope.com