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Call 866-WIN-ASIA or to see chickens and other animals to donate, go to crittercampaign.org. Live on American Family Radio, this is Hope for the Caregiver, this is Peter Rosenberger, this is the nation's number one show for you as a family caregiver. For those of you who willingly, knowingly, voluntarily put in yourself between a vulnerable loved one and even worse disaster. How are you doing? How are you holding up?
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You're listening to your own dark thoughts and sometimes the dark thoughts of others. And this show, this network is committed to penetrating into all of that with the clarity of the gospel in a way that caregivers can understand. We speak fluid caregiver here. And we invite you to be a part of the show, whatever's on your heart. This is your time.
888-589-8840, 888-589-8840. I'm in my 35th year now as a caregiver. That's an interesting milestone for me as I look at the timeframe and what goes on with it and the things that you learn and what are those things.
And I think the biggest thing for me is a sense of perspective. When you spend this much time in the trenches doing the things that are involved in the world of caregiving. And for those of you just now joined the show, never even heard of the show, I care for my wife, Gracie. She had a car wreck a couple of years before I ever met her. 20 surgeries by the time I met her. And that has now mushroomed to over 80 surgeries that I can count. 150 plus smaller procedures.
She ended up losing both of her legs. 100 doctors have treated her. 12 different hospitals.
7 different insurance companies. The bill just has soared way past now 11 million. It's hard really to kind of keep track of accurate numbers because it just keeps growing. There's no stability or plateau for this. It just continues to evolve. And there's a significant amount of flexibility in something like this where you don't get to place where you just kind of, okay, this is it and this is how it's going to be. And it's going to be kind of tough, but it's routine now. There's nothing routine about what we do. So how do you function in that?
What does that look like? And who are you listening to? And today's topic is Consider the Source. And there's a very long passage in scripture that I'm not going to read the whole thing to, but I want to turn your attention to it. It's Numbers 13 and 14. It starts in verse 25 and then it goes all the way through most of 14.
It's a very sad passage in scripture. And it takes place. And the thing I want you to remember is two words. Two words. Okay, I want you to just remember two words. It's all I care about for this morning. Not all I care about, but it's two words that I want you to hang on to when things get a little bit bleak and things get very difficult to understand what do we do here?
Where do we go? And those two words are Kadesh Barnea. Now this is a camping ground there in the Middle East. It was evidently a familiar place. It was near there where Hagar and Ishmael were driven out from Abraham when he sent them away. Abraham defeated the Malachites there. It had a pretty big battle.
It was a sign of great victory. And this was the place where the Israelites camped before going into the Promised Land or hopefully before going into it. And they sent the spies into the Promised Land.
And if you remember the report that came back, yeah, it's a great place. It's everything they said it would be, that God said it would be, except there are some giants in the land. And 12 spies went in. Ten of them gave a distressing report that this is bad.
Man, we're going to get whooped out here. And the people all grumbled against Moses. And they said, why don't you bring us out here to do this?
We're going to elect a new leader. They actually picked up stones. They were going to stone him. Well, at that point, God had had enough, I think.
And it was just, it's so sad what happened. But at first he said he was going to make a whole new nation out of Moses that said just be done with these people because they had grumbled and grumbled and grumbled. And then Moses pled on behalf of the people. But then God did say, look, they're not going in. Only the next generation and Joshua and Caleb that had proclaimed the faithfulness of God said, no, we can do this. God gave it to us.
We're going to go in there and do it. But the people outnumbered those two and they listened to their doubts and their fears and they didn't listen and look at the track record of God. Why am I telling you this? And by the way, that set up the longest funeral procession in history.
For 40 years, they wandered the desert until all those people died and then the new generation went in there and they conquered the land. So why am I telling you this? What does this have to do with being a caregiver? I think that a lot of times for us as caregivers, we are frightened. There really are giants in the land.
We are frightened and we listen to the majority opinion. You ever been involved in a church fight? There ain't no fight like a church fight. And I remember hearing this in a particularly ugly church fight that I didn't cause, but I found myself embroiled in. I didn't cause it.
I just want to let y'all know I didn't cause it. I didn't do it, but I found myself embroiled in and I listened to a lot of this dialogue back and forth about the majority speaks for God, which I don't subscribe to. I think sometimes God will speak through the majority, but God speaks all by himself and we still have to anchor everything in scripture. And this pastor that was at the center of this particular brawl, the people that were trying to negotiate it through were functioning like parliamentarians. They were doing nose counting for votes and all that kind of stuff. And at one point, one of them even said that the pastor needed to, what they called the ministry, to leave the ministry.
And that would probably just be best. Now the pastor had done nothing that warranted this. There was no moral indiscretion, financial indiscretion or heresy being preached. This was all personalities. And they were saying these things. And I looked at these guys who were functioning, no kidding, like legislators, like Congress. You see these guys on C-SPAN when Congress is meeting. Raise your hand unless you're driving, but raise your hand if you think any of these guys are leaders, because I don't see it myself. I see a lot of people who are jockeying for compromise and consensus. And I get that. That's part of running a government and all that kind of stuff.
But leadership is a whole different thing. And so I asked a simple question. I asked a simple question.
I said, what does God have to say about this? Well, you'd have thought that I had slapped him. I mean, for heaven's sakes. There was an old movie Peter Sellers was in called Dr. Strangelove.
So it's kind of a weird movie. But at one point, Rod Steiger's playing this general. They're in this in this big war conference room. And they're, you know, they're just yelling and screaming and fighting the big fight going on in this general.
Rod Steiger stood up. His character stood up and said, gentlemen, we will have no fighting in the war room, which is such an absurd statement. Well, you know, how dare you bring up God in a religious fight, you know, kind of thing. That's what I felt like when I when I asked the question, what does God have to say about it? That trumps everything. So today we're going to talk about consider the source.
Who are you listening to? What does God have to say about it? These people voted not to go into Israel, to take the land that God told them because they were afraid.
But they did go back and say, what does God have to say about it? 888-589-8840, 888-589-8840. This is Peter Rosberger. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is the nation's number one show for you as a family caregiver. I am Peter Rosberger. I'm glad to have you with us. You want to be a part of the show.
888-589-8840, 888-589-8840. Whatever's on your mind today, we're talking about consider the source. But if you've got something that's pressing on your mind, we'll come to a screeching halt. We'll deal with it. We'll talk about it.
We don't give advice or answers here because that's not, I'm not qualified to do so. But we do point you to safety and that always involves the word of God. No matter what we're dealing with, the principle of it is covered in scripture. I promise you that. It's 35 years now of dealing with this and it's there.
But we have to dig a little bit to find out what is really troubling us. So I go back to what we're talking about in Numbers 13 and 14 in this very sad chapter. These people had witnessed the deliverance from Egypt. These people had witnessed all of the provision that God had done, splitting the Red Sea, the whole thing.
And they get there and they're giants in the land and they're scared. And they vote. They take a vote to say, we're not going to do this.
It was 10 to 2. And because the majority ruled, that's what they thought was the right answer to do. And I've seen this way too many times in our spiritual lives and so forth, in our Christian lives, that because the majority rules, therefore that is speaking for God.
And I get the concept because if you go back and look in Acts when they picked another disciple to replace Judas, they picked Barnabas. I don't know who was that. My dad's listening.
He would tell me right off the bat. Thaddeus. Jim, who was it? Who did they pick? I don't know who it was. But it was somebody that they picked and they cast lots or something.
I don't know. So they all thought that was the right call to go. And if you go back and look at Jonah, when the crew was trying to figure out who was the bad guy, the lot fell on Jonah and so Jonah had them throw him overboard.
Okay, I get that. But let's not make any mistake. God speaks all by himself, all for himself, and he has laid it out, if we'll pay attention, the way to go with it. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That's what these scriptures mean, is that that's the final authority. And so I referenced this church fight that we were in and these guys were all trying to vote and they felt like they spoke for God in this, which I categorically reject. God speaks all by himself. And the question is, are we going to listen? And if somebody comes up to you and says, thus saith the Lord, they better have a scripture and verse close by, because otherwise I won't kind of tune that out. Scripture speaks completely for itself because that is the definitive word of God that he has provided to us.
And so when you are struggling as a caregiver and you are looking at the giants in the land, go back to what does God have to say about it? And you're going to get a lot of advice from people. You're going to get a lot of people who couch it in really sincere and religious sounding God talk and all that kind of stuff. People are going to do it. I've had it, you've had it.
If you haven't had it, just wait, it's coming. People will do this. The question is, can you filter all that out and go back to what does God have to say about it? And I remember when these guys said, well, this pastor needed to just go ahead and leave the ministry. And I looked at them and I said, what has God, you didn't call this man to the ministry.
God did. What does he have to say about it? You know, that denomination did not call that man to the ministry. They affirmed a call, but they didn't call him to the ministry. God called him to the ministry and until God says no, we stay on course.
Well, they didn't particularly care for that. But it's amazing when sometimes you can just ask a simple question, what does God have to say about it? So as a caregiver right now, what does God have to say about what you're dealing with?
And you're going to hear this when people call in to this show and we deal with all kinds of things, they're all over the map. There are a lot of different circumstances, you know, how do I deal with this when my mother doesn't want to stop driving or all those kinds of things, those circumstances. How do I honor my mother and father when I'm dealing with this?
And a lot of people struggle with that one as well. But honoring your mother and father doesn't mean you have to honor Alzheimer's. It doesn't mean you have to honor somebody who is active in their addiction saying the most horrible things about you and your self-esteem is plummeting. What does God have to say about you? You're fearfully and wonderfully made. He knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb. And you're going to allow somebody who is under the influence of a disease or some type of substance abuse to malign that? And cause you to self-doubt whether or not God even loves you, whether or not you're even worthy? He says you're worthy.
That's good enough. You can land on it. That's bedrock.
And he's got nail scars in his hands to prove it. So this is the way that I'm hoping that caregivers can start thinking is that we tune out the fear because we really do see giants in the land. There really are scary things out there. But we can tune that out a little bit, hopefully a lot a bit, by anchoring ourselves in what does God have to say about it? And if you go back and look at Joshua and Caleb who basically raised their hands and said, no, we're going in there.
We can do this. We can whoop them because the Lord has given this to us. They remembered the word of the Lord. They stood on the promises of God. Doesn't mean you're not going to have to fight.
Doesn't mean there's not going to be a bloody battle. It just means that you're going in there because God has said go. That you are affirming what God has said.
This is the point for us as caregivers is that we are faced with brutal, brutal things. And it's easy to get scared and it's easy to have the consensus of the crowd. But being a parliamentarian, being a legislator, being a consensus builder, while it has its place, God doesn't operate by consensus. He gives the decree and we are then faced with the choice. Are we going to obey Him or not? Are we going to anchor ourselves in what He has directed?
Are we going to consume ourselves with His truth so that when we're faced with other people's watered down truth, we'll understand it, we'll be able to spot it, and we'll be able to avoid that. You know, one of the things I've learned throughout this pandemic that we've been dealing with is, I've heard this over and over and over. I've done a lot of media interviews. I'm kind of a news junkie.
I do a lot of writing for stuff. By the way, I've got an article out now in TheChristianPost.com about real men and myth about masculinity in male caregivers. There are, I don't know if you know this or not, but there appears to be a pretty active assault on masculinity in our culture. And so I wrote about that in the terms of male caregivers, of which I are one.
But I've noticed a lot of things in our culture that a question keeps rising up to the surface. Who do you believe? Who do you believe? What is truth? I mean, Pilate asked that of Jesus. You know, what is truth?
Isn't it kind of ironic that he was standing in front of truth personified and he didn't recognize it? What is truth? What do you believe? Who do you believe? Do you believe Dr. Fauci? Do you believe Trump? Do you believe Chuck Schumer?
Please say no. Do you believe, you know, who do you believe? What do you believe?
And, you know, are they telling us everything we need to know about the coronavirus or all these kinds of things? What do you believe? What is truth? And when truth becomes so obfuscated and watered down across our country and everybody's spinning all the time, truth, to be able to leverage their power, it can be extremely disorienting.
And our nation right now is extremely disoriented. We don't know what to believe. We don't know who to believe.
Do we believe the police? We believe, you know, all these things, whether it's George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, it doesn't matter. Whatever the scenario is, nobody seems to be able to anchor on truth. And as caregivers, we understand that because we are floating through such craziness on any given point in our life. And it's hard to know what's reality, what's truth. But see, this is where we go back to the Word of God. This is where we anchor ourselves in scripture, not in the top 40 scripture that we hear just everybody just say that. It's basically like the first grade of scripture.
You know, we all get that. But are you willing to go deeper? Are you willing to see the principles of God in a deeper way? Are you willing to go back into the book of Numbers, for example, like we did today and say, you know, what can I learn from that as a caregiver?
And one of the things I can learn is, wow, there are scary things out there. Wow, God is going to be with me in it. And when I am faced with those things, I don't need to get a vote among the people of what does God have to say. God can speak very clearly for himself.
Now, there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors. But ultimately, are you anchored in scripture? Do you understand the concepts and the precepts?
Don't just take a verse and cherry pick this thing. But really anchor yourself in what is he doing? What is the lesson learned here? And as a caregiver, this is where I think the battle is for us. So no matter what we face, whether it's an insurance company, it's family members that won't help the way we want them to, if you're being cursed at by the very person you're changing their adult diapers for, whatever the scenario is, can we anchor ourselves in truth so that we're not tossed all about? And that's been the journey for me. And I feel like that, from what I've seen, it appears that that's the journey for so many others. How about that? Has that been your journey?
Is that you're just all over the map and you're trying to find a solid place to land. And for us as caregivers, that is so important. That's why on this show we don't really get into the specifics of caregiving, because those things, we can work it out.
But if our heart is a train wreck, if our brain is a squirrel cage, it is very difficult for us to be able to make good, healthy decisions and make ourselves the reality of God's promise and work and faithfulness and provision in our life. 888-589-8840. 888-589-8840.
This is Peter Rosberg. This is Hope for the Caregiver, and I apologize for the technical difficulties. That's just part of doing live radio. So what we're discussing here, and by the way, if you want to be on the show, and I think we're all connected now, 888-589-8840.
888-589-8840. But what we're discussing is a problem that a lot of caregivers seem to have, and we're talking about considering the source. Now, let me go a little bit deeper, because a lot of folks will call into the show and they're struggling with the abusive behavior of a loved one that they're taken care of. And they'll say things that are very cutting to you. And I get that.
But in those kinds of moments, that's a Kadesh Barnea moment. Are you going to listen to what's coming out of them, or are you going to listen to Scripture? Are you going to listen to God? And this could be extremely disconcerting and disorienting as you are doing this, because you've got somebody that is right in front of you saying terrible things to you, cutting things to you, hurtful things to you. And sometimes they say, somebody's pushing all my buttons. Well, sometimes they're the ones that sewed those buttons on, so they know exactly where they are to push. Do you track with that?
And so in those moments that come when you are overwhelmed with discouragement and feel like you're just worthless, what do you do? Are you considering the source that maybe they're impaired? Maybe they're not accurate. Even if they're not impaired, maybe they're not accurate. Maybe you've got a family member who's observing this from the cheap seats and not helping you, and they're not involved with you, but they don't mind criticizing you. And they don't mind telling you how poor your performance is.
Are you considering the source? What does God have to say about you? And I go back to what I said about this minister, and they were all very sanctimonious, and they looked very spiritual when they said all these things. And I just simply raised my hand and said, well, what does God have to say about it? Well, they didn't care for that. They didn't want to hear that.
But I want to hear what God has to say about it. And He will speak, and He does speak, and He has spoken. The question is, are we listening? Do we just want to put our hands over our ears and do what we think is right? And you go back and look at the end of every chapter in the book of Judges virtually, and it says that every man did what was right in his own eyes. What kind of way is that to live? You get the feeling that we're doing that in our culture right now, that everybody's just doing what's right in their own eyes? And if we don't have some kind of anchoring in truth, we're going to get tossed all about, and there's nothing like caring for somebody with a disability or some type of chronic impairment to get us twisted all about, to get us in all kinds of emotional and often physical and certainly spiritual distress. So what do we do?
How do we live? And I think that for me as a caregiver, what I came to understand are a couple of basic truths that may help some of you this morning. One of them is that my mind is a dangerous place to go into unaccompanied. I don't particularly like hanging out in my own mind by myself.
I need some company in there. And the other one is don't believe everything you think, because we will twist ourselves into pretzels to justify a position of belief that we want to have. And if you don't need any other evidence of that, then just to turn on the news, watch an event happen, and then watch these politicians rush to the microphone to explain to you how that fits their narrative or how it goes against their narrative or whatever. And not just the politicians, the news anchors. I mean, which news anchor do you actually trust? I mean, they're just reading a teleprompter, most of them. Which one do you actually trust that is informed and bringing you accurate news?
My favorite network, I've told you, for television news and so forth is still C-SPAN, because they just turn on the camera and let you watch for yourself. But think about that. Now, think about how many pastors do that. How many church leaders do that?
And they sound real spiritual when they do it. So it's always good to have a healthy appreciation for how much people will spend truth. And if you go back to the way our country was set up, the founding fathers knew that about the heart of man, that it was deceitfully wicked because so much of our country's government structure was set up by men of strong faith or men who came from people of strong faith. And that made an imprint on them. And that's why you have all these checks and balances.
Because they knew that men wanted to grab power and use deceit and manipulation to do it. And here we are, look at our country. And all that you see paraded on the news, just keep in mind two words every time you watch it. Power grab.
And then you start to see it. I mean, do you really think these politicians care about you? Look at their actions.
Don't listen to them. Look at their actions. Do you really think they care about you and about your healthcare needs and this and that or whatever?
They promise you all these things, but look at the way they live. Look at the stewardship in their own life of what they've done. How many people, how many employees have they helped move from low income jobs to higher income jobs? How many people have they hired?
How many people have they fired? How have they been with their own families and responsibilities in stewardship? These are things that are important.
Stewardship is an important word. It's an important word to God. It was the first job that he assigned. He gave Adam responsibility of the garden to cultivate it.
Way back in Genesis, before the fall. And these are things that anchor us. And all of a sudden, if you start seeing this in the glaring light of scripture, you'll see these things start to bubble to the surface. Oh, I didn't notice that before.
I didn't notice that. And you can filter out the pablum and the nonsense and the self-servingness through scripture. That's how it works. That's how you do it. That's how you stay anchored. And if you can do that with your situation also as a caregiver, then you're able to navigate through these things that just knock you around.
If you're having a hard time believing Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi or Donald Trump or whoever else that you see on the news every single day, how much more are you having a hard time believing this particular doctor or this family member or your loved one or anybody? It comes at you relentlessly in waves. And if you don't anchor yourself, you're going to get lost. There are really giants in the land. There are really scary things out there. And this is the lesson we see painfully put out in Numbers 13 and 14.
It should have been a simple directive. All right, we're going in there and this is what we're going to do. It's everything he promised and there's some scary things in there. And the people balked. To the point where they didn't even come and say, look, we're scared, help us. You know, remember Thomas, that's one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. They didn't come to that. They picked up stones.
They were going to kill Moses and go back to Egypt. Let's not do that. Can we trust God in this? As you look at these diagnoses that come your way, as you look at the painful realities that you're facing, it's scary. It's fear worthy. Courage doesn't mean the absence of fear. The courage comes from devotion. You're devoted to that loved one. You're devoted to God and willing to trust Him. This is Peter Rosenberg, HopeForTheCaregiver.com, 888-589-8840.
We'll be right back. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you? I'm Gracie Rosenberger, and in 1983, I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated. I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me, but over time, my questions changed, and I discovered courage to trust God. That understanding, along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs, led me to establish Standing With Hope. For more than a dozen years, we've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people.
On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies, and with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit StandingWithHope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up.
That's StandingWithHope.com. I'm Gracie, and I am standing with hope. The Word of God tells us many times in one way or another, fear not. Today in the world, many are very fearful, afraid of the coronavirus and other perils that are going on in our world. Psalm 91 verses 1 and 2 tells us, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God in Him, I will trust. I'm Joseph Parker, and we here at the American Family Association would like to remind you, fear not, put your trust in the Lord. We'd like to both encourage and challenge you to aggressively put your faith to work.
Certainly use wisdom and insight that government and medical professionals are encouraging. But first, put your trust in the Lord. We'd like to encourage you to pray Psalm 91 daily for yourself and your family and keep your trust in Him.
If you'd like to get a copy of the Psalm 91 prayer for yourself, email us here at psalm91atafa.net. But as we face these things, understand we're not facing them in a vacuum of our own thinking. That we're facing them as believers with the full confidence of Scripture that He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it. And again, as I said before the break, courage is not the absence of fear, it is the presence of devotion. And that we're going to trust, and we're going to love greater than we're going to fear. Every soldier will tell you, I mean, any soldier tells you that they go into battle and they're not afraid, they're lying to you or delusional. It's a scary thing. And also, if you notice the unspoken rule of our military in this country, it's not that we hate what's in front of us, it's that we love what's behind us. It's devotion to this country. Well, how much more so as believers?
How much more so as caregivers, for example? That we are devoted to someone, so much so that we're going to face terrifying things. It is terrifying to do some of the things we do as caregivers.
And we live with that fear lurking constantly around the corner of our mind. And it's just, you know, how do you do this? And that's why I go back, and so I gave you two words today, and I'll sum up. And by the way, 888-589-8840, 888-589-8840, I'm sorry when we had the problem with the connection earlier at the bottom of the hour, I lost the calls. I'm sorry, but we'll try to do the best we can.
That's what happens sometimes with tech. But I gave you two words today to remember. And you can go read it for yourself.
Read the whole story, I would recommend when you can. And the numbers 13 through 14. But remember these two words.
Kadesh Barnea. It's just basically a camping site. But a lot of important things happened there. A lot of very important things happened there. It was a scene of a great battle, victory with Abraham, and then 400 plus years later, it was a scene of great sorrow. And his people that God brought forth from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The people of the covenant chose to reject God's provision and presence.
And even took up stones against Moses. There are scary things in this world. Terribly scary things.
There are giants in the land. And that's when we have to anchor ourselves in the promises and the provision of God. And we're not going to know these things until we study and go back and see them.
And start being willing to see the application of this in every scenario that affects the human condition. As a caregiver, I can tell you that there are times when I have looked with such despair. At the mounting bills, the long journey, the weariness, the frustration, the dismay over watching someone suffer.
The rage and the anger that boils up in you throughout this thing. I get it. I think those of you who know the show and listen to the show regularly know I speak fluent caregiver here. And so the last thing I want to leave you is yes, I do speak fluent caregiver. I can speak this in a way that makes sense to you as a caregiver. I've learned to speak fluent caregiver in my now 35th year as a caregiver. I have learned this over this journey. But it is our Savior's native tongue. This is who He is.
I've learned to speak it. But this is who He is. And all the things that you're dealing with as a caregiver.
The loneliness, the isolation, the heartache, all those things. He truly understands this. And is weaving purpose and provision in this in ways that you cannot even possibly imagine. And He invites you to trust Him.
And His scarred hand does and will hold tight to your scared hand. Hang on to that picture. Hang on to that. And there will be tears ahead of you. There will be heartache ahead of you. But there's also great joy ahead too. And we hang on to that promise.
That's what it means. Don't let these moments at Kadesh Barnea for you be the moment where you reject all that you have heard and seen and witnessed because of fear. It's scary. There really are giants in the land. But He's really with you in it. And let this be a place of victory for you.
What does God have to say about it? Let that be your final answer. I'm going to squeeze in one quick call to Pat in Florida. Pat, good morning. How are you feeling? I'm feeling wonderful, Peter.
Well, what's on your mind and heart? It's such a blessing to hear you every Saturday morning confirming the Word of the Lord to me and all the years that I have been a caregiver. And I just wanted to tell you that and to just add one more little message from the Lord, I think, to what you've been telling us this morning. I married a man who was light years ahead of me spiritually. In fact, he led me to the Lord after we were married. And we had four wonderful sons. And our fifth child turned out to be hydrocephalic. And it was our only daughter. And when we learned this, it was the night before she was to be delivered, although it wasn't planned until the end of the week. He was in his car when my mother was driving me and we had to go after an emergency, you know, report that this was going to be the case. I was nine months pregnant. And so we met my husband at my OB's office. And when mother and I pulled up, my husband was sitting in the car, all the windows up.
It was mighty hot that day, too. And he was crying out to the Lord, Father, I have never had a hydrocephalic baby. I don't know what to do.
You've got to help me. And he was just crying out. I mean, we could hear him. So we went in and got the report and went home, went to our pastor and just got peace that God was in control. So when she was delivered, they came out and told him that she wouldn't live but a few minutes, that he best come in immediately. And he came in, they put a gown on him and a cap and a glove and they put her in his big hands and he held her up to the Lord and said, Father, thank you for giving me a daughter. I understand you will be taking her back.
However, if you would have us raise her to your honor and glory, you could give her back to us. And so he did. It's a beautiful story, Pat.
It's a beautiful story of trusting in God through this and I appreciate you sharing. Tell me very quickly what happened. Very quickly, we only got a minute. Well, she was 40 years old last March. Does that say anything? And of course, those 40 years have been tumultuous. Absolutely highs and lows, but through it all, David, up until the last 4 years, was right there beside me and his comment always was, every time we heard the wrong voice, as you've been talking about this morning, his word to me was, Pat, that's the wrong voice. Don't wallow in self-pity. Don't be ashamed of yourself because you think some strange thing has happened to you.
And that's how we got through it. Pat, that is a beautiful story. Listen, don't hang up. I'm going to put you on hold. I want to send you my book.
You have blessed me this morning. I want to do that for you. I'm going to send you my book, Hope for the Caregiver. Thank you for this beautiful call, Pat, and thank you for just echoing it because I know there are mothers and fathers right now who are struggling with this very thing and you have been a source of encouragement to them. So don't hang up. Jim's going to get your information here. This is Peter Roseburger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. Go out and subscribe to the podcast. It's free. You can hear the show again.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-24 15:58:10 / 2024-01-24 16:15:04 / 17