100 Days of Trump? Try 100 Days of Trauma

Hey, do you know a caregiver in your life who is struggling with something and you don't really know what to say?

Well, guess what? I do. So get them this book. It's called A Minute for Caregivers. When every day feels like Monday.

They're one minute chapters. And I'd love for you to put that in the hands of somebody who is struggling as they care for a chronically impaired loved one. And it could be somebody dealing with an aging parent or special needs child. Somebody that has an alcoholic or an addict in their family. Somebody who has a loved one who has had a traumatic experience, mental illness.

There's so many different kinds of impairments. There's always a caregiver. How do you help a caregiver?

How do you help somebody who helps somebody? That's where I come in. That's where this book comes in. And that's what I think you're going to find will be incredibly meaningful to them. And if you're going through that right now, they get a copy for you. Friends don't let friends care give alone. I speak fluent caregiver for decades of this.

This will help. I promise you it'll pull you back away from the cliff a little bit, point you to safety, give you something solid to stand on so that you or that caregiver you know can be a little healthier as they take care of somebody who is not healthy. Caregivers make better caregivers. It's called a minute for caregivers when every day feels like Monday wherever books are sold. And for more information, go to PeterRosenberger.com.

Peter Rosenberger and I am glad to be with you today. Maybe you're brand new to this program. You're thinking a show for caregivers? Who'd have thunk it?

Well, I thunk it. There are 65 million Americans right now that are serving as a family caregiver. If you're one of them, even if you've only been doing it for a couple of weeks, welcome. This is the place to be because I'm bringing you four decades of experience to help you stay strong and healthy as a family caregiver, to help you live a healthy life. Live a calmer, healthier, and dare I say it, a more joyful life while doing so. It's a tough job. It's a brutal job. But it's not without incredible beauty, excitement, joy, accomplishment, productivity.

And at the core of all of that is healthy caregivers make better caregivers. And today's a great day to start being healthy. America has just marked Trump's first 100 days in office. Trump's first 100 days in office.

And I've made a lot of stories about that and so forth. Well, I have my own 100 days that I wanted to talk about on this program today. Gracie and I have just celebrated, if that's the right word, our first 100 days in the hospital. Now we've spent long stretches in the hospital before two months, three months, never quite made it to 100 days. We have made it now to 100 days.

We've been here in the hospital in Aurora, Colorado, and the University of Colorado Medical Center, where she has had nine surgeries, bringing her to a lifetime of 95. It has been a bit of a grind. But I have learned a few things. I've experienced a few things. And I thought today I would share with you about my first 100 days in the hospital.

I don't know what my approval rating is, you're gonna have to ask Gracie for that. And if you want to hear about her first 100 days in the hospital, you're gonna have to ask her about that as well. It has been, as you can imagine, a bit of a challenge. But it hasn't come without poignant moments, tender moments, great moments, meaningful moments, sad, funny.

There's been some humor there. And all of the above, you just have to just roll with the punches. Here's a few things that will let you know you've been in the hospital too long. When you consider cafeteria meatloaf as a home-cooked meal, that's how you know you've been in the hospital too long.

And when their coffee actually starts tasting good, and that's just wrong. Because you get frequent flyer miles for all the trips down to the surgical suite in pre-op. And you know you've been here too long in the hospital when you start referring to hospital gowns as your casual Friday attire. And other visitors stop to ask you for directions.

And you actually know the answers, which I do. You know you've been here too long when you know the exact number of seconds it takes to cross the very busy street between the hotel and the hospital. That's 21 seconds, by the way. It takes me 21 seconds to cross that street. It's a very big street, very busy street. I don't take for granted to get across that thing safely every day. So it's worth your while if you're ever down here to pay attention when you cross that street. And another way that you know you've been here a long time is the security guard at the desk where I go in every day. You're supposed to show ID.

They don't even ask anymore. They all know me. And as I walk in, they ask about Gracie. And a friend of mine came to visit the other day and he saw me talking to all these different people. Before we even got down to the first floor, we were on the eighth floor where Gracie is.

And he said, you know way too many people here. And I do. I go to the coffee shop down below to get Gracie's coffee every day because the hospital coffee really is not very good that they bring to the room. But they have a little coffee shop and I get her coffee there and the guy automatically, when he sees me in line, he grabs 16 ounce dark coffee, leaves room for cream.

I know how many cream and sugars. It's the little things like that, but they all know me. And that's how you know you've been in the hospital for a long time. In my first 100 days in the hospital, but I also learned some other things. I've learned that hospitals truly are the great equalizers. And I have seen all kinds of drama in other people's lives. And at the hospital doors, everybody becomes on equal ground.

Rich, poor, black, white, brown, illegal, non-illegal. I've seen it all. And it equalizes everybody here.

It is the human condition. I was going into the hospital Monday morning. And it was early in the morning, about 730s or so. And it's a walk across the street and over to where I go into the emergency room entrance because that's the closest elevator to where I get to Gracie's room. I just have my little path there and I see the Canadian geese as I go because they're all hanging out. And there's a beautiful pond there where the Canadian geese hang out. But during my stay here, they've pulled a body out of that pond.

So there's that. But as I was going over there, I saw this lady. I heard this noise before I saw her. And she looked to be maybe in her 40s or so and just screaming right outside the emergency room. And she was screaming at an SUV that was parked there. And I don't know who it was. Maybe her husband.

I don't know who it was. But a guy was sitting behind the wheel and she was just yelling at him, not in pain, but just enraged. And she opened the door.

Something fell out and she threw it back in and she got in the vehicle with him and he drove off. And I could hear her yelling. And the window was not down. And I could hear her yelling as they drove off through the closed window of this thing. And he was standing there just both hands on the steering wheel, tended to, and he was staring straight ahead. And I could only imagine that he was praying for the sweet embrace of death at that point. You know, just like he looked so miserable.

And she's just not letting up. I don't know what was going on. And the security guards, I asked them about it.

They said, oh, yeah, yeah, we saw it. And I go in there and there's a guy at the desk and talking to one of the security guards checking and he spent a good bit of time talking about pancakes. And I'm not sure what was going on with him, but he just was very intent on explaining to the security guards the nature of pancakes and breakfast foods that somebody was, I never did figure out where it was going, but they were being very kind. And I looked over at one of the security guards who happens to be from Ghana. And I've gotten to know him. I can speak a few words in his language because we work over there with our prosthetic limb outreach. And so I could always tell the accent in sub-Saharan West Africa. And usually I'm right that it's from Ghana. And I looked over at him and I said, you got this? He nodded at me.

He was on top of it. And I've seen some of the craziest things there. But I've seen also some of the most painful things.

Heartache. I've gotten to know people in this hotel who have loved ones there because this is kind of an extended care hotel. And I've gotten to know many of them who have loved ones that are hanging by a thread or going through very painful, painful things. And I talk with them.

It's the great equalizer. There is a full on display of the human condition. When you spend this kind of time at a hospital, you see it the first. If you're here just for the first couple of days, it's disorienting. You're in shock and or you're trying to figure out the lay of the land, that kind of thing. By that time goes, they've discharged and you move on. But when you've been here for this long.

And it really stretches into a marathon stay. I think I'm eligible to vote here now, which they probably could use it. We turn on the local news. We're watching in the hospital. Gracie and I were one evening and they mentioned all the different shootings going on in Aurora at the grocery store where I've been to.

You know, there's one of those places where you have to ask the manager to get the key and everything else. But there's just there's just drama all around and you see it. Do I just go about this anonymously or am I prepared at a moment's notice to comfort one another with the same comfort that I received from the God of all comfort? Everything that I see in scripture communicates to me that I am to be diligent even while going through these things.

Productive, busy and bearing witness all at the same time. We'll talk about that more when we come back. This is Peter Rosenberg. This is hope for the caregiver. Don't go away.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to hope for the caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Rosenberg. That is Rob Galbraith and the not ready for first service players. And I love those guys. Glad that you are with us. Peter Rosenberg dot com.

Peter Rosenberg dot com. I've been talking about my first 100 days in the hospital. Everybody's been talking about Trump's first 100 days.

They do that with presidents. But I'm talking about my first 100 days. This is the first time I've ever spent 100 days straight as a caregiver in the hospital with my wife. We've had almost that many. We've had several three month stays, but we always came under 100. But this time we we got to that milestone, if you want to call it as such.

And it comes with a lot of reflections. Every time you reach a milestone, you kind of want to think about some things and what we've learned. And just as a way of background, why are we doing this? Well, back in 1983, she had a terrible car accident. She was a student at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She was going on a trip to meet a friend and just fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the day.

Just put her head down. You can read about her story. It's been published in many, many places, including her book, which is called Gracie Standing with Hope.

It is a powerful story. I think you will find it very meaningful of what this woman has endured, what she's come through, what she's learned, what she's gained, what she has produced. She founded and launched a prosthetic limb ministry for her fellow amputees called Standing with Hope. And we've been doing this for 20 years with the prosthetic limb ministry, but it has come at a great cost to her. She gave up both of her legs in the 90s.

She has had, to my best count, 95 operations, including nine just in these last 100 days. It was a terrible wreck. Now, the reason she's in this situation is because back in 1983, medicine was a lot different than it is now. Prosthetics were different. They didn't want to amputate her legs at the time of the wreck. Today's standards, they probably would have because she could get back up on prosthetics so much faster. And the way they rebuilt her, it condemned her to a life of orthopedic trauma.

It doesn't mean anybody did anything wrong. It's just that science has come a long way since then. So there will never be another patient like her. I've been told this by many medical professionals.

And there will never be, quite frankly, a caregiver quite like me. And I've been told that by many medical professionals. It's a very rare journey that we've gone on. And to spend 100 days after doing this for four decades, to spend 100 days straight in a hospital has come with some unusual insights. And I say these things not to say, hey, look at our story.

I'm saying these things. OK, look at what we discovered in this because this is a pretty extreme journey. And the take home for others is if Peter and Gracie found God to be faithful in that level of trauma and of a journey, then that hopefully provides you with a bit of courage to trust God in your situation.

And it's wise to listen to people with a lot of scars because we can avoid what got them those scars and also learn for how they endured with those scars. And this is something I've reflected on as I've gone through these 100 days of we started here in the dead of winter. And here we are now in spring. It's been quite a journey. Didn't expect it. We expected to be here about six to seven weeks. We didn't expect the other seven operations that she had to do or we knew we were having two.

We didn't know we were going to have nine. Here's one of the things I've learned. I've learned that I cannot put my life on hold while in a hospital for this length of time, maybe for a day or two, maybe even for a week, but not 100 days. And Gracie does not benefit if I am fat, broken, miserable.

There's no math for that. How does she benefit if I am not in a good place spiritually, emotionally, physically, fiscally, all of those things? And so I set out to produce while I've been here. And I have. I've published nine articles. I've done 26, I believe, radio programs.

I do two a week. And I've also finished my new book. I've written about 50,000 words since I've been here.

I've got the book to my publisher and already got a contract for it. And I have shipped prosthetic supplies over to West Africa. I've been working on all the things that I do with Running Standing with Hope and doing this program and then writing and writing and writing and writing. And a lot of this I do just right there in the room with her.

There's a little desk that is attached to kind of a small sofa that sits in the room. And I sit there and write. And I've done this because I am called to be productive. This is our life. This is not an episode of our life. This is our life.

We've logged too much time in the hospital for this to be just a kind of a distraction or something we have to get through to get on with our life. This is our life. And it's in these places that I have seen and encountered principles of God that are nothing short of astonishing. That we can have peace in the middle of this. Did you know that?

He says that we can and we can. I have seen things that are blood curdling. I've watched a very, very painful situation erupt with Gracie that would cause most people to pass out.

It was pretty graphic of what happened to her leg. And I was right there. And I got the med team in there. We got it all addressed. We had some back and forth on some things.

But it got fixed and addressed. I have seen family members of other patients. I remember we were out walking in the hallways. Gracie has quite a bit of medical equipment that she has to walk with. And it's pretty difficult to maneuver around. And while we're doing that, we hear this shrieking and profanity and screaming and everything else. And there was a patient just a couple doors down that was just losing it. And I saw the caregiver of that patient who was just distraught. And I've got Gracie with all her gear. I've got a physical therapist that's helping us walk. And we try to transition her out.

It's not very easy because she's got a whole parade of equipment. And you've heard of code blue. That's when a patient flatlines. Code red is when there's a fire. But they also have what they call a code gray.

A code gray. And that is when a patient becomes uncontrollable. And they have to bring security and everything else. And that's what happened there. And everybody was flooding.

And I've got Gracie with two prosthetic legs, a walker, an IV pole, and two vacuum pumps. The mobility tech and I were doing and navigating with her. And we tried to usher her away quickly because it got pretty gnarly. And I saw that family member that was just losing it. I couldn't really go over there at that point. But I did see them. And I thought about that. And they ushered out.

And it was one of those things that just happened so quickly. But I thought, you know, maybe, maybe, maybe we need to have a code grace. A code grace. Where we see trouble. And we don't judge.

We don't go in there and try to fix it all. We just go and then just be and surround them. Just like they do when there's a code blue. I've been there when they've called code blue on my wife. And it is a frightening experience. But I watch the people that rush to her side and the training that kicks in because they know what to do. Yes, it's serious. Yes, it's grave.

Yes, it's scary. But do we call code grace when we see someone who's in distress? And I've had the opportunity to do that with people here at this hospital. Family members.

I didn't get to see that woman because it happened so quickly and it got transitioned out. But I saw it with others and I was able to stop and just call a code grace and speak to them. Not try to, you know, give them all kinds of the four spiritual laws and this and this. Just minister to them. Just let them know that they're not alone. It is a lonely and heartbreaking experience to be in a hospital for so many people.

And even though there is, you know, bustling activity, tons and tons of people, you can feel so isolated there. I know this. I know this probably more than most people will ever know. Do I have a responsibility to take what I've learned that has sustained me in this and offer it to others?

You bet I do. Scripture tells me that. I'm not looking for things to do, but as I move about the hospital, as I'm in the elevator, as I'm engaged with whoever comes into the room and so forth, there's always an opportunity to encourage others to bear witness. I mean, they're watching us as we go through this. And they've told me this. I've had too many people say, we've never seen anybody go through what you've gone through. And they watched Gracie start singing.

Well, we were singing together last week when her entire leg opened up. And like I said, it was pretty gruesome. And they watched how we handled it. They watched how she handled it.

The lesson I've learned from that is people watch. And when they see how we as Christians deal with adversity and challenges and heartache and sorrow, and they know that what our situation is is beyond the pale. They know it's difficult.

And they see that Gracie and I are not destroyed. We're perplexed, but we're not despairing. We're hard-pressed, but we're not freaking out.

And they want to know why. We're in the world. We're not of it. In the world means sometimes we're going to be in the hospital. Sometimes we'll be there for a hundred days. You remember Paul and Silas. They were in prison and they were singing hymns. And then the earthquake came and all the doors were opened up and the jailer thought that they had gone and he was going to kill himself. And Paul and Silas said, no, we're right here. We're right here. Stay thy sword. And the guy was so stunned and he came to Christ that night and he and his family.

And I think he even dressed their wounds. People are watching. If we're going to bear the name, recognize that people are watching.

And how we respond to the difficulties in our life. And I am, well, quite frankly deeply embarrassed and ashamed of how I've responded in days of yore. And I don't want to repeat that anymore. I've seen too much. I've experienced too much. I've been given too much. I've been able to understand the things of God much better than I did when I was younger going through a lot of these things.

And I would really not like to squander that. And so I'm not making it a point to evangelize everybody I see because my job is to take care of Gracie. But I also recognize that my witness is going out.

How I'm taking care of Gracie. What happens when things go awry like that event that happened last week? And instead of screaming and yelling and everything else, there is worship going on. They watched it. There was a room full of nurses, a PA, and two surgeons. They saw it.

And I don't know what the impact will be of all these things. I don't know who all is watching me. But I know they're watching. And I know they're watching Gracie.

And I've seen her pray with people coming into her room. Not people that were on the clock. People who had worked there during the day. They're getting ready to go home. Or they had already clocked out.

They want to come and just be with her. We have a responsibility. We have a stewardship opportunity, really. Because our Savior did this while He was wounded.

He did it from the cross. And that's what gives this caregiver a lot of hope. This is Peter Rosenberger. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. I am Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you today.

Hope you're doing well. PeterRosenberger.com. PeterRosenberger.com if you want to check out more about what we do. Why we do it. How we do it. Who we're doing it for. And how you as a family caregiver can stay a little healthier while taking care of somebody who is not.

PeterRosenberger.com. We've been talking about Trump's first 100 days in his second term. And I thought, well, I'll talk about my first 100 days in the hospital.

It's been a novel experience for me and Gracie. Now, we have spent more than 100 days over the years in the hospital. Many, many, many, many days. In fact, too many really to count over the last 40 something years. But this is the first time I've gone one stretch of 100 days. Actually, a little bit more it'll be before we get out of here.

But 100 days in a row. And it's been quite a journey to do this. Maybe you've done this. If you've done this, I'd like to hear things you've learned along the way and hear your experiences.

It's been a novelty for me to do something like this and certainly for Gracie. And she'll have to have her own report of how she's dealt with it. But I go back to the model that Scripture lays out for us in multiple places where this principle is at place. Now, there's nowhere in Scripture where anybody spent 100 days in a hospital in Denver, Colorado.

Okay, so I'm not trying to make a literal point-to-point model, but the principle is laid out. Everything we deal with is laid out in Scripture in principle of what God would have us do and model as we live our life in this very challenging world. And two things come to mind. One of them is, of course, Paul and Silas in prison around midnight after being beaten and they're singing hymns.

We talked about that in the last block. And I look at them doing what they did best, which was to give glory to God despite what was going on. Paul wrote the book of Philippians while in prison.

And so he was held captive there and yet he used the time wisely. And then I look at Jeremiah 29. Now, most people know Jeremiah 29 and 11.

That's the one that everybody likes to quote. It says, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord to prosper and so forth. We love that verse, but we rarely hear it discussed in context. Do you know what the first couple of verses of that chapter are right before that verse hits in 29.11? Go back up to Jeremiah 29.4. For context, this is many, many, many years after King David and Solomon and the kingdom had split. And these exiles had been taken off, Jewish people had been taken off by Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem into Babylon. And they're gathered around and they're going to get this letter read to them that's being delivered from the prophet Jeremiah. And they can't wait because they're really ready for Jeremiah to tell them when they're going to go home. They're in exile in Babylon. They want to go home. They don't want to be there.

And here's what the letter said. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters.

Multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, and when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

There's nothing like reading scripture in context, is there? The point of all of that was they wanted to get out of their situation. They wanted to go home. I understand that. We've only been here 100 days.

They were in exile. But God says, I've sent you here. Now y'all be still.

Now that's the southern translation version. And you get busy and you be industrious. You get married, you build your house, get your family, get your grandkids, and y'all be still. I'll come get you when I'm ready. Because I know what I have in store for you. But you're going to stay right there until I'm ready to come get you. But you are not to sit there and just whine about it. You're to be industrious.

Plant gardens, eat their produce, build houses, live in them, have wives and children and grandchildren. Be busy. Be industrious. Wait on the Lord. We love that verse. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not grow faint. And we love that because I truly believe that.

That Gracie is going to do all of those things. But then there's that word wait. And we really don't know how long God has in mind when He says wait.

Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. And sometimes, like in our case, a lifetime. Does it negate the promise?

No. So what is our responsibility? Well, from what I just read there in Jeremiah 29, in being industrious, wherever God has you seems to be important to God. Don't you think?

That's what it says right there in the text. While Paul was in prison, he went about writing to the church. Particularly that letter I mentioned to the church at Philippi.

And there is this industriousness that God calls us to in whatever situation we are in. And I took that to heart while I've been at the hospital with Gracie. Never missed a day being with her. Did all kinds of things over there for her.

Was right there with her. Sometimes I'd have to come over to the hotel to do the program like I'm doing now. But I stayed busy and threw myself into the things that God had in front of me. That's the lesson I've learned in my first 100 days in the hospital. That I need to be busy.

Going about the things that He has laid in front of me to do. Not busy just for busy sake. I mean, I don't come over here and clean the hotel. Or I don't, you know, go around and check on other patients.

No. I have things at my hand to do. And I have the ability to write and to accomplish things even while I'm in a hospital room.

And I wrote a great deal of my new book that will come out next year in the ICU with Gracie. Sitting right there beside her. Build houses. Plant vineyards.

Eat from their produce. Get married. Have children. Have grandchildren.

Live life wherever He has you instead of just wringing our hands and saying woe is me. And that's what changed for me in this hospital stay more than any other stay. It had started to happen last year when we were here for almost three months. Including Christmas in the hospital. And then a year and a half before that we were in for almost three months.

The same kind of thing. But I learned to be industrious. In fact I wrote my book a minute for caregivers while I was in this hospital. We were on the tenth floor at that time. The neuro wing.

Now we're on the orthopedic wing. And I just took it to heart what the scripture says and tried to be industrious. To the best of my abilities. To think on the things of God. I've also been studying. I've been going through the book of Acts right now. I just finished the book of John while I've been here.

Actually I finished the last part of Romans. And then I went through a whole series of preaching that I would listen to as I walked back and forth to the hospital. And by the time I get from my hotel room to Gracie's room I had almost finished that sermon.

Because I stopped by the coffee shop to get her coffee. And I'm listening to this the whole way I'm doing this. And then on the way back. Finish that sermon and go to the next one. And I've been doing a whole teaching series going through the book of John.

And now I'm into Acts. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing from the word of God. How are they going to hear without a preacher? And if I'm listening to a preacher preaching to me every single day. Expository preaching through the gospel.

Now into Acts. What do you think that's doing to my mind? And I would love to take credit for some of it, but I'm not going to take credit for any of it. Because all I'm doing is doing what it told me to do. Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And it's given me a perspective to say, you know what?

I'm not going to sit there and wring my hands and say woe is me. That doesn't help Gracie. Doesn't help me.

Doesn't help anybody. And so I'm going to fill my life and fill my mind with the things of God. So that I can better care for my wife. You know, I'm not a pastor. I have great hair, but I'm not a preacher.

But I do have a congregation of one. And that's her. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. He laid down his life for her. So how am I going to do that if I'm so busy trying to get out of a situation that God has clearly allowed us to be in? If He's Lord at all, then He is Lord of all. And I go back to what Gracie said when I was praying that time before her 91st surgery. And I said, Lord, it's just too many.

And after I finished praying, she stopped me and she said, no, it's not. It's whatever He says. And we recognize that this is where He has us. We don't understand it.

We don't have to like it. But we respect the fact that this is where God has us. And we bend the knee to that and say, Lord, not my will, but thine. And we're going to be industrious in this. We're going to do the best we can with what's at our hand to do. This is what I've learned in my 100 days in the hospital. How important it is for that to be able to go back and look at Jeremiah 29 in context. That I'm not trying to get out of something, but we're going to be still and industrious until He moves us and says it's time to go. And when that moment happens, we'll go to the next level. But until then, we go about the business that He has for us right now. This is what I've learned in my first 100 days in the hospital.

If you've done this as well, I'd like to hear from you. Because this is new ground for me, but the principle in Scripture seems very clear to me. When I say be still, by the way, y'all be still, it doesn't mean we're going to sit there. It's not referring to motionless. It's simmer down. It's being still in our hearts, not striving. Because I spent a lifetime striving, and all that does is make my hair white.

Go out and look at pictures if you want to see proof, because that's what it is. Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. I've got more to go, and I've got something I'm going to add for you for the next block. So don't go away.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver, here on American Family Radio. Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger, and I went way back into the grove yard for that one.

I threw that in for all of my of a certain age friends. I remember when that song came out, and that's of course the second chapter of Acts and Mansion Builder. That was a great record, and that's back when we used to have records. And I listened to that record all the time. I think I about wore it out.

It was just a great record, great time, and Annie Haring's message in there is fabulous. Why should I worry? Why should I fret?

I've got a mansion builder who ain't through with me at barring the English and the grammar. It's a great message, and I think that's what I've learned in my 100 days in the hospital. How much have I ever advanced all of this with Gracie and me? By worrying and fretting. And as a caregiver, one caregiver to another, let me just ask you straight up. How much progress have you made by fretting?

How much have you advanced this ball down the field by worrying and striving? This is the message that Scripture proclaims from start to finish that we can rest in His goodness. And resting in His goodness, I lose my doubt and fear. Remember that? Savilla Martin wrote that from his eyes on the sparrow. And you know where she got the idea for that song? She was visiting a friend and her husband, and he had mobility impairments, and he was taking care of her, and she was bedridden. And she was bubbly and joyful.

And Savilla said, how are you like this? She said, well, his eyes on the sparrow, I know he watches me. I wonder if she gave her royalties for that line.

I kind of wonder about that, but that's the songwriter in me. But it's a great message. His eyes on the sparrow, and I know he watches Gracie and me and you.

Nothing escapes him. So why should we worry? Why should we fret? And it's not that we're not tempted to do so, because I know I am. Worrying, I've turned it into an Olympic sport.

Again, that's why I have white hair. You know, but Scripture says, don't worry. Don't fret.

Fret not. Be at peace. Be still.

Don't strive. Simmer down, y'all. Be at peace. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. And the world gives peace that says, okay, when you've got health and wealth, your bills are paid, and everything's going your way, and things are going along, then you can have peace.

What does Scripture say about that? You can be at peace no matter where you are. I can be content in all things. I can settle down. I can settle my heart down, and in the process then, extend that to others by pointing them to the same comfort that comforts me.

Okay? By the way, I want to give a special shout-out to a listener in Mississippi. Diane, she reached out to me this week. She asked me a question about our prosthetic limb outreach, about a man that she knew that was missing a leg. We don't handle domestic amputation and prosthetic issues.

That's not what we do. We work exclusively overseas, but there are U.S. organizations that do and work with local prosthetists to be able to help treat amputees who may not be able to afford a limb. One of those is a great group called Limbs for Life, and you can go out to their website, limbsforlife.org, and great group of people, and there's an application process and so forth. Our work is focused outside in a missions environment where we work mostly with the government of Ghana with their prosthetic clinic there at Ghana Health Service to teach and equip them to build legs for their own people. We provide those supplies, and then we'll sponsor patients as they treat them.

And then sometimes we'll go outside of that. We've had patients come to them from as far away as Nigeria, but then sometimes we've treated a patient in Cameroon and Kenya and some other places, but we do that kind of on a case-by-case basis, and that's all out at our website at standingwithhope.com, which I would welcome you helping us do this more. It's been a little bit challenging here in the hospital, and I could use the help.

I have been industrious, but I am simply one human being, and we don't have a big organization. It's just Gracie and me, mom and pop, and mostly pop right now. We'll get mom getting back up, but she is eager to do so. But right now, if you want to be a part of that, it's standingwithhope.com slash giving. You can help sponsor the prosthetic limb outreach, or you can sponsor the caregiver outreach, which this show is a part of, and we'd welcome in any way, fashion, or form that you'd like to do that.

But anyway, thank you, Diane, for reaching out on that. I want to end today with something a little different. I've been playing a couple of different songs as we close out the program. And last week, I did Gracie, her cover of I Want to Be More Like Jesus, the old Keith Green song, and the week before, I did she and Johnny Erickson-Tada singing Because He Lives for Easter weekend.

Well, they've done two songs together. Some of you may have heard this, but when you get to a milestone, like 100 days in the hospital, like 95 surgeries, you can't help but be a bit reflective of the journey. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. John Newton wrote that. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say. That's, of course, it is well with my soul. Great is thy faithfulness. Again, just looking back, oh, God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Again, seeing the provision of God over difficult things. Moses preached an entire last sermon, proclaiming and laying it all out to the people of Israel what God has done. Fanny Crosby said, and to God be the glory, great things He has done. That's, by the way, that's number three on the list of 25 hymns that every Christian ought to know.

Just saying right there. Well, there's another hymn. It was written much more recently, back in the 70s. And I thought I'd end with this today, and this hymn you can listen to on Spotify and Apple, everything.

It's all out there wherever you can stream music. It's a tremendous statement of faith by these two women. Gracie and I have spent now over 100 days in the hospital, and between the two of them have 100 years of disability and suffering. And they are singing this powerful song, and I thought I'd close with this. This is Peter Rosenberger, PeterRosenberger.com. Here's Gracie, and here's Johnny singing Through It All. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, oh-oh-oh I've had many tears and sorrows I've had questions for tomorrow There've been times I didn't know right from wrong But in every situation God gave blessed consolation That my trials only come to make me strong And oh, through it all, through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God Through it all, through it all I've learned to depend upon His Word Now I've been to lots of places And I have seen so many faces There've been times I've felt so all alone Oh, but in my lonely hours Yes, those precious lonely hours Jesus lets me know that I am His own That's one Through it all, through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God Through it all, through it all I've learned to depend upon His Word I thank God for the mountains And I thank Him for the valleys I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through So if I'd never had a problem I would not know Jesus could solve them I'd never know what faith in God could do That's one Through it all, through it all I've learned to trust in Jesus I've learned to trust in God Through it all, through it all I've learned to depend upon His Word I've learned to depend upon His Word I've learned to depend upon His Word I've learned to depend upon His Word I've learned to depend upon His Word