Your Future Self Will Thank You

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.

More than 65 million Americans right now are serving as a family caregiver 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. Give it some time because if you love somebody You're Most likely going to be a caregiver. If you live long enough, you're going to need one.

So we all got a stake in this, okay? And I'm offering a lifetime of experience as a lifeline to fellow caregivers to help you stay strong and healthy as you take care of someone who is not. Hopeforthearegiver.com. Hopefully. You know, a while back I noticed I put on some weight.

You know, I went out hiking in the forest behind our home and, you know, noticed that the bears. We're Hiding their food. That's the first sign. That's the sign when, okay, this is getting out of hand here. When you leave footprints in dried concrete.

That's when you know you're getting big. I mean, when people start calling you dang, you know you're getting big. And so I. Was not only noticing it myself, but others noticed it as well, and a friend noticed it. And she's been on this program before.

Her name is Dale, and her husband, Freddie, and Dale, and I've been friends for a lifetime. I just love them. And Dale, I noticed that Dale had been on a really effective program herself, and she had been posting a lot of stuff that lost some weight. She you know, came to me, I mean, and she's a good friend and she said, Hey, you're getting fat Yeah. I mean, she was diplomatic about it.

She said, don't ever wear yellow. School kids are going to try to board you. I mean, you're getting big, Peter. You got to stop this. And she was genuinely concerned, and rightly so.

I've told you all on this program many times that I'm no good to Gracie if I'm fat, broke, and miserable. And this is the journey for us as caregivers. How do we combat this? We have a terrible lifestyle. Many of us do as caregivers.

We eat poorly. We're under an enormous amount of stress. Cortisol is not our friend. What do you do? Where do you start?

And Dale offered me a path, and most of you know the story, and I lost a good bit of weight. And have managed to keep it off, except, you know, when Aurora had some challenges. I mean, I'm when Gracie was spending five months at the hospital down there in Denver, you know, I'm staying at a hotel across the street at that breakfast bar. I mean, it called me every day. I mean, it just was like my kryptonite.

So I came back. after five months there and I've had to work on losing that. But I go back to what Dale told me when I started this process, and this is what I want to. Lead off with in this opening monologue of today's program. And she said something that stuck with me.

Your future self will thank you. The decisions you are making right now. the healthy decisions. Your future self will thank you. And she was right.

And she's cheering me on, but that's just a picture. of how we all are to be with each other. Our future selves will thank you. as we push ourselves to make the hard decisions right now. And for fellow caregivers, it's not just about weight.

Okay, that's that's a that's a Good place to start. You know, I'm no good to Gracie if I'm fat, broke and miserable.

Okay? You're no good to your loved one if you're fat, broke and miserable. Why are we fat? Why are we overweight? Why are we broke?

Why are we miserable? Why are we bitter? Why are we resentful? Why are we these things? It's okay to ask the question.

It's in asking the question that we start to unpack what's going on inside us, and we can have honest conversations, and we go back to where. We go back to the Scriptures. Because I promise you, whatever we're medicating in our heart. with food or with anything else, alcohol, sex, porn, whatever, whatever you're medicating. Scripture's going to speak to that need.

The world is going to offer a counterfeit that's going to give a little bit of anesthesia to it. But it's going to corrupt you and it's going to destroy you. Whatever we're medicating, Scripture speaks to it. whatever we're festering on, Whether it's resentment or resentment. Bitterness.

Scripture's going to speak to it. whatever we're afraid of. that is keeping us in knots. Scripture's going to speak to it. Your future self will thank you.

You look back and say, Oh I am so glad that I chose to go here instead of here. I'm so glad that I made that hard decision. It was scary. I remember the first week when I started on this program to try to lose this weight. And I called up Dale.

She had Fred answered the phone. And I said, they said, hello. I didn't even say hello. I said, I want a burger. I don't want to do this.

But my future self is looking back now and saying, boy, I'm glad I did that. Our future self is going to thank us. For going to bed, instead of pushing through exhaustion, just lay down, take a nap. Your future self It's going to thank you. for taking a quiet walk instead of reaching out for junk food.

Your future self is going to thank you for asking for help before you collapse. And your future self is going to thank you for forgiving quickly instead of storing up resentment. And by the way, let me just again say about forgiveness. Because there's a lot of that going on right now, conversations about forgiveness. We got this thing with Charlie Kirk and all this, this horrific disaster.

Forgiveness doesn't mean it doesn't matter. It just means you're taking your hands off of someone else's throat. And your future self will thank you for this. You're releasing them to the judgment of God, and God may use the state. To judge them, they are not free from the consequences of their sin.

But you are free from trying to somehow control the outcome. And that's what forgiveness does for us. It sets us free. And that's incredibly important for us to remember, because the wounds are real. It really happened, and it really matters.

But you're not responsible to execute justice on this. That's God's job. and he may use different means to do so. And at that point, we say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's how it's done.

By the way.

So keep that in mind as you work through forgiving others. And it's okay to have healthy boundaries with them. Your future self is going to thank you. when you pray, when worry would be easier. It's a lot easier to stress over things.

It's different. to pray over it. and to take it to God in prayer, The hymn writer Oh, what peace we often forfeit And what needless things we bear when we don't take it to the Lord in prayer. Your future self is going to thank you for paying the bills on time. Scheduling your own health appointments.

And not letting life pile up. until it topples. chipping away at this. These are things that your future Self is going to thank you for making that decision today. Caregivers often live in crisis mode.

But those quiet often unseen choices Build a healthier tomorrow. Make the hard decisions now. Your future self and the ones you love. Really will, thank you. Dale was absolutely right on that.

James Clear wrote a book called Atomic Habits. Listen to this quote Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become. Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become.

Now, some of you listening to this right now are struggling mightily with your weight. There are people that can help you with that. There are decisions that can be made. There are people that can coach you along. Dale's one of those.

You can go to my website and find her. Under Peter Recommends, just go to Dale. She'll help you with that. But let's also go deeper. By the way, her husband Freddie is a wonderful minister, and he would be glad to help go deeper.

and help you understand why are we this way. Why is this an issue? What's going on? Because I have found This just me. But I have found that the weight that we really carry is not just around our waist.

It's around our hearts. And we need somebody to help us redistribute that weight. We may not be able to Stop carrying it. But we can redistribute it. We could have friends help us along the way.

And if weight is your issue, that's a good place to start. Right there. We can make healthy choices today, and your future self will thank you. But if resentment is your issue. We could start with that too, and say, Okay, why are we resentful?

Because it is very hard to be resentful. while praising the name of Jesus. and thanking him for what he has done for us. The more you focus on him, remember we talked about this in a hymn two weeks ago. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

things of earth will grow strangely dim, even our resentments. That's good. Great news for this caregiver. That is hope for the caregiver. And that is today's opening monologue.

We're going to be right back with more of our interview with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne. You loved her story from last week. She's just got an amazing story. And we're going to play some more of that wonderful interview we had with her recently. This is Peter Rosenberger.

This is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver. This is Peter Rosberger. Glad to be with you, HopefortheCaregiver.com.

Last week we played excerpts from my interview. with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne and her organization Daisy's Places. Amazing story, great story. We're going to get back and play a little bit more excerpts from that. and you can hear the entire interview at my podcast.

And you can find that at my website, hopefully caregiver.com, or you can go to my substack page, caregiver.substack.

Okay. But let's get back to this interview with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne. I've spent every single moment in there that I possibly could. I wouldn't even have gone to lay down if I knew. that if I didn't I wasn't going to make it through the next day.

But Surviving on very little sleep and snacks. Um And just prayer. and faith. And I did a whole lot of Faith exercises. And My faith would not be what it is today had I not gone through that, although I'm not.

happy that I had to go through that. What kind of faith exercises did you do? Talking to God in my mind And working toward knowing The Almighty knows. He has a plan. And Getting myself to the point.

That I Surrendered all. To be able to say, Lord, I'm going to say that. I want my baby. But if this is your will I will accept it. I will accept whatever is your will, and I know.

that it was for The good all things work together for good. And I just had to get to that place in my mind. And that's how I survived. Working toward getting to that place in my mind where I could. completely surrender to God.

I don't know exactly the steps that I did to do that, just prayer and working it out in my mind, knowing the truth. going back to the scriptures that I know, going back to the faith that I And now it was time to really see Did I really have that faith that I thought I did before? It wasn't easy. You know, I've been asking myself this and fellow caregivers over these last several months. It's been a particularly difficult year for us.

But The the phrase that just keeps coming back to me is Christian, what do you believe? Christian, what do you believe? And we ask ourselves: do we really believe this or not? And if we do believe it, then what is the implication of that belief? And it sounds like you were having that kind of moment there.

uh sleeping in a van. Not down by the river, for those of you who are going to finish that sentence.

Sorry, I was a Matt Foley motivational speaker fan. Do you remember that? Do you remember that at all? I know. Chris Farley singing, I was sleeping in a van down by the river, but you weren't sleeping in a van down the river.

You were sleeping in a van in the Vanderbilt parking lot, which, by the way, I would rather be down by the river than in the Vanderbilt parking lot. Because I've spent time in the Vanderbilt parking lot. You had that moment where you were. Saying to yourself, Christian, what do you believe? Yes.

And Watchman Nee calls that the dark night of the soul. When you are confronted with, you know, this is really happening. And what is my what does my faith tell me here? What was your response? I gave it to God.

Um that's the only way I knew how to survive. I don't see Help. People make it through these types of things without giving it to God. I don't know how I would have made it. Truthfully.

She did start coming out of it. And we got back into a room. Out of Icu, that was a glorious day. A room with a fully functional bathroom and shower. It's the little things, isn't it?

Yes. Our first room actually had a couch. It was wooden with a plastic. one inch cushion, but it was a couch. Uh the second room we were in had a chair.

More importantly, it was a van. But it wasn't a van. But the window sill was bigger than the chair.

So I actually made myself a caught in the window sill. Because it was about four feet long and about Maybe. 18 inches to 2 feet wide. It was a nice little windowsill, and I could actually get vertical. And that was.

Wait a minute. You could get vertical or horizontal? I mean, horizontal. I'm sorry. I could actually get horizontal.

How tall are you, Carolyn? I'm five five.

Okay, and you could get in the windowsill? Yes, I did. I slept better in the windowsill than in that chair.

Now, you've done this. Flash forward now. All of this happened. Daisy lived. Daisy's gone on to live.

Daisy is now how old? Daisy is twenty three. She will be twenty four in November. And she she lives a full life. She has certain limitations and certain guardrails, if you will.

She has a job and she takes care of herself. Yes. And something else happened now because of that. You decided There are other people that may be struggling to sleep in a van in a hospital parking lot, and you did something about it. What did you do?

For 20 years, I prayed, Lord, how can I help these people that are going through what I did? And twenty years later, It is called Daisy's Place. I started a nonprofit. And it's here in Florence, Alabama. I have a four bedroom house.

that is fully furnished. Each bedroom has two twin beds. And we just opened last year. I'm very excited to say. The kitchen is stocked full of food, just as it would be at your home.

I don't come cook for you, but all you have to do is open the pantry, open the freezer. open underneath the the coffee bar and pick snacks or make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or heat up a can of chili or chicken noodle soup. or grab a pizza out of the freezer. Um we provide all linens, toiletries. We have a washer and dryer, which is so very important to be able to get your Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And of course we have bathrooms. We have two bathrooms. And it's very let's don't just let's just don't gloss over that. Of course, we have bathrooms. You're not, it's not a van in the parking lot at Vanderbilt.

Yes, we provide every single thing that you would possibly need. We've actually gone beyond. I had one guest that. didn't have enough money to fill her minutes on her phone card. And I'm not sure if ATNT is supposed to do this or not, but...

I had her phone number and I marched into the AT and T store and I said Here's my situation. I need this phone number to have minutes. And they said, we're not sure if we can do that either, but they did it.

So I gave her a month of minutes. I've had a guest ride the ambulance with her mother. to the hospital.

So sh obviously she didn't have a vehicle. She had the clothes on her back. She didn't find out about me. She she got there on a Sunday. She found out about Daisy's place on Wednesday.

So she had been in the same clothes, since she got there.

So I And I said it was it was night time 'cause she didn't contact me till later in the day. and I grabbed one of my gowns and I said Get a shower Use my gown. I'll get it back whenever and wash your clothes and tomorrow we'll go into the clothes closet.

So I don't have room for h housing clothing, extra clothing, but we have wonderful resources here in Florence that I have connections with. And I gave them a call and said, Hey, we need some clothes. And they let her come in and get everything she needed, clothes. Hairbrush, hairbands, put up her hair for a week, and she ended up staying with me two weeks. and got to meet her precious mother.

Her mother got to they got to go home. It was a good ending. and her mom just thanked me. Of course, the lady was my age in her fifties and. her mother just thank me thank you for taking care of my baby Thank you so much for taking care of my baby while I was here.

So. People are so grateful. And When they find out that I understand, it even helps.

So it's my pleasure. It is really and truly my, it is my gift to be able to do this. My pleasure. I can't imagine a better job. I know that everybody has their own gifts.

But the gift that I have This is the best job I could ever have in the world.

So I'm able to Um pray with these people. talk to them. I have one guest that the mother had passed. She went home to Indiana, came back Indiana, came back for the funeral. She said, I just have to talk to you again.

I've got to see you again. And I said, okay. She just wanted to sit at the table at Daisy's place and talk. for a while. We got to talk about her mama.

And It's not just about a place to stay. It is about a place to stay. But it's not just about a place to stay. You need support. of all the times in your life that You need community and support.

and help. Is when you are a caregiver. Whether it's your mundane things of being a caregiver, or whether it's the crisis situations like when your mom's in ICU. And I don't think unless you've been there that you realize. The need And if you're like me, if you say, Hey, Carolyn, what do you need?

Is there anything I can do for you? No, I'm fine. I'm fine. We're fine. No, I don't need anything.

That is so not it. That is so not true. But you don't you feel Like you got this. although you need that care, But you don't know how to ask for it. And if you do ask for it, you feel guilty for asking for it.

So, those of you that have been caregivers understand, but those of you who haven't, The question is not, what can I do for you? The question is, hey, Do you have plenty of gas in your car? Has it had an oil change lately? I'm at the grocery store. I'm going anyways.

I'm driving right by your house. What can I pick up? Just give me a list. Text it to me. I'm here right now.

Like, give me a list. Those types of things. We've got to stop and take a quick break. This is Peter Rosenberger. We're talking with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne.

Of all the interviews I've done, this may be one of my all-time favorites. I just really enjoyed my conversation. You can hear the entire thing at my podcast page at I hope for the caregiver.com or my substack page, caregiver.substack. We'll be right back with a little bit more and the final thoughts with her. 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. This is Peter Rosenberger, HopeForTheCaregiver.com.

Before we get back to our interview, I want to also let you know a couple of things are going on. I've got Uh more articles at my website. Hopefortheirgiver.com. And you can see some of the different things I've been writing under mentions and so forth. Please check it out.

There are a lot of things that I've put out there. Interviews that I've done. features that I've been in. And I hope you'll you'll take advantage of that and look at it. Also, you can go to my Substack page, caregiver.substack.com.

You subscribe to that with your email, and there's a premium if you want to join the premium side of it. And I have it unlocks a lot of Things that I put out there, video, audio, written things that I put out, and I hope you'll take advantage of all of it. There was no resource like this for me throughout my journey as a caregiver. In fact, I am writing the resource. You know, I have to hear from somebody with my level of experience, but I'm the only one out there that has a show like this.

with my level of experience. And so I have to listen to my own show after reading my own stuff. I preach it to myself. And I am I am speaking to myself every single day that I write these things to remind me, you know, Christian, what do you believe? What anchors me?

What drives me? What keeps me? Clear-headed. and I am journaling all these things down. And speaking of journaling, my new book, A Caregiver's Companion, is also out.

and it is basically my journal for 40 years. and there's statements in there that I land on. That's bedrock. There's nothing under this that's going to collapse under the strain. And then I married that statement.

quote of mine with a a stanza from a hymn or a scripture. that punctuates that statement. Here, I'll read one to you. I just turned to this on page 184. We fight until the end, not to avoid death, but to fully embrace life.

This is a quote. came up with and I live by. And the scripture I put with that is I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Psalm one forty six, two.

And that's it. And then there's a place for you to write your thoughts. It says my thoughts here. and you can write your thought. Here's another one.

Victories.

However tiny. defined our progress. Victories, however tiny, define our progress and Proverbs ten. four says A slack hand causes poverty but the hand of the diligent makes rich. And as I listened to this interview with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne, and how diligent she was, how hard she worked And I'm like, boy, she really embodies that, doesn't she?

There's no way you ever call this woman lazy or timid or having a slack hand. I mean, the woman just pushes herself. And that's why I love this interview that I've was privileged to have with her and just to hear her story. We're going to play one more segment from this interview with her, but I wanted to share that about the book, A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns, and Forty Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role. It's available wherever books are sold.

If you know somebody who's a caregiver and you don't know what to say, I do. Get him this book. If you know a pastor who has to deal with a lot of these things, or a counselor, get him this book. Friends Don't Let Friends Caregive Alone and the book is called A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns and Forty Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Road. Get one for yourself and for someone you love today who's struggling as a caregiver.

Now let's get back to this interview with Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne. What are some of the things you have found out about Daisy's house? For example, you've got people that come in for One or two nights. Two or three nights.

Sometimes you have people come in and stay for How long? What's the longest you've ever had anybody stay? November to July. And of course she went home to mow the grass and And switch out clothes. Of course, she didn't need to do laundry there, but because we have the laundry facility, but Get the mail, take care of her household things.

So she went back for maybe one or two days. a sh a couple of times a month. But Of course, we held her room, and she didn't even have to move out of her room. You know, we held her spot. But her husband was in the hospital had been in the hospital, got transferred to this hospital, and actually transferred out to another hospital when she left.

So Making that in August last month, they would have been in the hospital for a year. In three different hospitals, and I keep up with them. Of course, we get to be family by this time. And They are still in the hospital in a different location.

Well, you told me a story. You have housekeepers that work for Daisy's place that come in and help tidy up after the guests leave. And you said there was the easiest job. They've ever had. That's what they said to you because the caregivers that come into your place, at Daisy's place, Are so fastidious.

They don't trash the place. They are neat. They pick up after themselves. I mean, that's what we caregivers do. we we can't help ourselves.

I go to what I stayed at the hotel this year Uh, for five months across the street from the hospital with Gracie. There wasn't a Daisy's place where I was. Where I was, it was Crazy's place, not Daisy, but it was Crazy. That's just an aside, but it's. I I stayed there for five months and I found myself.

cleaning my own hotel room. And there was maid service there. But I would straighten up my own hotel room. I washed my own dishes. It was like an extended care.

And I mean, I did all these things. They would have done it for me. And oftentimes they did if I didn't get to it in time. I think that's the way we caregivers are. And you saw this firsthand that these.

These folks that come into your place. Don't leave it erect. They don't come in and take advantage. They come in, they're just grateful that they're not in a van. Yeah.

There's a gratitude that comes when somebody just says, I'll never forget this, Carolyn. I was on the way to the hospital. And the kids were with Gracie's parents. They had gone away. She was in hospital.

This was many, many, many years ago. Friends of mine stopped, they asked me to stop by their home, and it was right around the corner from our home. They said, Come over here, we have something for you on your way to the hospital. And I get over there and I walk in. and there's a play setting for one.

They looked at me and they said. Gracie's in the hospital. She's okay. The kids are with your in-laws. They're okay.

You sit down here. And you have a meal. This is a safe place for you. And it was Hot Bowl of vegetable beef soup, one of my favorite, and a piece of cornbread and sweet tea because, you know, Carolyn, our dysfunction that we have in the South with sweet tea, I don't drink it anymore because I really try to watch my sugar. But at the time, I indulged.

imbibed, if you will. But here's this big old slab of cornbread. And A big old bowl of vegetable beef soup. And I sat there in the quiet, and tears were in my eyes. And I get emotional thinking about it because it was one of those things that they just, they just.

Saul. They saw the train wreck that was going on, and they gave me a bowl of soup in the middle of it. And I thought, what you're doing with these folks. that are just devastated by what is going on. And you give them a place to stay.

You give them a place to a shower, you know, clean linens. And you have people that sponsor like for a month you told me that you'll you'll have For this month, here's what we need. And the supplies just show up, whether it's sheets or frozen pizzas or whatever it is that it is. It's not anything crazy, laundry detergent or whatever, but it's just simple things like that that people do. And it is an amazing ministry.

That you have. And it's a long ways from a van in the parking lot, isn't it? It sure is. It certainly is. I'm just overwhelmed.

And that's when you and I talked, I thought, this is something worthy of just telling people because this is Christian ministry at its core. And you pray with them, you feed them, you give them a good night's rest, clean sheets. You know, the distress that goes on in family members with hospital stays, and I know this firsthand. Sadly, I know it really firsthand. And you, you know, I just groaned thinking of you out in a parking lot at Vanderbilt.

I know the parking lot. And and I think of you as sleeping in a van. A young mother, you've got other children that need you, your husband is trying to. Take care of that, and you're trying to run a household, and you've got this child that is hovering. You don't know, and then you're having to, on top of that, you're tired and you're having to fight with medical providers to do this, and you had no place to go to put your head.

to the point where you're sleeping in a windowsill. which if if you could fit in a windowsill, God bless you, I cannot. Yeah. But I just think what you've done at Daisy's place is marvelous. And I just wanted to have this conversation with you and let my audience hear about you and pray for you and support what you do.

It is an amazing thing that you have done out of great pain. If people want to get involved, If they want to sponsor supplies for a month or if they want to donate financial or whatever, what is the best place for? Where do you want them to go? Go to my website. It's daisies-place dot org.

And let me spell that because it's not plural. It's D A I S Y S And then a dash. Place dot org And I'm going to link this in the podcast as well so that people will have that link. Carolyn, this is just an amazing work that God has done in your life that has, you know, from deep pain. Look at the impact.

I'm just. Really, quite moved by this and by what you are doing and the work that you're doing. I love the stories that you've told about some of the people that stayed there, and then they just want to come back and just sit with you. There's places in Scripture where They would make markers of where God met them. Think about Jacob's ladder.

You remember that story? And he had that dream and then he built an altar there. and it was a marker, for God had met him there. And that's what's happening at Daisy's place: that God met people there. in the midst of their great distress, And it's a marker.

I'm Just thrilled to have you on and talk about this. And I want you to know that your story is very moving to me because, and I know to this audience who's filled with caregivers, all of us have slept on in hospital waiting rooms. If you've done this for any length of time, you've been in a hospital waiting room, you've been in hard chairs, you've been in terrible situations with your gut just churning over stuff. and you're punching through fatigue. Most of us Again, if you've done it any length of time, have argued with somebody who just wasn't listening to you in the medical community and you've had to push.

And here you are, very soft-spoken. You know, you're you're just uh A nice southern lady who said, Here's where I'm going to stand. I'm not budging. And I will do what is necessary. And now you're coming alongside other people in that situation, and it's quite moving.

Daisy's dash place Dot org. Right. That's right. That is correct. And I will link to this.

Carolyn Wheeler O'Byrne. Mm-hmm. You are a delight. You have really touched my heart today, and I believe that all that are listening. I look forward to having you back on again.

Okay. Thank you. I would love to. I hope you enjoyed this interview. Please go out and listen to the entire interview on my podcast page, hopeforthecaregiver.com, or on my substack page, caregiver.substack.com.

We've got to take a quick break, but we'll be right back with our hymn series: Hymns That Every Caregiver Ought to Know. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. 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. Glad to be with you. HopefortheCaregiver.com. All right, we're going back to the caregiver keyboard.

For our Hymn of the week. This is my series I'm doing on hymns that every caregiver ought to know. And I'm doing this one today as a request, and I'm doing it for my Mother. But I'm doing this for two reasons. One of them is my mother requested that I do this.

Would your mother, who paid for your piano lessons, ask you to play a hymn, guess what? You play that hymn. But she was also telling me about she was out on her deck at their home in South Carolina, and the leaves are just starting to turn. And she loves to be able to just sit out there and enjoy it. But mom can't see very well.

She has very serious eye problems. and so she can't see very well. And she was just praying, Lord, would you just open my eyes a little bit so I could see it? And she recalled this hymn to mine and she asked me to finish it for her. She said I can't couldn't remember all of it and I immediately knew the hymn, so I thought I'd do it this week.

It writt it was written by a lady named Clara Scott. She wrote this in 1895. Sadly, two years later, she was killed in a carriage accident. And she never really got to see how this hymn just took off and became a worldwide favorite of so many people. And it's and again, I play this a little slower.

Then most people do. This is in 6-8. There's six beats per measure and the eighth note gets The beat. It's different from 3-4. 3-4 is 1-2-3-1-2-3-1, like da da da da da da da da da da.

You know, that's the waltz. 6-8 is a little bit different. There's you get those two down beats there, but not down beats, but two beats.

So you get one and two and one and two. And it's a little bit more of a rocking song. Remember I talked about blessed assurance a couple weeks ago when it was, you know, um More of a rocking chair kind of thing. And 6-8 is kind of that way, too.

Now, sometimes you can do 6-8 tunes that'll be a little bit more aggressive. You know, that tune Michael W. Smith wrote: Great is the Lord. Oh dear. That's in six, eight, okay?

But this is um 6-8 and it goes like this. Open my heart. you That I may see. Glimpses of truth. Thou hast for me.

Now, I put in the thou because the new hymn, somebody went back and monkeyed with the lyrics. I don't know why they do it. It's annoying, leave them alone. They're fine just the way they are. You can monkey with the harmonies that I do, but don't monkey with the lyrics.

The lyrics are fine. and they didn't want people to sing it in King James, so they just evidently changed the lyrics. But place in my hands the wonderful key That shall unlock and set Me Now this is what the writer did. Clara did this. She put that five chord.

It's kind of a clunky one, though. She feels like a big block there. Da da da da da da da da. That's probably what you're used to hearing. That ain't what I play.

So I just throw in a simple Change right there in the harmony. I didn't mess with the lyrics, just the harmony. Wonderful key. That shall unlock and said Be free. You feel that chord right there?

That's a high-dollar chord right there. And then you get to the core silently now. I wait. For thee. Ready, my God.

Thy will to Yeah. Open my eyes illusion. Human being Spirit Divine Now they've got the new lyrics are silently now on bended knee, ready I wait your will to see. Don't do that. Just sing them.

Singing the way Claire. I wrote it silently now. And so, when you do this song, again, I take it slow, not in a hurry. And there's a couple of things you'll probably hear throughout it. It may sound familiar.

Do you remember Heart and Soul? Remember that? I remember when my piano teacher Played both parts at the same time. You know, it was a duet. They did it in that movie Big with Tom Hanks on that big keyboard, but somebody's at the bottom going, And then somebody goes.

And my piano teacher did both parts and it really impressed me. I was in eighth grade, but it really impressed me. All right, enough of that silliness, but you could play that progression on this. Him. You can do it on a lot of hymns.

Remember that little chorus: Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon. There we go. By the way, if you do that during the worship service and you're playing that song. And you decide to go in that You might get a look from the pastor.

Okay, one of those raised eyebrow looks. How do I know that? I've seen that look.

So So, you want to moderate that a little bit. But you can do that. Open my eyes that I may see. See that? Ba dun dun dun dun dun dun.

Wonderful key that shall unlock. And set me And silently now I wait for thee. Do you wait as a caregiver? Do we just demand that God do something? This is what we see, and so therefore, God, this must be what it is.

But this song says no, I need to see something Bigger. I need to see something, a higher view of God. My father used to always ask: you know, is that man's view? Is that God's view?

Well, how are we going to see God's view unless he opens our eyes. Uh Open my eye. Illumine me. Illumine me. Mm-hmm Spirit Now, the other verses are: Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth, you sin so clear, and then open my mouth and let me marry gladly the warmth.

Those are great, great texts, and I would encourage you to go back and read it. In the original, by the way. But it's that first line that I wanted to really drive home because we were blind, but now we see. And I know that my mother would love to be able to see all these things, but more importantly, I know my mother wants to see God's. Glory.

more than anything. And we can see that here in portions. Even With Faulty eyesight because of the work of the Holy Spirit. You know, Fannie Crosby, I told you that she was blunt. Since she was one year old, and and her all her entire life, except for one year, she was blind.

She had no memory of sight, basically. And people asked her, How could you trust God? Why do you let you be blind? And she says, You don't understand. The next face I see We'll be his You know, and she understood a portion of that.

And so when you sing this song, And mom, this is for you. You can sing along with me here. I've opened my eyes. Don't be in a hurry. That I made.

See Glimpses of truth. That's all we're going to get on this side of glory. Just glimpses of it. Glimpses of truth thou hast for me. Placing my hands The wonderful key.

I shall not learn. And set me free. And then you get to that beautiful chorus. Silently down. I wait for the evening.

That's a caregiver. Ready, my God, thy will to see. Especially as a caregiver. Open my eyes. Hello, man.

Me spirit divine. Silently, Now I wait for thee, ready by God, thy will to see open my eyes, illuminate Spirit Divine Spirit Divine Isn't that a great hymn? That's just a wonderful hymn. I hope you're enjoying this series that I'm doing on the hymns as much as I'm enjoying doing them because I love going back and discovering the stories, the authors who wrote them, and the legacy they left for us. Perhaps.

And there are a lot of great songs out there in today's world. A lot of contemporary artists are writing wonderful songs. I'm not knocking it, but I have played, I don't know how many funerals in my life. And Everybody wants these old hymns at their funeral. And I sit down and play them, and they start nodding along, and it just takes them back sometimes 50, 60, 70 years.

And we're not teaching this. to our younger people. And that's what I'm on a mission to do. I want people to know these things and to embrace them.

So if you're enjoying it, I'm grateful. I really am. I enjoy playing them for you. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver.

We're out of time. We've got to go. If you go out to. My website, you'll see the ad for my book, A Caregiver's Companion, Scriptures, Hymns, and 40 Years of Insights for Life's Toughest Role. It's available wherever books are sold.

If you want a signed copy, We're giving them away just as a thank you for people who donate to Standing With Hope, our nonprofit that helps us do this program and our prosthetic limb outreach. You can go out there and see how to do that. For a gift of $100 or more, I'll send you a signed copy, okay? These hymns are a part of my journey towards being healthier, and healthy caregivers make better caregivers. This is Peter Rosenberger, HopefortheCaregiver.com.

We'll see you.

Next time. Gracie, when you envisioned doing a prosthetic limb outreach, did you ever think? The 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. 'Cause 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. And when I go in there, then I always get the same thing every time. These men are so glad that they get to be doing, as one band said, something good finally with my hands. Did you know before you became an amputee that Parts of prosthetic limbs could be recycled? No, I had no idea.

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 CoreCivic offers? I think they're just absolutely Awesome. And I think every prison out there. should have faith-based programs like this because The Return rate. Of the men that are involved in this particular faith-based program.

and other ones like it but I know about this one. are it uh it's just an amazingly low rate. compared to those who don't have them. And I think that that says so much. That says 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 broken people be Hold? If people want to donate a used prosthetic limb, whether from a loved one who passed away, Yeah, 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? Where do they find it? Please go to standingwithhope.com slash recycle and that's all it takes. It'll give you all the information on there.

What's that website again? DanningwithHope.com. Slash recycle. Thanks, Crazy. Take.

My hair. Lean on me, we will stay.