When the Police Are Needed

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

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

If you don't need any of those, don't select them. Check out and be protected starting today. That's caregiverlegal.com. Welcome 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. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. I've been getting some calls and some emails and so forth from listeners and people that are part of our Facebook group out at Hope for the Caregiver. You can go out to Facebook. It's a private group that we have, and they're sharing some things that are quite troubling.

And so I brought in a friend of mine to help us with this. This last call prompted this of a woman who is taking care of her mother. The mother is in her 80s, I believe, has Alzheimer's. The woman is working full-time, trying to take care of her, but she's got a brother that's causing her some real drama.

And he evidently has some psychological issues, possibly from PTSD. She's not totally sure of all the things going on, and she didn't give me a lot of details. There may be some alcohol or drugs involved, and he is taking things from her mother.

He's being very abusive to her. This is not the first time that these kinds of things have been thrown at me for people that are dealing with this kind of stuff. And so this is part of the journey for so many caregivers. So I invited a friend of mine on.

He is a retired Seattle cop, 30-something years on the job, Lance Vazney. And I talked about this, and he shared his experiences with it. I said, do you think you'd come on the program and talk about this? He said, absolutely. He said, 10 bucks is 10 bucks.

No, he didn't say that. Did you, Lance? Is it really 10 bucks, Lance? Hey, I'll take it.

10 bucks is 10 bucks. So no, he has run into this scenario on more than one occasion. It's a very serious, tough issue for so many people. So Lance, talk a little bit about these scenarios and what happens, and then we'll kind of get into what people can do. But you have been called to, you said you've lost count of how many times you've been called to homes like this.

So go ahead and talk about that a little bit. Let me just start this off by saying that every jurisdiction is going to be a little different. Every department is going to be a little different. Every policy is a little bit different.

So this is going to be more of a generalized idea, if you will. But essentially what happens in these kind of situations is somebody gets frustrated or they get overwhelmed or they're dealing with someone with mental issues and they don't really know what to do. The idea behind it is, you know, you call 911, you get the officers to show up and let them make the evaluation as far as, is there some action that can be taken at that time? And that's generally what we would do. We would get called out to a variety of these kind of calls where, you know, someone's calling saying, oh, I've got a relative here and they're losing their mind or they're destroying stuff or they're threatening to kill me or kill themselves or hurt us. That's when you want to obviously call the police and let them come to determine if there is cause for them to then do a mental health evaluation or if it's something criminal. What are some of the traps that people fall into, the mistakes they make in these situations?

Well, just in my own personal experience, obviously, that's what I'm trying to mostly speak from. One of the things that I ran into repeatedly is you get to a call finally where someone has finally gotten to that point where they have called. And then they start talking to me about, oh, this has been going on for months, weeks, years, whatever the case might be, or, oh, he did this last week or she did that to me a month ago.

And it goes back and forth. And I say, first thing I ask is, well, did you call? Because I'm not seeing any history. I have the ability to go through there and determine what other past calls and what the resolutions were. And when you don't have anything like that, I ask them, did you call? They say, well, no, I didn't call because I didn't know that it was a problem, or I didn't know if it was criminal, or I didn't know if the police could do anything. So honestly, one of the bigger things I would like people to get out of this today is always call. Don't sit there and think, well, is this an offense that I should be calling about? Call.

Let the officer show up. Let them make that determination, right? Because you don't always know.

So let them come. And if they come and say, hey, there's nothing that we can do or this doesn't fit our criteria, then you at least know that. So what usually ends up happening in these kind of circumstances is there's usually a long history of whether it's abuse or threats or whatever the whole gamut may be. And then when we do finally show up, we don't have any documentation to then back that up. So my suggestion is take the time to call every single time something like this happens, because the more documentation you get, the more it's going to prove that pattern for somebody eventually down the line, whether it be attorneys, whether it be judges, whether it be advocates, whether it be mental health professionals to say, hey, look, there's clearly some problem here and we have a long history of documentation showing that and it may force them to want to do something more about it.

One of the things that you said the other day when we talked about this is you said this is a very frustrating, laborious, tedious process that so many caregivers are having to go through. You hate it. They hate it. We all hate it.

We all hate it. But this is really the path to do it. There's really no other way. If you can't just call up and commit somebody or have them taken away, you're going to have to go through this process. And that's sad, but that's the way it is. Right.

And that, yeah, you're right. I mean, one of the things that's always been aggravating for us as officers is, you know, we'll get called out to these circumstances. We will do a mental health evaluation on somebody, you know, for a 72 hour hold and they'll go before mental health professionals and then they'll say, oh, no, sorry, I wasn't really trying to kill myself or I wasn't really that way.

I was just tired. And then they end up getting released. And that's the hard part for us as officers and especially for the victims of these people is being able to say, I have to go the long haul on this. Sometimes it can take weeks and months to get through this.

And that's why I said, it's important to always continue to call. You're going to get frustrated. You're going to feel like the police don't do their job. The court systems don't do their job. The mental health doesn't do their job. And that becomes, trust me, it's frustrating just as much for us because we have to go back to the same places over and over. I can recall a couple of different incidents where I dealt with the same person within my own nine hour shift on two occasions, go to, you know, put them in for a mental health evaluation and then call back out on them later that evening. So trust me when I say that the frustration goes on all levels, but that's why it's important to tell people, listen, you have got to stay vigilant. I know it sucks. Trust me, we don't like it either, but that's the only way to finally get resolution sometimes.

It's not always that way, sometimes, unfortunately, it just works out that way. Would you say, is it a fair statement to say that you would recommend that when you do call the police multiple times, that you have, you even practice what you're going to say to the police, because you're going to be nervous. It's going to be kind of weird to say, look, this may be overkill, but I am trying to establish a precedent here because I know there's a problem. And you let the police know that you recognize the lengthy, tedious part of this. Do you think, are most police officers trained to process that coming from the person who called? Yeah, absolutely. And that's a hard statement to bring me up to is one of the things that I've often told people is write these things down, keep a daily log, an hourly log, whatever the circumstances are, because it's easy to forget.

And we're human beings. And I've seen it myself where I've showed up to a call, people are generally nervous when the police show up. Okay, that's understandable, even when you haven't done anything wrong. So they have this story in their mind, but then the cops show up and they forget this detail and that detail. And then there have been times when I've left and they'll call back and say, oh, sorry, I forgot about this, or I didn't mention this part, which is still perfectly fine. But I've often told people, hey, yes, when you are going to call, if you have this daily log, if you continue to write things down as they happen, I've actually gone to calls where people hand me basically like a little notebook and say, here's all the details.

You want to talk about making my job easy? I just take a picture of that and I've got my report done. So that is definitely something that's important to know.

Hey, I need my own documentation. And sometimes it might even be a matter of just scribble down some notes so that again, when law enforcement comes or when the mental health professional calls you or when an advocate or an attorney calls, you have your own little notes to kind of remind you so that you don't, you know, accidentally omit something. Do you find that, I'm trying to figure out ways so that people can, when they leave this, when they finish hearing this interview, that they are better equipped to respond and not react? I think that's where so many people get tripped up. They are freaking out.

They're amped up. But if you understand as caregivers and as family members in a situation like this, the goal is not for you to just get it contained one time. You're building a case. Unfortunately, you're prosecuting a case and you have to document.

You have to be prepared. You're not, it's not in a sense that it's personal that you want this person punished. You recognize that you're doing the best thing you can for this person by having boundaries. And they're not going to respond to your words. So that's why law enforcement is there.

And you can build this whole system here to be able to better care for this person, ultimately, in the long run. And even if they don't want the help, at least you've done everything you can do to not react to it, but to respond to it in a way that's healthy and gives you a sense of empowerment. How many times are you called out to the home when the person who calls feels so vulnerable, so weak, so unempowered?

versus empowered? Where they feel like they're taking some positive action? That's definitely true, because again, you know, there's obviously a level of frustration.

Again, it goes back to on both parts. Sometimes officers get frustrated. And that's why I tell people all the time, look, I know it's easy to say and it's hard to put into practice, but try your best not to get discouraged, not to get angry. And understand that the sooner that you can get it through your own mind, and everybody's different on how they process that, that this is a process that this does take time that, like it or not, this is the system that we have in place. It's not perfect, it's flawed, but it's what we have currently right now. So the sooner you can accept that, and learn to then play within that system and use it to your advantage, the better off you're going to be. So yes, clearly being frustrated, being angry, because those are natural human reactions to this kind of stuff. But in the long run, it's not going to help you to accomplish what you're trying to do. And that is generally helping someone that you that you love or care about.

Absolutely. We're talking with my friend Lance Basny. He is retired Seattle cop, 30 years on the job. We're going to talk a little bit more about some gun safety when we come back.

This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio.

Glad to have you with us. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. Hopeforthecaregiver.com, part of the journey of being caregivers in this country. We're finding out more and more, as we heard in the last segment, law enforcement's call to the home.

Whether it's somebody acting out from mental illness, from addiction, from alcohol, PTSD, whatever the issues are going on, there are many caregivers out there who do not feel safe. And I asked my friend Lance Basny to be here with us today to give us some thoughts. He has some suggestions, some insights.

He's learned from 30 years on the job in Seattle, and he brings a wealth of information. And as he said in the last block, it is frustrating. It's tedious. It's laborious. It is hard to do.

This is hard work. But ultimately, you are doing the right thing by building this case so that this person can get the help they need. And if they don't want to get that help, at least then you are getting that help you need, which is to have boundaries between you and that person. I am reminded of a woman that called one time and she talked and her brother had a record. And I don't know all the details of this. So Lance, I'm going to lean on you for this, but she said he had a firearm that he kept and he was abusive, even threatened her at times.

And he had a firearm. What are the rules of having a firearm when you have a record? Is it because of a felony record or is it misdemeanor?

What are the differences and what are the things that people ought to know? Well, and again, that, you know, that becomes a little bit of a trickier situation because you're dealing obviously with multiple jurisdictions, different state regulations and rules. So, you know, it's not always as easy to discuss that in detail. But in general, yes, if you are a felon, you cannot possess a firearm.

If you've been convicted of, and again, this is the vast majority of states and jurisdictions, you know, if you've been convicted of domestic violence abuse, you generally will lose your firearm rights and things of that nature. So those are the, you know, the main reasons why. And so that's something of great concern. Then if you have someone that you know is violent, that is, you know, having mental issues and they have a firearm or if they have been convicted or things of that nature, again, it's one of those things where it never hurts to just call.

Most people don't know what the rules and regulations are. Call and allow an officer to come and let them make that determination to say, hey, look, if they can take someone's firearm, they certainly will. If they're not able to, they can then let you know that and maybe even educate you on that local jurisdiction or that state law to say, here is the criteria that we use so that they can then, you know, know that for themselves. I think I can safely say that most police officers, in fact, all police officers would rather come to a call to give information and to assess than to come to a crime scene. Exactly. Look, that's why I keep bringing that point up. It's always good to call because if nothing else, you as the caller are then going to get educated.

You're going to expand your knowledge base just that much more, which then helps you to know what to look for so that you can understand and say, oh, yeah, I've seen this in the past, but I didn't realize that it was an issue that I should call on. Now you would know those kind of things. In this case where this woman called, her brother had a problem with drugs. I don't know that he was a convicted felon. I know that she said he spent time in jail. That could be for, you know, being locked up for DUI or whatever.

Who knows? But the point is, if there are narcotics involved and there's a firearm involved, we got two problems. That's something that you should be calling on regardless of their status as a firearm holder. I mean, again, if you have somebody actively using narcotics, storing narcotics, selling narcotics, if you have, and that where it goes back to that idea of documenting this, I've had several people that do that and they say, hey, I've got, you know, nowadays look at what the cell phones and the videos and the pictures and the recording cameras outside of your home, they show up and they'll say, hey, look here, I've got pictures of people coming and going.

I've got videos of transactions, you know, all those kinds of things. So again, yes, if you have someone that you suspect or know that is involved with narcotics, that in itself is a crime. That is something that the police need to be notified about. And then especially if you know this person to have firearms, that's a deadly combination that needs to be addressed regardless of any other mental issues or any other problems. Pivoting just a bit, a lot of people are finding themselves taking care of aging loved ones who have dementia, Alzheimer's and other cognitive impairments, and they were, they had firearms. But the spouse may not be familiar. A lot of times it's the woman taking care of her husband and she may not be as familiar. How uncomfortable or comfortable are law enforcement officers being called to the home to help secure weapons in a situation like that?

That actually happens quite a bit. I had a good friend of mine that owned a gun store and he would oftentimes buy firearms from those kinds of situations. Either it's adult children who come in and say, hey, I'm not going to come in and say, hey, I'm not into firearms, but you know, my dad had these rifles or guns, or it might be a widow or a widower that says, hey, we have these and I don't want them in the house. So that's another opportunity there where, again, call the police. They have methods of which with they can go then and retrieve those firearms and have them disposed. There are oftentimes, like I said, gun stores in the area that would be willing to buy those off of you.

So it's, yes, anytime you have someone that's uncomfortable with that situation, you want to figure out a way to rectify that. And there are definitely options. And again, you can contact your local law enforcement agency to find out what are the options in my area that are available to me. And you don't have to call 911 for that. All law enforcement agencies have a number to call when there's not a crisis. No, you can call any of your local precincts or your local sheriff's office or trooper station, something like that, and just call the direct line. When you're just looking for information, if you're not reporting any type of a crime or incident, that's a very way.

And then nowadays, like I said, you can probably even go on to your local agency's website and oftentimes they'll have information like that right on their own websites. Well, I had a family friend who was working two jobs while taking care of her husband with Alzheimer's. And he thought that she was cheating on him. And he met her at the door coming home from work and he's in the bathrobe, but he had a load of 38 pointed at her head. And that's the kind of thing where steps should have been taken long before that to secure all the firearms. If you notice anybody in your family like that, who's starting to have cognitive impairments for any reason, secure the weapons, put them in a place that is secure, you have safes. If you can't secure the weapon to where they don't have access, then absolutely the weapon should then be removed. And again, I'm not trying to advocate saying that people can't have weapons, but in those kinds of situations where you have legitimate documented mental health issues, then steps absolutely should be taken because you're putting yourself in peril then. That goes for alcoholics and addicts as well, because even though alcohol is legal and some drugs are legal, it doesn't matter. Even if they're on prescription drugs that are cognitively impairing, please remember these things. Because as Lance will testify, none of these guys want to come to a crime scene.

They don't want to come to this. And so let's be a little bit proactive and empower ourselves to be secure in our own homes. These are things that if we don't get a handle on, then we're going to end up having a tragic outcome. Lance, you've been to more than your share of tragic outcomes that you've had to go to. Oh, correct.

I wouldn't even know what kind of a number to put on that. And so any last thoughts you have on this, because what I started off this program today is talking about making healthy choices. People are always seeking happiness, but healthiness is a better path to do the healthy thing. The healthy thing is to secure the weapons. The healthy thing is to have this individual that's in your life that is causing all this drama to have a path for them to get better, or if they don't want to be removed from your immediate vicinity so that they're not causing you any more distress.

These are healthy decisions. Any last comments you have on this? Just under the whole auspice of this gun issue, because again, people are arming themselves to protect themselves, whether it be from family members that have issues or whether it's just bad neighborhoods and whatnot. I'm all for people arming themselves, and I will just say this, train, train, train.

Make sure that you are beyond familiar with your weapon and that you train regularly with it, because that's going to help keep you, the user, that much safer. I will share a story that will make you laugh, and then it'll make you probably want to slap me around a little bit, because I remember one time I had my wallet stolen out of my car in my driveway. I left it in my driveway in my car, but I just didn't think about it. Well, in the middle of the night, I get a heavy knock on the door, and I didn't know what it was.

The lights were all off. My dog was just absolutely going ballistic, and I come to the door, and I actually have a shotgun with me. Well, it was two police officers. It got a little tense for a second, then it settled down, and we figured out what's going on, and the police officer told me, he said, look, in the future, just be very, very careful coming to the door with a shotgun.

But I didn't see, they didn't have their lights on or anything like that, and so it was like, it was not a good seat. I learned a very valuable lesson that day of making sure that I did not present myself as a target or present myself as armed with entering the door. It goes back to that training and knowledge and understanding, right? You can't have too much of it. Well, those are great words to end this on, and please take to heart these thoughts that Lance has offered to us. These are valuable things that could help save you a lot of heartache in the future. I know that it's going to be tough to make these kinds of steps to protect yourself when you have somebody that's causing this much drama, and it may take a couple of weeks, several weeks, it may take even longer than that, maybe a couple of months, but it's worth it for you to be able to be safe, and by doing so, you are actually empowering yourself, okay? Get out of the victim mentality and start saying, you know what, I'm going to take charge of the situation as best as I can, and then as you do these things, understand you're not, you're not narking on them. I don't mean to use that word out of turn here, but you're not being a snitch. You're not doing something dastardly to them. You're actually caring for them well by protecting them from doing something. They may have a significant mental illness or impairment, okay? Let's not turn our homes into crime scenes.

Let's turn them into places where people can actually get the kind of help that they need. And Lance, I appreciate you being here with me today. I really do appreciate this.

Well, thank you. I appreciate it too, and happy to still be able to be of some kind of service. So anytime you need it, I'm here. You are my go-to guy for that, and 10 bucks is 10 bucks, Lance. So I'll take it. This is Peter Rosenberg, and this is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio.

This is Peter Rosenberger. This is the program for you as a family caregiver, Hopeforthecaregiver.com. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. And I hope you'll take advantage of some of the things we have to offer out at our website. You can join our Facebook group. I am the administrator for that group. I make sure that things don't go off the rails, and you can share whatever's on your heart there.

I'm thinking about starting a contest on our website, on the Facebook group. If you can give me the funniest caregiving story you have, it'll be subjective, but I'm going to give away a copy of my book for that. I'm looking for things that make us all laugh.

Don't get into all the personal details. Just if you've got something funny, share it, and I'm going to watch for that, and I just may pick one at random to send a copy of my book to. And I think we need to make each other laugh, and I think that's part of our healthy journey. Today we've been talking about healthiness. There is a time for laughter. We have plenty of time for tears as caregivers, but scripture says there's a time for laughter.

Do you take time for that? One of the things I try to do on this program is say things that are going to hopefully make you laugh, light your heart a little bit to recognize that others have been here too. Some of us are still there, and we've lived to laugh about it. You know, it's okay. We know that it's tough.

I live it. But what good is it going to be for me to walk around just woe is me and just a big victim or mad about this? I've done that. It's exhausting to stay that angry and resentful. Been there, done that.

Got the t-shirt. Don't want to do that. So I hope you'll take some of the things to heart that we've talked about today of healthiness. It's not healthy for you to stay angry.

Do you know what that does to your body for you to stay churned up and anxious? That's what scripture says. Be not anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication, make your request known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your mind and your hearts in Christ Jesus. That's a great scripture to hang on to as a caregiver.

I mean, all scripture is great, but you know what I mean. So hang on to these things. Part of the journey towards healthiness is you're going to have to cry out some things. You're going to have to accept some things. Acceptance doesn't mean agreement. Okay.

Can you hear me on that one? Acceptance does not mean you agree with what's happening, that you even like it, but you accept it. Now we can have a real conversation, but as long as you're refusing to accept it, we're not anywhere near this path of healthiness. You know, there are certain things physically that we can accept. We just simply can't be in denial about it.

And I look at Gracie's situation as she walked through losing her legs. You have to accept that reality and move on. You can't stay angry about it and deny that your legs are gone. You have to deal with that reality. It may still hurt and it may hurt for a long time and you may grieve over it, but you have to look down and realize something's gone. Well, how is that any different with matters of the heart? It's a little harder to see, a little less visible, but it's still very, very much real that we have to accept certain losses. Certain relationships are going to be damaged and fractured and may not get repaired this side of heaven. Certain choices are going to be made by people that are going to have horrific consequences. And, you know, my father always said, God forgives instantly.

Man takes a while. Nature never does. And so there are things that are just not going to change.

Things are set in motion. And God gives us the grace to be able to deal with that, the wisdom and the patience and the comfort to deal with those things. But they're not going to go away. That reality is here. A friend of mine I was talking with this week, and his wife has significant issues and they just have to accept this is where we are. And she's behaving in a way that is very tiresome to him, asking him repeated questions all the time, talking about things that happened 30 years ago and that person's dead and wanting to engage with that person. Well, he can't deny that this is happening. He accepts it. Doesn't have to agree with it.

Doesn't have to like it. This is what it is. Okay. Now we can have a better conversation because as long as he is clenched up with rage and resentment, there's no amount of healing that can happen.

There's no amount of growth and peace that can come in because that space is all filled up with anger and resentment. Ask me how I know this. Because I live it. And this is my journey. And it took me a lot longer than it takes most people. I'm a slow learner. And I still don't know that I own it.

I'm just learning it. But it is exhausting to stay this way. And exhausted caregivers don't make good caregivers. And Jesus said, come unto me, all you are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. How many of you all really want rest right now? What does that look like to you? See, rest and sleep are two different things.

You've heard me talk about this on this program. We can get sleep, but that doesn't mean we're resting. You know that hymn, Jesus, I am resting, resting.

Let me go over the caregiver keyboard here. Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art. I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart. It's just a wonderful hymn written. The text was written back in 1876, and then it was updated by, oh, y'all let me know.

I forget. No disrespect to whoever wrote that new tune with it. But it's a wonderful hymn to remember as caregivers what resting looks like. And again, I started off the program talking about healthiness because so many people are trying to be happy. What does happiness even look like? And I think when we boil it down, what we really want is to be settled. We want to be at peace with ourselves, with others, and with God.

Well, that's not going to happen from anything in this world. You're not going to be at peace with God from anything you do in this world. We can be at peace with God because He has made a way. And once we realize that, then that bleeds out into every other part of our lives, that we can rest in that. So even as a caregiver, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art, knowing that for this season, and this season may go on for a lifetime, it has for us, but He has invited us to trust Him in this broken place and to rest in His goodness, even when we can't understand it. He didn't ask us to like it.

He didn't ask us to agree. He asked us to accept His provision in the midst of these things and to rest in His goodness, that in His kingdom, this makes sense. That's learning to be at peace, and it's not a one-and-done thing. It's going to have to be worked on for the rest of my life, for sure.

I don't see me owning this until I step into glory. But I would like to think that I'm making some progress at this and trusting Him more. The more that I walk with Him, the greater my trust grows for Him. Now, please understand that as you are staying, that as this journey progresses, we may see an increasing number of things that cause our hearts to break. That's kind of part of it, because this world is broken. If we're being conformed to Christ, then we're going to reflect His sadness for this broken world as well.

He was a man acquainted with sorrows and grief, Isaiah said. And I think I can make a solid biblical case that part of the sharing in the sufferings of Christ means to see this broken world for what it is and to grieve over it. But we also rejoice with those who rejoice as we grieve with those who grieve.

And that's part of it. But again, that's learning to be at peace with what's going on around you, recognizing that I have a Savior, you have a Savior, and we're not that Savior. That is the first step towards healthiness, is to recognize that we have a Savior, and we're not that Savior. And we can be at peace with this, even if we have to make the call to law enforcement, because a loved one is acting out dangerously. We could still be at peace with this. We may be weeping as we do it, but recognizing that even that loved one in that uncontrollable situation has a Savior, and you're not that Savior.

I'm not that Savior. And we may have to make the hard decisions, but as we make the hard decisions, we can be at peace with that, knowing that we're not making them in a vacuum. We can say, Jesus, I am resting and resting in the joy of what thou art. I'm finding out the greatness of thy loving heart that extends even into those situations. It's very important for us to understand these things. This is a very important thing.

This is what it looks like to dig a description, to see these things, and all of a sudden it starts leaping off the page. You realize, I'm in a great company of people who have cried out to God in their distress and reminded themselves of the greatness of God so that they are not obliterated by their despair, but instead run to this Jesus and say, okay, look, I don't trust you in this, but I trust you in it, and I'm going to rest in your provision in this, and I'm going to make the call, whether it's to law enforcement, whether it's to the doctor, whether it's for you to be able to see your own doctor, whatever it is you're going to do, whatever you do, do it resting in Christ, that He is already there waiting for you in it, to meet you in it, even as the tears flow, even as the weariness overtakes you, there is rest in those places. That's what it means. Come unto me, all you're weary and heavy laden, and I would suggest to you that caregivers understand the concept of weary and heavy laden, wouldn't you? And this is the journey of faith that He has invited us to pursue. That is the first step towards healthiness, is trusting in a great Savior. Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. Today's a great day to start.

What's another healthy thing that you can do right now, as soon as this program ends, something you can do that's healthy? This is Hope for the Caregiver. Hopeforthecaregiver.com.

We'll see you next time. You've heard me talk about standing with hope over the years. This is the prosthetic limb ministry that Gracie envisioned after losing both of her legs. Part of that outreach is our prosthetic limb recycling program. Did you know that prosthetic limbs can be recycled?

No kidding. There is a correctional facility in Arizona that helps us recycle prosthetic limbs, and this facility is run by a group out of Nashville called CoreCivic. We met them over 11 years ago, and they stepped in to help us with this recycling program of taking prostheses, and you disassemble them. You take the knee, the foot, the pylon, the tube clamps, the adapters, the screws, the liners, the prosthetic socks, all these things we can reuse and inmates help us do it. Before CoreCivic came along, I was sitting on the floor at our house or out in the garage when we lived in Nashville, and I had tools everywhere, limbs everywhere, and feet, boxes of them and so forth.

I was doing all this myself, and I'd make the kids help me, and it got to be too much for me. And so I was very grateful that CoreCivic stepped up and said, look, we are always looking for faith-based programs that are interesting and that give inmates a sense of satisfaction, and we'd love to be a part of this, and that's what they're doing. And you can see more about that at standingwithhope.com slash recycle. So please help us get the word out that we do recycle prosthetic limbs. We do arms as well, but the majority of amputations are lower limb, and that's where the focus of Standing With Hope is. That's where Gracie's life is with her lower limb prostheses. And she's used some of her own limbs in this outreach that she's recycled.

Obviously, she's been an amputee for over 30 years, so you go through a lot of legs and parts and other types of materials, and you can reuse prosthetic socks and liners if they're in good shape. All of this helps give the gift that keeps on walking, and it goes to this prison in Arizona, where it's such an extraordinary ministry. Thank God it's not where it's such an extraordinary ministry.

Think with that. Inmates volunteering for this. They want to do it, and they've had amazing times with it, and I've had very moving conversation with the inmates that work in this program. And you can see, again, all of that at standingwithhope.com slash recycle. They're putting together a big shipment right now for us to ship over. We do this pretty regularly throughout the year as inventory rises, and they need it badly in Ghana. So please go out to standingwithhope.com slash recycle and get the word out and help us do more. If you want to offset some of the shipping, you can always go to the giving page and be a part of what we're doing there.

We're purchasing material in Ghana that they have to use that can't be recycled. We're shipping over stuff that can be, and we're doing all of this to lift others up and to point them to Christ. And that's the whole purpose of everything that we do, and that is why Gracie and I continue to be standing with hope. Standingwithhope.com.