I'm Peter Rosenberger and after 40 years as a caregiver for my wife Gracie through a medical nightmare that has soared to 98 operations, both legs amputated, treatment by more than 100 doctors in 13 different hospitals and you can't imagine the medical bills.
Well I've learned some things. I learned every one of them the hard way. And in my new book, A Caregiver's Companion, it's a journal from that journey. It's filled with hard-won wisdom, practical help, and yes, an ample dose of humor. Because let's face it, if we don't laugh, we're going to blow a gasket.
And I've learned that I am no good to my wife if I'm fat, broke, and miserable. How does that help her? Healthy caregivers make better caregivers, and that's what this book is about: pointing my fellow caregivers to safety, to learn to live calmer, healthier, and dare I say it, even more joyful as a caregiver. It's one truth I've learned, punctuated by either a verse from scripture or a stanza from a hymn, and a space for you to share your own thoughts. While this is my journal from a 40-year journey, you can journal along with me in this book.
It's called A Caregiver's Companion, available August 20th from Fidelis Publishing, wherever books are sold. Learn more at peterrosenberger.com. Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Rosenberger, and this is the program for you as a family caregiver. And I'm so very glad to be with you today.
More than 65 million Americans right now. Are struggling as a family character, whether it's autism, whether it's Addiction: whether it's trauma, whether it's Alzheimer's, whether it's mental illness, it doesn't matter. There's so many different kinds of affliction, but there's always. A caregiver. And that's just here in America.
Worldwide, this is a problem. This podcast is downloaded in over 100 countries. worldwide. It is a massive problem that's affecting the entire human race. Taking care of somebody who has some type of chronic impairment.
It is the human condition. and it's universal. It cuts through political, religious, ideology, everything. In fact, I'll prove it to you. I'm doing this program right now on American Family Radio.
It's also broadcast on the Truth Network. There are other affiliates that carry this, like in Big Spring, Texas, and so forth, other people that are carrying it. also in the same week I had an article published in Blaize Media, which is Glenn Beck's group. I've had an article published in AARP. Vastly different organizations that have a common denominator that they recognize the challenges of the family caregiver.
That's where I come in. And I'm bringing a lifetime of experience to offer a lifeline to my fellow caregivers. Drawing on things I've learned, I've put it in my new book. It's called A Caregiver's Companion. I hope you check it out.
It's wherever books are sold right now. It's a journal basically that I've done for 40 years. And it gives you things that I've learned to stand on that support me in it. And the overarching principle that I've learned is that healthy caregivers make better caregivers. And I'm glad that you're here.
HopefortheCaregiver.com. Do you know who Norm Larson was? Norm Larson. You ever heard of him? He worked for a small company in San Diego and in 1953 he was a chemist.
And in 1953, his job was keeping missile parts from rusting. It was a simple job, but hard to accomplish, evidently. He tried with all these different types of lubricants to help keep these missile parts. From rusting. He just kept using his chemical skills and mixing this batch and this batch.
And he tried this 39 times before he found the right formula. And he called this formula water displacement 40th formula. Water displacement. 40th formula. you may know it as W D Forty.
39 times he tried to do this, and finally on the 40th try, he tried. He got it right, to keep those missile parts. from Rusting in nineteen fifty three. And now that little blue and yellow can is everywhere. I mean, how many do you have WD-40 at your home?
I mean, I would imagine you probably do. We've got it, plenty of it. We're out here in Montana. We're out here on a ranch. We got, there's, believe me, there's WD-40, and I need to use a lot of it.
I've got to use it on my chair here at the studio. A squeaky hinge, rusted bolt, stuck latch, Here's what WD-40 does. It does not muscle the problem. into place it loosens What is tight? and smooth What is rough?
You know, we as caregivers need something like that too. Not for tractors. or hinges but for our hearts. I call it emotional WD 40.
Now I'm from South Carolina, so I'm going to say it the way it's supposed to be said, WD-40. I try to say the double u But the South Carolina just overrides it. And I've been in Montana now for years, I was in Nashville for years, but. None of that. Can displace the South Carolina in me.
Carolina born, Carolina bred. When I die, I'll be Carolina dead, so I can't help it. But we often try to force outcomes. Are you guilty of this as a caregiver where you try to just force it? You lean into this.
Sometimes out here in the west, where there are a lot of snow skiing going on, we get out over our skis. We're leaning in too far to something. We're pushing a conversation. straining through conflict. muscling past, fatigue, We just, you know.
Caffeine are we? How many cups of coffee are we drinking today? I drink a lot of coffee now. Didn't used to drink as much, but you know it's bad when you start drinking coffee at six o'clock at night. And you don't have any trouble going to sleep.
but that usually makes things worse when you try to force it.
Well what is emotional WD 40 look like. What does how does that work for us as caregivers? And I would suggest to you that his Patience. Wouldn't we rather argue? A laugh.
instead of a groan. silence in place of a sharp reply, holding our tongues. or a whispered prayer when words fail. Those small touches don't solve everything, but they do ease the strain. They give us room to keep going without breaking what matters most.
And that's where WD40 comes into play. Because how many times have you tried to turn a bolt? or something. And it just wouldn't give. And you get that little blue and yellow kid out with that little red straw.
and you put it on there and just let it soak in there and you can think Norm Larson, A man that None of us have ever met, or I don't know, you may have met him. I haven't. This is back in 1953, 10 years before I was born. Who 39 times kept trying. He didn't quit after his first failure.
He didn't quit after his tenth. 20th. 30th. He stayed with it until Till he got the right formula. And that's a reminder for us all that life and caregiving rarely yield.
to force. You are not going to force this. Think about all the passages in Scripture that talk about not forcing, not pushing against something. Psalm forty six ten Cease striving. And know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Look at the passage when the disciples were in the boat with Jesus and he was asleep and they thought they were going to drown. Lord, don't you even care? They're forcing him to act on this thing, trying to say, We're going to die.
because they didn't know who was in the boat with em. And Jesus is like, where's your faith? You got me. Jesus knew he was going to die when he came to this earth, but he wasn't going to drown. down the cross.
They should have known this, but they didn't. But I'm not going to judge them too hard because look at what you and I do. And we have all the benefit of Scripture, we still strive.
Well, I don't know about you. You may not. I do. And that I Found is a regular part of being a caregiver: is that we're straining, we're pushing, we're striving, we're trying to force it. How do we back away from that and put little emotional W D 40.
Better yet, a little more scriptural. W D forty. Don't force it. And I will give you one example on this that. When we were in Madison Square Garden, Gracie sang for the Republican National Convention in 2004.
And we got there that Tuesday night. She just she crushed it. She did a great job. We're there on Wednesday. We're supposed to leave on Thursday.
The President's coming in Wednesday night and he's going to give his nomina get his nomination speech or whatever on the the Thursday night. The White House called and said, we're having you on the stage behind the President when he gives a speech. The RNC booked us for this event. And They didn't know anything about it. And this was long before you had all this, you know, with the apps and everything else.
And they said, you need to get on a plane and go back home to Nashville. And changing planes and dealing with stuff with Gracie is no easy trick. And we were staying at the Waldorf Astoria, and that's not a cheap place. That's not Motel 6. And I'm thinking, they're telling me to go.
The White House is saying stay. I'm not sure what to do and I'm trying to call and I couldn't get the White House to call me back and I I I I didn't know what to do. And my father called Actually, to check on us, and Gracie answered the phone, and she told him what was going on. And my father told Gracie, tell Peter, sit down and be still. And Gracie looked at me and she said, Your father said to sit down and be still So I'm sitting there in a Waldorf Astoria.
And I sat down and I was still. Admittedly, I was like a horse after a race and I was just blowing really hard. I remember the rocking chair. I had, there was a rocking chair in our room at the Baldwin Freestoria, and I remember just sitting there. and about an hour later.
Phone call came. He said, we got it worked out. Chill out, relax, enjoy the day. We'll see you tomorrow evening at this time at Madison Square Garden. You'll be downstairs and yada, yada, yada.
And you can see pictures of us in all kinds of media behind the president's left shoulder as we sit there on stage with the president of the United States. I was striving. and I needed some spiritual WD40. I needed Norm Larson, but I had better because what Gracie said was, Your father said, sit down and be still. My earthly father said that.
But how much more? Does our Heavenly Father say? Sit down. And be still. Cease driving.
Don't force it. So, with great respect to Norm Larson, that is what spiritual WD-40 looks like. I feel like Paul Harvey.
Now you know the rest of the story. That's what it feels like. But that is great hope. For this caregiver, this is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver.
We got more to go. 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 and this is the program for you as a family caregiver, more than 65 million.
In this country alone, they are dealing with this issue. And if you're one of them, you're in the right place. If you're not one of them, you're still in the right place because if you love somebody, you're probably going to be a caregiver. If you live long enough, you're going to need one.
So we all got a stake in this. And I am very glad to be able to spend some time with you today and talk about these difficult issues and. point my fellow caregivers to the safety that I've learned over these years. And while I'm on the topic, If you are currently a caregiver and dealing with some difficult chronic impairments in your family's life, your life or your family's life. Does your pastor know what to say?
Do you feel like your pastor knows what to say? Does your pastor call and check on you? Does your pastor know how to strengthen your spirit? And and Fortify you. What about others that you see?
If you have a young pastor, maybe Do does that young pastor have What is necessary to walk into these circumstances. If you don't feel like they do, help them out. Don't criticize. Help them out. This new book of mine, A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns, and Forty Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role, is written in Fluent Caregiver.
The learning curve is very, very steep. I'm not just building on my insights, my father. was a pastor for 60 years. And I watched him do this about as good as any pastor could do it. And so I'm building on his legacy as well and incorporating my own journey of 40 years as a caregiver.
And so I'm offering these things that are written so simply. to help anchor People in the midst of the storms. It's not going to give you answers. it's going to point you to safety where you could stand there and catch your breath. Take a knee if you have to.
and then develop healthier strategies, but it's also a great resource. for your pastor. Get him a copy to day. A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns, and 40 Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role. I think you will find that it will better equip them to walk into the messy situations that so many pastors are called into.
The human condition is a messy condition. And if we're not strengthened, equipped, bolstered, fortified, and prepared, it can take us under. This book is written so simply. But with proven. places that a caregiver Those who love caregivers and those who minister to caregivers can all stand.
A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns, and 40 Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role. If you want to see more about that, just go out to my website, hopeforthecaregiver.com. It'll tell you everything you need to know about it. I said in the last block that this subject is so universal to the human condition that Multiple Media uh outlets have engaged me. and published me That would normally have nothing else in common.
For example, AERP and Blaze Media. These are two vastly different. organizations. and yet both of them published me within a week. And I want to talk about my article at Blaze.
And you can see this on my website at hopeforthecaregiver.com under mentions in the media and so forth. But I wrote about this shooting in Minneapolis. The title of the article is called School Shootings and the Street Called Straight. Do you know what that refers to, the Street Called Straight? If you remember in the book of Acts, Saul was on his way to persecute more Christians.
He was fighting. fervent about persecuting Christians. And he had this dramatic encounter on the road to Damascus, where the the blinding light of Jesus knocked him off his horse, put him face down, blinded him. And he said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord?
He didn't know what was going on. It was just a very dramatic encounter. And he was blind. for three days. and he was taken to a man's house on a street called Straight.
And there he sat there and didn't eat or drink, I believe, for three days, and and was blind, just sat there. stunned.
Now you have to take a step back a little bit. Saul had one of the key you'll ever find. New Scripture. but was blinded by his rage against the Christians. And now he was physically blinded and he had just to sit there in the dark, not eating, not drinking, just sitting there.
He couldn't do anything for himself. And he had to think about. Everything. for three days. And then and of course he thought about m more after that.
And during that time, Jesus appeared in a dream. to a man called Ananias. He said, I want you to go over there and talk to Saul. And in the dream, Ananias is arguing with Jesus a little bit. Say, hey, I've heard of this guy.
Are you sure you want me to go over there? And It's almost like Jesus just Blew him off and just kept going, just ignored Ananias' complaints. He said, He is my chosen instrument to the Gentiles. and there I am showing him what he must suffer on my behalf. Go read the account.
It's an astonishing account. But I was struck by What Jesus said in the dream to Ananias. There he is. Learning. I am showing him.
In the Greek I can't pronounce the word, but it says the full measure. of what he is suffering. for the gospel. What I got out of this was as I was reading this. Paul who Saul later became Paul.
That's his Gentile name, I guess, or Greek name, or I don't know how that worked out. But He knew on the front end. What was going to happen to him? for the gospel. The full measure.
according to the Greek word. the full measure he knew it. And he did it anyway. And he left a testimony about why he did it. and what he was doing.
and what this meant to him. and it cost him dearly. And I reference in this article that I wrote about the school shootings and these horrific things that come this way. How do we know we can be anchored in the things of God? How do we know?
And I will tell you what I told Gracie in the hospital. when she was going through a particularly rough stretch. and she was clock watching. because they can only give so much pain medication. And then, you know, you have to just wait.
You just have to grit it out. And she was clock watching. And just very, very anxious. She was really in agony. And I took her hand and I said, baby, they said.
when you took off Paul's tunic. He had a hundred and ninety five scars on his back. where he was beaten forty times minus one, That's how they did it, so they wouldn't kill him. five different times. And that was not all that he had he had stoned he he had had it all.
But he had at least 195 scars on his back. And I said, Gracie, he didn't have any anesthesia. And she turned and looked at me and her jaw jutted out a little bit and she's big eyes and big tears in her eyes. She said, I'm not the Apostle Paul. I said, No, baby, you're not.
But the same spirit That sustained him. You. And I took her hand in my hands as I said this. And she nodded her head, and she she endured.
Now, I'm not trying to Pollyanna, my wife, here. I'm not trying to gaslight her. I'm telling her this is what Scripture says. and we have the first hand account of a man who endured Brutal torture. And did it willingly and knowing upfront that he was going to have it.
Now there's one other person that did this. On this level, And that was Jesus himself. He knew what he had. He came to this earth to do. He knew he was going to the cross.
He set his face like flint. to do this. For the joy set before him. Peter knew the manner of his death, or at least it was alluded to it, that it was not going to be pretty. All of these men went into persecution.
with their eyes wide open, And they lived through that persecution, up until the point where God decided it's done, and they were taken home but they endured enormous amount of persecution knowingly. And willingly. knowingly and willingly. And Paul in his case knew the full measure. Why is that important?
Why did I write about this in this article? And you'll have to go read the article. to get the whole scope of it. But the bottom line is I want to say this to you. Caregiver to caregiver.
Sometimes God will pull the curtain back. and show, as he did in the case of Paul, the full measure of what was coming.
Sometimes you'll pull it back just a little bit.
Sometimes we have no idea. But no matter what the scenario is, no matter how much we know. What lies ahead for us? On a good day. We don't know anything that's going to happen after today.
But most of us who are dealing with someone with a chronic impairment know that it's not going to improve. Gracie's legs aren't growing back. Her body is broken, beyond repair in this world. And I know that. And she knows it.
But no matter how much we have a foretaste of this. Or how little we have. We have the proven testimony of two.
Now remember how important this was in biblical times that you had to have A thing established. If somebody was going to charge you with something, it had to be established by two or more witnesses. You couldn't just have one person have a he said she said kind of thing.
Well, that principle was was written into the fabric of that culture. And we have the established witness of two. who knew what was coming, the full measure of what was coming. And did it with joy, with gladness, with commitment, with firmness, with With obedience. And that was Paul.
who knew the full measure. and that was Christ himself. who knew exactly what he came to do and that he was going to do it so much so that when he was trying to talk out of it Peter looked at him and said, oh, no, Lord, you're not going to do this. And he said, get behind me, Satan. That's how fervent he was committed to going to the cross.
The path is often hard to see. Scripture says that God's Word is a lamp to our feet, not a searchlight illuminating miles ahead. In the dark we don't get to see the full blueprint. But we do get enough light for the next step, Sometimes, though, God pulls back the curtain just a little, and the road ahead looks unbearably bleak. For the families in Minnesota, for Job and his ash heap, for Paul staring down lashes and stones, the cost was laid.
Bear and in those moments the scars of Paul, the conviction of Job, and above all Christ setting his face like Flint toward Calvary echoed down the centuries to steady us. because when our own curtain is pulled back, and the way forward is shadowed with suffering, we remember, The Road to Glory May very well. Run through a street called Straight.
Some of you are in that moment right now, and you know that the road ahead looks a bit bleak. Lean on the testimony. proven testimony of those who knew the full measure. and did it. And as Paul said, the sufferings of this world are not even worthy to be compared.
to what awaits us. And that is Hope. for this caregiver. The full article is out there at my website, PeterRosenberger.com. You can just go to the tab that says mentions.
And you can see the whole article, and I think you'll find it meaningful. This is Hope for the Caregiver, HopefortheCaregiver.com. This is Peter Rosenberg. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the caregiver.
This is Peter Rosenberger. This is the program for you as a family caregiver. HopefortheCaregiver. Come. HopefortheCaregiver.com.
I recently sat down with a wonderful couple. DJ and Jessica Rowland. And she's living with Huntington's disease.
Now, this whole interview is out on my podcast, and you can go out and hear that, hopeforthecaregiver.libson.com, or just go to my website, hopeforthecaregiver.com, and you can access the podcast. It's wherever podcasts stream. And you can subscribe to that. It's also at my Substack page, caregiver.substack.com. But I wanted to play a clip today from this.
Huntington's disease is a terrible disease. And I've worked with the Huntington's Disease Society of America numerous times, and I appreciate the work that they do. I was glad to have them on, and we had a very meaningful conversation. I want to just play a clip from it. and introduce them to you.
DJ and Jessica Rowland. DJ, I know what it's like to anticipate needs before they're spoken. That's just my journey. But that kind of sixth sense, if you will, comes at quite a cost to be able to learn that. What do you do?
What do you do when you feel spent or when you realize you've been running on empty for a while? How do you tank back up? It it's a little different for me than it is for a lot of people because I'm caregiving for my best friend. She's who I want to spend my time with, she's who I enjoy to be around, so she's also who I recharge around. When she rests, I take time for myself and and take care of myself.
What does that look like for you? A shower by myself, kick my feet up, maybe have a beer once in a while, get a little relaxation and downtime before I go to bed. And you know, I still work quite a bit, so we have a little bit of help from family members that come in and hang out with Jessica while I'm at work. What do you do, by the way? I do truck repair.
So I own a mobile truck repair business.
So wherever the semi-trucks break down, I go out to them and fix them on site. Are you able to leave her for extended times like this comfortably, or do you have to have somebody with her? I tend to rather have somebody with her or we do what we call take your wife to work day and she'll just kind of sit and hang out in the truck while I'm working on on other trucks and then whatever she needs we we'll go do in between calls. Jessica, is he pretty good at it? Yeah, see ya.
I had to supervise him.
Well, she's saying she has to supervise me on taking it. I heard that. I don't doubt it at all. And how big a territory do you cover?
So I'm all of South East Michigan right now. I don't know if you know Michigan, but I cover from Saginaw South to the Ohio border and from Lansing East to the water.
So, when you go out on the site, you could be going up to two to three hours away. Yeah, about two hours away is my max. Yeah, we're pretty centrally located in between those borders.
Now, what happens if it's in the middle of the night?
Well, you know, she sleeps pretty soundly through the night, and she's got a guardrail on the bed and stuff like that.
So we have an 18-year-old son at the house. She's not completely by herself then. Correct. And if she is, she's good for a few hours. You know what I mean?
She just, like this morning, she didn't want to go to work with me.
So I just set her up with what she needed. We went and used the bathroom. Took her meds. Took her meds. We set up a TV show to keep her company for a while, and she just relaxed.
Let me ask you: one of the issues that caregivers struggle with, DJ, is what I call the three I's. We lose our independence. We become isolated and we lose our identity. How has that affected you? What what about your identity?
So ever since I was little, I've always had this need for a need. Like I need for the people around me to need me. And I believe that's because my mom was also disabled. She had she had major heart problems. She always needed help.
And I always felt in my element when I was able to help with the needs around the house.
So, caregiving actually fulfills me. Which is kind of weird to say, but it really does. It just makes me feel like I've done my due diligence for the day. if I was able to help somebody I love get through their day. I I really don't struggle with any of that.
Um I do have a lot of friends that really understand the position that I'm in and they don't really get upset that I'm not available. They tailor their avili availability to my lack of availability.
So they'll come to the house and hang out here at the house because I can't leave. They'll invite us. Yeah, they'll invite us together and they'll make sure that they set their place up to be inviting to her.
Well, it sounds like your friends and family, your church group, they're shoulder to shoulder with you in this. Yeah, absolutely. We're not actually members to any church group, which is something that she would like to do again. But I think we're going to wait until we move, planning on moving away from Michigan so that we can get away from the Michigan winners. Like Northeast Tennessee.
Or Eastern Tennessee well there there's some winters down there. My wife was born there in East Tennessee, and there's some winters down there.
Now, not like what we have here. Yeah, they're not missing down Montana. But you guys get a lot of cold, wet snow there in Michigan. Yeah, yeah, and the cold is what really stops her from being able to progress day to day. Back to the three eyes when we lose our own independence.
We also watch somebody else lose their independence. And we feel helpless watching this. Absolutely. What's been the hardest thing for you watching Jessica go through this? What's grabbed at your heart and you just bend your shoulders down?
You know, I don't mind doing for her, but her noticing that she has to be assisted and noticing that she can no longer do for herself hurts her. and seeing her hurt hurts me. She is my heart. And I do not like to see her struggle with the fact that she needs help with simple tasks. What do you do with that hurt?
Let her know that I'm here. I'll help in any way I can. And If she wants to work on some Different like physical therapies or anything else that might help her regain some of that. I'm all ears. I will gladly help her with whatever that helps her, but what do you do with your hurt?
I cry. I mean, I just deal with it. What did Jessica say? Right. Yeah.
What else can you do?
Well, that's the question. And there are things we can do, but it's painful. It's painful to watch helplessly through somebody you love suffer. And you got to deal with that hurt some way, somehow. Grief.
after someone dies, we talk about that. But you know, for us as caregivers, We have a thing called, I've labeled it incremental grief. where we just grieve incrementally every day. Yep. Does that resonate with you?
It absolutely does. It absolutely does. I mean, we're we're going through Some of that with some of our friends. We call them our HD family, actually. We really like going to these HD events and seeing the community, and you build relationships with a lot of these people.
The only thing is, is you only see them like three times a year, and that time in between. There's progression, and then you see them again, and you notice all their progression, and you grieve all over again, but you don't want to do it in front of them. You know, Jessica's actually been dealing with a lot of that herself, too. Jessica, when were you diagnosed with HD? I uh was it two thousand and seventeen?
Uh twenty seventeen you took the test, and twenty eighteen we got the results. Were you already having symptoms at twenty seventeen? Yes. I think it was I was clumsy and She had some psychological symptoms, stress, anxiety. aggravation She also had some clumsiness issues.
And I also had a hard time with keeping my job that. I felt like a lovin' years. And I couldn't even keep it.
Well, the psychological effects are what caused her to leave the one job that she had for many years. She got so fed up with something kind of trivial and slid her keys to the manager and said, I can't do this anymore and walked out.
Well, hey, listen, there's a lot of us have done that without HD. Right, right.
Well, and that she just thought that she was frustrated, and then she went to their direct competitor and she worked there for a few weeks and decided, oh, wait a minute, this isn't this isn't just the place I I had worked for all these years, this is the whole industry And I think it's just the workforce. Yeah. She would reach a level of frustration. I call it the cliff. It's like going off a cliff.
There's no coming back from it. And once she's over that cliff, there's no consoling it, there's no coming back from it. She just needs to leave that situation completely. And it it could take up to twenty four, forty eight hours for her to be able to to get back to the level she was before going over the cliff. Did you know that H D was in your family?
Jessica. I did. Who who had it in your family? My uh grandpa is and my mom. in my ha and now my brother too in me.
And um what about your son So we she has three children. that would have been considered at risk. Um The oldest is autistic and has not been tested. The middle child has been tested and tested negative. And the youngest child, he's 18, and he's now eligible to task.
And once you get a negative test on HD, that holds up. You don't have to worry about it anymore. Is that correct? Correct, yes. And that that means that his children will also be negative.
Right, once it's broken, it's broken. That's it. There's no wrong answer. I'm just asking you: what are your thoughts on what God is doing, could do, won't do, has done in this situation? What are your thoughts towards the Almighty?
Do you have resentment towards this? Or is it you say you're willing to go back to church on it? You'd like to get involved in the church. How important is your faith to you on this? What are your thoughts on this?
You don't have to answer anything you're not comfortable with. I personally draw a great deal of strength for what Gracie and I have gone through for these four decades because of understanding the things of scripture. What moves me quite a bit is that footprints poem. A lot of people really know it, but oh, yeah, when he said those are the ones I carried you, and that and the and then the long straight line is the one where he drugged me. Yeah.
It brings me a lot of comfort when I see that.
So, I actually have it in multiple places in our house because that's kind of how I feel. Like, when I can no longer carry the weight of everything on my own shoulders, you know, I feel like I'm only seeing one set of footprints in the sand. It lifts me up to know that that's when the Lord has carried me through the troubling times and helped me get back on my feet. We found a phrase that's been very helpful in our journey, and we've come to be known for it. I do not know the original writer of it, but I now have it tattooed on my arm.
It is: Fear does not stop death, it stops life.
So we are going through every day, living life to the absolute fullest that we can, and facing Jessica's fears. The future is going to be what the future is going to be, but we're not guaranteed anything. We're guaranteed today. That's all we have is right now. What we do here.
And what are we accomplishing here? I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from my conversation with DJ and Jessica Rowland. You can hear the entire interview on my podcast at hopeforthcaregiver.com or on my substack page, caregiver.substack.com. We're going to be right back in a moment with our hymn this week. It's part of my series on hymns that every caregiver ought to know.
And even though in the interview, DJ and Jess referenced It Is Well With My Soul. Actually, I think I referenced that with them. I'm saving that for another time. I've got another special hymn that you're going to love when we come back. This is Peter Rosenberger.
Don't go away, we'll be right back. Yeah. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver. This is Peter Rosenberger, Hope for the Caregiver. Has anyone ever given you a tract?
like a gospel tract, an evangelical tract. Or have you ever given one out to someone and you wonder whatever happened to it?
Well, back in 1918 A missionary who had served in Algeria. put one of those gospel tracks, those evangelical tracks, in the hands of a woman who was at the time 55.
Now she was a very accomplished musician, vocalist, and voice teacher, and I believe that she had worked with the Moody Bible Institute. From what I'd understand, she'd been involved in some type of church work for a long time, but evidently she had an encounter with this missionary. She saw this tract. And the One line on it really stuck with her. And it was: Turn your soul's vision to Jesus and look full into his face, and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.
This woman later recalled the moment she read that, she said, Suddenly as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. In other words, she wasn't thinking about writing a song. And within a few days, she had completed. the words and the music.
Now it was originally titled The Heavenly Vision, and it was published in nineteen twenty two. But it became known as something much different. to the world. It was used extensively in Billy Sunday's Crusades. And by the way, I believe that it was Billy Graham who came to the Lord through the work of Billy Sunday.
Well, let me be clear. He came to the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit who used Billy Sunday. But anyway, so this hymn just went wildfire. And this woman who'd written it, she was fifty five years old when she wrote this. And she was inspired by this little gospel tract.
So, in our comprehensive study of hymns that every caregiver ought to know, Today's hymn starts off with this, let's go to the caregiver keyboard here. And the first verse is, O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Saviour, and life more abundant and Free.
Now do you recognize this tune? And you know what the Course is? It's a little hard to sing in that key. Let's take it down, let's take it down to D flat. Mm.
You're a soul. Upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things. Of earth will grow strangely in the light of his glory and grace. Most hymns are written a little bit higher because people sing a little. Bit higher, used to sing four-part harmony a little bit.
We don't do that much anymore.
So, and I'm a little bit gravelly when I do this. Turn your eyes upon Jesus lookful in his wonder.
Now, I put a minor five chord coming up here, and I'll tell you why. And the Do you feel that? Do you feel the way that just wraps around you? The things of earth? Will grow.
And then I put a major seven right here. Excellent, major nine. Straight. And a flat seven. Yeah.
It's not gonna stop there. That's what that means. That's what that flat seven means there because it's not going to stop there. You know it's going to do something. The things of earth will grow strangely dim.
And how are they going to grow strangely dim? In the Lord. Of his glory. And you got in the um Third verse, His word shall not fail you, He promised. Believe him.
And all will be well.
Now, where do you suppose that comes from? Believe him. not it didn't say believe in him, it said believe him. Genesis fifteen. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness.
In James, he said, you know, you say you believe in God, well, you know. Good for you. The demons believe in God. A lot of people believe in God, but to take him at his word, which by the way, That's another hymn we'll get to down the road. Tears so sweet to trust in Jesus.
Just to take him. At his word.
So again, take him at his word, believe him, and all will be well. then go to a world that is dying, is perfect salvation. To till. And then you go back to the course. You think you can sing this?
While you're or just hum it.
Well you're just going about your day. And the things of earth and the earth. things like going to the hospital in the middle of the night. Yeah. or to the pharmacy repeatedly.
or doing laundry. Or cleaning the bathroom. We'll grow. Strange they did. You think they will?
They do for me. And this is a great song for us to hang on to in those times. And green in the love of his glory. And Gracie loves this tag, so Freddie and Dale sing that. Da da da.
God of his glory. In the light of his glory and so that is our hymn for the week. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. If you don't know what to do. If you are free.
floundering. as a caregiver. Try singing this hymn. And by the way, when I mentioned Freddie and Dale singing this, there are a couple in Nashville. You've had Dale's been on this program many times.
She's the one that helped me lose all this weight. But they are incredible singers. They have been harmonizing with Gracie and me for a lifetime, and I just love to hear them sing. And so they listen to this program so regularly, they sing along with it.
So I'm just calling about people like we're all in the living room here, and I'm just sitting around the piano playing.
So if y'all just be family with me on that one, but back to singing this, but whatever you're going through, try singing this hymn. Just hum it. If you can't even get the words out, just hum it. Put it in a key that's good for you. A lot of times those hymns are written so much higher, you know, and they were written for people who did four-part harmony.
We did that kind of thing. And Gracie's got a pretty big range. She can do that. I don't.
So I have to bring it down a little bit lower.
So it's just singing down in a lower key. Just mm-hmm. Whatever key works for you. And just Whispered out. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
And if that's all you can get out, just do that. and watch what happens to you. Watch how it settles you down. Remember last week we talked about be still, my soul. This is not an admonition.
to sing to other people, hey, turn your eyes upon Jesus. I'm singing this to myself. I'm looking in the mirror and said, Hey, you Turn your eyes upon Jesus. because I get them off of him so much. As long as Peter was looking at Jesus, he got out of the boat and walked on water.
Gracie said this often: you know, as long as I'm looking at Jesus, it doesn't matter what I'm standing on, whether I'm standing on the water or the prosthetic legs, it doesn't matter. As long as I'm looking to Jesus. And think about the Scripture that really inspired this Hebrews 12, 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame if he can endure the cross and despise the shame on our behalf, Certainly.
Certainly we can. Endure. The journey of being a caregiver. But we're not going to do this. unless we're looking at him.
So The hymn for this week, Helen Limmel. And by the way, fifty five years old when she wrote it, she ended up going blind. And she wrote 500 hymns. This one, of course, is the one that most people know her by. a magnificent hymn and it's one that every caregiver Oughta know.
So as you go through the week, Ask yourself, what are you looking to? What are you looking at? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And I understand the poetry of that.
We're not looking at him face to face physically right now. But the hymn writer and Scripture all say the same thing. Look unto him. Keep your eyes fixed on him. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace, and that is hope for this caregiver.
This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. If you found the show to be meaningful, share it with someone else. Tell somebody else about it. And go out to hopeforthecaregiver.com and get involved in supporting what we're doing.
Help us do more. HopefortheCaregiver.com and remember Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. We'll see you next time. Gracie, when you envisioned doing a prosthetic limb outreach, did you ever think? that inmates would help you do that.
Not in a million years. What does it mean? I would have ever thought about that. When you go to the facility run by Core Civic 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, too.
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. 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. When I go in there and I always get the same thing every time, that these men are so glad that they get to be doing, as one man 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. I had.
I thought we were still in the 1800s and 1700s. I mean, you know, I thought of peg leg, I thought of wooden legs. I never thought of. Titanium and carbon legs and flex feet and C legs and all that. I never thought about that.
I had no idea.
Now that you've had an experience with it, what do you think of the faith-based programs that Core Civic 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. are i uh it's just an amazingly low rate. compared to those who don't have them. And I think that that says so much. But that's so much.
About Just, that doesn't have anything to do with me. It just has something to do with God using somebody broken. to help other roving people be Ho? If people want to donate a used prosthetic limbs, whether from a loved one who passed away. Yeah.
You know, somebody who outgrew them, you've donated some of your own. What's the best place for them to do? How do they do that? What do they find? Please go to standingwithhope.com/slash recycle.
And that's all it takes. It'll give you all the information on the What's that website again? DanningwithHope.com. Flash recycle. Thanks, Chris.
Take my hand. Lean on me, we will stay.
