Stop Chasing Rockets

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If you want to be on the program and we'll get to your calls on that, but I want to start with something that's been sitting with me all week. Do you? Do you find that you see life lessons in a lot of different things? You're just kind of going about your business. All of a sudden, you hear something.

Oh, you know, that's kind of interesting. And I had that. Last week when I was watching the um Press briefing with Journal Raising Cane, and I wrote an article about it in Blaze. It's out this weekend if you want to see it. And it's called a tactically complex environment.

When they asked him about the streets of Hormuz, and I talked about that a little bit. Before, and also, and I wrote about it, and you can go see that. Actually, the best place to see it is at my Substack page, caregiver.substack. not my sub stack page, but just my substack, but caregiver.substack.com. And and I talked about how life is a tactically complex environment, particularly when you're a caregiver like I am and so forth.

But then I heard another one and I saw another principle being modeled. I wanted to run that by you. I was watching the real time updates from Operation Epic Fury. And one simple lesson kept coming through. Don't chase the rockets.

Find the launcher.

Now think about that for just a moment. For years the military has built up incredibly sophisticated defense systems. Israel's got it, they got the iron dome and so forth because all these rockets kept coming over from Iran, and one of the things that Iran wanted to do was have so many conventional weapons that it would be impossible to attack them. And it would give them then the opportunity to build the nuclear weapons. That's what their goal was.

That's why they have all these drones and so forth. And they were building this shield of this. And you know, we they would send rockets over and then you'd have interceptors like Patriot missiles and so forth that would go and intercept those rockets and the threat was neutralized, lives protected, and that matters. But every Soldier knows that's not how you win. You don't win by chasing rockets.

You win by finding the launcher. You stop the source and you stop everything that follows. And I've been watching all these launchers. As soon as a rocket, for example, was launched, We had Pinpoint Precision weapons that would find where that thing came from and track the trajectory of it, and then would send a missile right into wherever this thing came from. Boom, rocket launcher's gone.

Defense buys you the time, but offense ends the fight. That thing's not going to send any more rockets. And I thought, that's not just a military strategy. You know? Uh you can see that In everyday life.

For example, and we just saw this on the Oscars. I know a lot of you watch the Oscars. Yeah. I haven't watched the Oscars in years. Used to be entertaining, but not anymore.

But every every year at the Oscars celebrities step up to the microphone and they lecture half the country. And the clips go viral and the commentators pile on and the social media lights up. But none of that is accidental. the speech is designed to provoke. And for years it worked.

Millions of people rushed to respond, argue, repost, fire back rocket after rocket after rocket. You see the correlation, but something has changed. People have started to recognize the pattern. The speech drops and the outrage is you know, it's still there, but more and more Americans are just not taking the bait. The rockets are still flying, but they don't land like they used to because Something's happened with the launchers.

I saw a clip this week of Ben Stiller. You know the actor Ben Stiller? And he was standing at a grocery store promoting his new soda brand, and there he was in the beverage aisle, talking it up. But people were Pushing their carts right past him. I mean, it was a major.

Movie star. And people weren't stopping. They weren't engaging. I mean, some were, but there was there were several clips going around that kind of trended around, and he's just standing there trying to sell, and nobody's paying any attention to him. They didn't stop, they didn't engage, He didn't care.

And I thought, that's it. That's what happens when the rockets stop landing because. You know For years Ben Other people were firing political rockets at half the country. But now Now they're trying to sell something to the same people they lectured, and it turns out they're not buying. You know, you remember Michael Jordan famously said this.

And he he stayed out of politics. And he said Well, Republicans buy sneakers too. Simple. You know? I mean, there there it is.

I had Jay Leno on my show. I interviewed him a while back and I remember him talking about this, and he would look at other stand up comedians. He said, Why would you alienate half the country right off the bat? Just be funny. Just you know, give people something to...

To laugh about and have a good time with, and you don't have to insert your personal beliefs into everything you do. Just have a good time. Stop launching the rockets. But a lot of them can't. This day and age.

They just can't do it. You know, I remember um Barry Manelow. I mean, I know I'm bringing a name way out of the past, but he He said, all the time, he said, I can't cure cancer, but I can make you forget about it for an hour and a half. And I thought that's that's a healthy way for a performer to to approach what they do. You know, if you go to Bruce Springsteen now, you can expect to get lectured to.

You'll pay a whole lot of money, and you're going to get lectured to. Do people want that? Do they want those kinds of rockets coming at them? I don't think they do. And most of what we argue about in this country, the viral eclipse, the outrage and all the cultural explosions You know, that's really not the source, though, is it?

They're the rockets. The real issue is deeper. Ideas formed in classrooms. Reinforced by institutions uh uh absorbed you know, over time Those are the launchers, and some people have figured this out instead of reacting to every headline. Maybe just go upstream and see where those ideas are actually coming from.

Campuses, classrooms, some churches, places where minds are shaped before. the the opinions go viral. Because if you deal with the launcher, you don't have to spend so much time chasing rockets. There's an old saying. You know it.

Best defense is a what? It's a good offense. That goes back I don't know, into antiquity. At least the 1960s. inter intercepting rockets.

uh protects you today. But if you eliminate the launcher, It protects you tomorrow. but removing the ability to keep attacking in the first place.

Now, why am I telling you this? Because the principle I saw in this, when you look at scripture, Something even bigger.

Something we as believers would do well to recognize immediately. Do you ever notice that God doesn't play defense? Think about that. Have you ever thought about that? God doesn't play defense.

Truth advances. Throughout Scripture truth advances. Light pushes back darkness. Jesus came into the world. But he said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

The gates of hell are stationary. That's what gates are. walk around carrying gates. The church is mobilized and moving and advancing Gates don't move. They're not attacking anything.

They're being stormed. And so as I watched all this with epic fury, I thought maybe the lesson's just simpler. Stop chasing every outreach. Stop reacting to every headline. Stop firing back at every rocket.

Lift your eyes. Find the launcher.

Deal with that. And everything else starts to change.

Now Let me go a little bit deeper. It's a lot easier to complain about the rockets. than it is to confront the launcher. You ever notice that? And I thought about all these defense systems that people have: iron domes, and we're going to have this, and you.

You know, I don't know if Trump wants to build the golden dome. It's going to be a beautiful golden dome. I don't know. But the more defense shields you have, somebody's getting rich selling these things. As opposed to let's confront the issue.

But are we afraid to? Are there things in your life? You got a family member that is constantly launching stuff at you. And do you get hooked into that, at your work, in a caregiving situation, at your church, in the culture around you? Are we chasing surface problems?

while ignoring the real source. What do you think? 866? 34 TRUTH 866-348 78, 84. I'd like to hear what you think.

Do you think God plays defense? It's an interesting question, isn't it? We'll be back in a minute. This is Truth Talk Live. Don't go away.

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you today, 866. thirty four truth eight six six three four eight seventy eight.

8486634 truth. I'm talking about something simple, but it's not necessarily easy.

Sometimes simple things are, or we have clarity, but we don't, it does require a good bit of effort. And that's this whole concept I've been watching in Epic Fury of the way we're taking out the rocket launchers and so forth on what's going on. You've seen all this on the news. Whether you agree with this or not, I'm just looking at the principle. And last week, I was struck by General Keane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And they asked him about the Straits of Hormuz, and he said something very simple. It's a tactically complex environment. And I and I wrote about that. You can see that at caregiver.substack.com. And I love these military principles that take very, very.

complex circumstances, but they distill it down Yeah. Absolute clarity. And It when we're dealing with Life. That's what we need. We need that clarity.

And I go back to Scripture. Thy word is what? a lamp unto my feet. and a light into my path, that we don't have clarity. four, six miles sometimes.

Most of the time, we just have it one step at a time, but we have that clarity, that light. That's what light is. It gives you understanding of what's the next right thing to do. And in today's conversation, I was struck by you know, the whole thing of the way we're going after. We're not just defending it against these rockets.

You saw, you know, after Midnight Hammer and so forth, there was a lot of rockets being sent out from Iran. And heading towards Israel, and they had all these various um Defense mechanisms in place.

Some of it came about after 9-11, some of it with the Patriot missiles and all those kinds of things. And that's great. But how long can you play defence? How how long can that go on? Think about it in your life.

How long can you just get lob after lob after lob from somebody who is just. wearing you out. before you go on offense. Remember that story about Paul when that demon-possessed woman was chasing him around? And finally, Paul just had enough.

and confronted the spirit that was in her and of course he got arrested for it. He paid a physical price for it. I don't think he regretted it. Um But he he he didn't play defense with her anymore. He just he he he took the bull by the horns.

and dealt with it. And I've noticed throughout Scripture God doesn't play defence. How could he be God and play defense? Have you ever thought about that? Because as you deal with unpleasantries in your life, as you deal with difficult things, you're saying, Lord, I don't understand.

I'm struggling with this. I'm having a hard time with this. But do you ever stop and think, step back for a minute a minute, and realize that God. knew this was going to happen. In fact, he's been waiting for you in it.

So, that you don't have to play defense. You don't have to deal with all the rockets. You can instead turn into this and confront the main issue. of what's coming at you.

Sometimes it's a spiritual attack.

Sometimes it's something in us that we need to deal with, and we need to be assertive and deal with it. In our own life. All right, it's uncomfortable, but we're going to need to do it. But chasing all the rockets And I know family members that deal with this all the time. They got one particular family member that's just wearing them out.

and saying catty things and and demoralizing and all these kinds of things. And they just keep taking it and taking it. And a lot of that comes in situations where, and when they call into my radio show for caregivers. They got a family member who is abusive. to them, but they're having to take care of them.

An aging parent, and they're saying.

Well, scripture says I'm supposed to honor my mother and father. And it does say that. Does it say you honor alcoholism? Does it say you honor Alzheimer's.

So, what's going on here?

So, if you have somebody that's in dementia and they keep saying abusive and all those kinds of things to you, do you honor that person by just. Taking it? Or by learning how to confront that and deal with it in a more appropriate manner, particularly with alcoholism. I'll give you an example. I had a guy call into my show some time ago, and his father was a.

uh pretty committed alcoholic. and he'd been abusive to him when he was a young boy. And now he's 50-something years old. He's got a couple of kids. And his father had an accident, fell, broke his leg, or something happened with his leg, and he's needing a lot of care.

And he's still drinking and he's still abusive. And he said, every time I'm around him, I feel like I'm 11 years old. He said, But I'm supposed to honor my father. What would you say in a situation like that? Was he, you know, does he just sit there and just take it?

And I told him, I said, Well, your family needs you to be 51. Not eleven. You have a wife and three kids. Who best serves them, eleven year old cowering with his father? Playing defense against this man who is not going to stop launching rockets.

Or fifty one year old who says to his father, Look, This is inappropriate. You've made choices. I hurt with you for some of your choices, but I'm not going to accept this anymore. And I look at this thing with Iran. I mean, they've been saying death to America for 46 years.

They have put money to this. They have actually put blood to this. They've done all this thing. At some point, we just take them at their word. This is what they want to do.

And and w do we do we just keep doing it? I mean, this is a master class on what doesn't work to appease these people for 46 years. What's the solution? What do we do? Do we do it do I mean, if they had a nuclear weapon, do you think they would use it?

They say they would. Do you take them at their word? That this is who they are, and this is what they want to do, and then you confront the issue, or do you just keep playing defense? How does that work? And and you could whether it's dealing with a aging parent like this guy did?

or whether you're dealing with an adversary or whether you're dealing with business.

So if we're at some point we have to stop chasing the rockets. Do you find that you do that? Do you find that they That you just take it and take it well, I'm supposed to just turn the other cheek. Is that what that means? Or do we confront the issue?

Doesn't mean we have to be combative.

Sometimes it requires that in a military term, but it doesn't mean in relationships.

Sometimes it can just be In a situation where we stand up and say, Look, this is not. This is not appropriate anymore. We don't need to be doing this. And this has to stop right now, and I'm not going to participate in this. I'm not going to allow this in my life any more.

Do you find that? In your case, have you had to do this? Or used to chasing rockets. Once we learn that we don't have to keep chasing the rockets. we can deal with the rocket launcher.

We don't have to just keep taking it and come up with a better way to have a defensive Missile shield, if you will. An emotional one. We can stand up inside now. This is not acceptable any more. And I bet a lot of you understand that, particularly when it comes to some family dynamics.

We've all been there. where you just have to lay down some boundaries. And there are marriages the same way. When finally there's enough enough is enough is enough And somebody is just bent on hurting someone else. And you keep taking it and you try to have a defensive shield about it, but it doesn't work.

And you have to you have to take hard steps.

Sometimes, even law enforcement has to be called in. And it's those points Were we have an opportunity to see a bigger picture. To say, you know what, is this honoring someone? to allow this kind of behavior? Is this a good thing?

Is this something that honors God? 866 34 TRUTH 866-348. 7884 if you want to weigh in on that. Are you chasing rockets? Or have you found a couple of rocket launchers you could take out?

Hmm, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. This is Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger, and we'll be right back. Why? No.

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. We're talking about missile defense or rocket launchers.

Which one do we go after? Do we defend against all the missiles? Which is important to do, but is that... The focus of everything we do, or do we go after where the missiles are coming from? Do we confront the core issue?

And I saw the principle during this thing with Epic Fury. And I just want to see: can that same principle be extrapolated into our daily life? Maybe many of you get. missiles lobbed at you from people that that have been A source of great pain to you, probably for a long time. Maybe it's a co-worker.

Maybe it's A parent that you're taking care of. Maybe it's somebody in your family that's got addictions or alcohol issues. There's so many different scenarios. Are you playing defense all the time? What do you think?

Or have you learned to say, I'm going to go find where this thing is coming? I'm going to confront it at the root cause. And what were some things that you did? 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348. 7884 Cindy In Ohio, Greenville, Ohio.

Cindy, welcome to the program. Thank you for calling. What do you know? Hi, thank you. Yes, I just was catching the end of the program while I was in my vehicle.

I actually just left from picking up a police report. Because I heard what you said, sometimes we have to involve the authorities in this and You know, a lot of times people think, well, if you're a Christian, you know, the Bible tells us not to take one another to court and things like that. But when it comes to abuse, And when it comes to verbally being attacked and physically attacked and things like that, we are not to take that because God is love. And if we just continue to accept that in our lives, Then that that's not Doing a loving thing to that person because we are softening their rock bottom. And love actually allows consequence And we're supposed to go to our brother.

I mean, Matthew eighteen tells us that go to your brother and And if they still won't listen, then you take two or three witnesses, and if they still don't, Then you tell it to the church. And I'm currently dealing with a daughter who is in recovery. She's struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction. And I've walked through the hell, the fiery hell. with her in this past four years since she had gotten out of drug rehab.

And it's just continually the same thing over and over. And now She has become uh verbally abusive and Um just very um She's got kind of a spirit of homicide on her. Um wanting to threaten her uh probation officer and things like that. And there comes a point in time when We have to say enough is enough. You know, that's, I mean, I really am glad you called about this.

This is a hard place to stand as a mom, isn't it? It's a really hard thing. You can love your daughter, but you still tell the truth about what's happening. And this is happening. Uh and and I I'm uh it your daughter is not in recovery, I assume, right now.

Well, she is in recovery, but she had a recent relapse, and it seems could have really spiraled out of control with some uh mental Health issues. And you know I've come to the the conclusion through lots of prayer, lots of reaching out to other people. Um that it's time for me to walk away and pray for her and stop trying to fix her And that's part of the problem. When we think we can fix that person, We can't fix that person. Only God can do that.

That's God's job. And if we try to do that on our own, that's codependency. And we're going to fail every time, and it's going to actually make us sick. Are you um Are you comfortable and you don't have to, by the way, but but are you comfortable saying what led to the police report?

Well, yeah, I am. I was giving her a ride to drop her off. at the hospital 'cause she had injured herself. Um There was an injury to her hand. And um She just started cussing and screaming at me because I told her I didn't allow her friend to to smoke in the back seat of my vehicle.

And she told me that was rude, but she used a lot of colorful language. And then conti and then continued to just verbally abuse me. while yelling and screaming while I was trying to drive. And I started shaking, my hands started sweating, I felt threatened, and I had to pull off into a gas station and ask her. kindly to please get out of the vehicle.

Um And for me, that was That was just the tipping point. because in the past, when she was under the influence She has attacked me from behind, and I consequently ended up in the hospital with a mild concussion. And granted, it was about three years ago, but since her relapse, I see the same behavior. And so I was. Really afraid she was going to attack me, and it was unsafe for me to drive at that point in time.

And that isn't disorderly conduct. Are you sure? Are you pretty comfortable landing on the fact that you did the right thing? I'm very comfortable with it because It could save Her life. It could save her life if she continues going down the route that she's going.

Um She could die. If you do that to the wrong person, They could harm you. Um consequences Are a loving thing. It's not nothing that I did, it was a choice that she made.

Well, I heard this quote this morning, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Sometimes the best expression of grace. is boundaries. I agree. I agree. We have to have boundaries.

And it's okay that I said, no, I don't allow anyone to smoke in the back seat there. And um Or verbally abuse you while you're driving. Yes. You mean you're driving a you know a 4,000 pound weapon. Give or take.

Exactly. And that thing, if you're distracted with that, it's going to harm you, her, the back seat. Passenger and possibly other people. I mean, it could happen in an instant. And you did the courageous thing.

You dealt with, you know, she's going to keep throwing rocks, like we talked about, she's going to keep throwing rockets. You dealt with the launcher and the launcher is sitting out The car now, and you drive on your way.

Now, it may come with tears. And this is a very painful place for you as a mom. There is no doubt. I don't know if you know this or not, but. One of the things I talk about on my show for caregivers and in my books and everything else that I do, I have, to my knowledge, I'm the only one that has any kind of.

national platform that does this. I have identified family members of alcoholics and addicts as family caregivers. It is a chronic impairment. And I've had more alcoholic and addict. Family members that have come up and say, you know, look, you're absolutely right, and they are at their wits' end.

And it is a horrific process. And what you're going through, Cindy, is extremely painful. But it took a lot of courage for you to not just keep taking the rockets from her, put her out of the car. Here's the three things that's going to happen with an addict. Three things, there's three possible avenues for an addict or an alcoholic.

They're either number one. They're going to sober up. Or number two, they're going to get locked up. Or number three, they're going to get covered up. They're going to get sober, they're going to go to jail, or they're going to die.

Those are the only three outcomes. You walk in sobriety or you get locked up or you get take it to the cemetery. Because it this disease will consume them. And until she deals with it, she's never going to be able to have a normal relationship with you or anybody else. But that doesn't mean you got to be her punching bag.

And you've had to learn that the painful way, haven't you? I have. These past four years has been very painful. I've wrestled with it, but I've prayed about it, and God told me it is time to walk away because I have been, He showed me that I've been softening her rock bottom. Indeed, and this is what happens in family members with addicts and alcoholics.

There's an enabling factor that comes in, and you're standing in the way of them hitting. The bottom because one of the things that will happen with her, I mean, it's very difficult to cry out for a savior that you don't think you need. Right. And until she understands that she is out of control and she needs a recovery program. with every fiber in her.

She's never going to do it as long as she has any kind of buffer. And as painful it is, As it is, you have done the right thing.

Now, what are you doing for you to support you in this? Are you going to any type of Al-Adon group or any type of recovery group or counseling or anything yourself? My friend has invited me to some Al-Anon meetings, and I will be attending. One coming up next week, and she's thinking about starting an Al-Anon here in Greenville, Ohio, and she asked me to pray about that. And I think that would be a wonderful Meeting for the community, and I do have.

I'm in recovery myself, and I have nine years clean and sober by the grace of God, and so. I've been on both ends of it. I know what she's feeling. I know what she's going through. And I know what I needed.

And it wasn't until people stopped enabling me and I got the harsh consequence that I decided my way wasn't working, and I gave my will over to the will of Jesus Christ.

So I have a recovery community that supports me.

Well, first off, congratulations on that. That's an amazing thing that you've done. And as you watch her going down the same spiral that you did, Cindy, I know this is painful. I could just hear it in your heart. And I think I could speak for people all over that are listening to this: that we hurt with you.

We see the magnitude of what you're carrying. I don't understand it personally because I can't feel your pain anymore than you can feel mine. But what I can do is respect how difficult this must be for you. But I would also encourage you to go for that Al-Anon group, do that counseling. Do you have a good pastor?

I do. I have the best pastor. He's wonderful, Pastor Jeff Harper, and he's very hands-on. And there's a couple of other pastors, and they do counseling. And I couldn't say anything even, I mean, Wonderful.

They're just wonderful people.

So, yeah, I have a huge network. Take advantage of that. Immerse yourself in the things of God. One of the things, and I talked about this, I believe his last program, last week, or in the not too distant past. The best way to deal with all the confusion.

that comes at you through this type of thing. is to immerse yourself into the Word of God. Immerse yourself into it. Just consume it. Go into the Psalms and weep with it.

And you know what? We weep with you and we rejoice with you. You are making enormous steps, Cindy. And I can't tell you how amazed and how proud I am just to be able to talk to you.

Well done. It's going to be tough. God bless you. And thank you so much. You're welcome.

You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you today, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. I'm sorry, we got cut off with Cindy, who was talking about what's going on with her daughter.

Cindy, please forgive me for that. We went up against a hardbreak, and I apologize profusely for that. And you are welcome to call back anytime. And I hope you will to keep us apprised of your progress and what's going on and the things that you're learning through it. It's a huge.

A huge issue that is affecting so many families. And think about the courage it took for her to tell her daughter, get out of the car. and whoever is behind her. But it's not safe. It's not safe.

God has not called you to be a punching pack. And the best thing you can do is step away from somebody who is determined to self-destruct until they get to the point where they look up and say, God help me when they come to themselves as the prodigal son did while he was feeding pigs. And the best thing you can do It stepped back and let the full weight of their sin under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, Fill their mind.

so that they understand it's time for them. to bend the knee and say I need help. And sometimes law enforcement does have to be called in. And I know a lot of cops who will tell you that some of the most dangerous calls they go to are domestic violence calls with family situations because it's so unpredictable. And if cops recognize how dangerous it is and they're armed and they're trained, how much more?

For a mom. How much more? For a single mom. And so If you know somebody like this, Do not. Do not.

Turn away. There are a lot of Cindy's out there. And Cindy, if you're able to keep listening. Please understand, you call in every week if you want to and give us an update. Things you're learning, things that you're learning from Scripture that sustain you because there are a lot of people out there dealing with this.

And your bravery is is something extraordinary. This is what I'm talking about. We're dealing with we're playing defense all the time when all these rockets come at us. But if we deal and confront the rocket launcher, we're not going to have to deal with those rockets anymore. And she did that.

It was painful. It was scary. It was risky. But she did it. She asked her own daughter to get out of the car.

and her friend with her. And she drove away. And she, and I, you know, that drive came with tears. You know it did. And it doesn't mean it won't.

But doing the right thing Doing the appropriate thing. Is not something we just spike the football with sometimes.

Sometimes it comes with groaning. And that's the hard news. But let me tell you some good news. The scripture groans with us. It says the Holy Spirit is groaning.

On our behalf. All creation is groaning. But the Spirit groans on our behalf, and we have a great intercessor. who is pleading for not only Cindy, but also for this daughter. Before the throne.

Think about that. We have a great intercessor. Who was doing that for us? And so I would ask all of you, as you've listened to this Sydney story, pray for her. Pray for her.

Let your prayers join with her Saviour's prayers as he's praying before the throne, interceding on her behalf. and lift up this family. and there are a lot of em like this. And it's incumbent on us as believers to start seeing these things. Look up, lift up your heads, open your eyes, see these.

these these families that are being torn apart by things like this. This is what I'm talking about. We play defense all the time. We just don't want to deal with the missiles. We want to keep them away so we can just live our life.

No, let's go after the launchers. And let's deal with this. And let's apply the great offense. of the church and storm the gates of hell. The gates of hell are stationary the church is not.

And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 28, go. He said, go. into all the world. Go, preach, make disciples, teach people. The best thing Sindy can do is immerse herself in the Word of God.

and and let it be in her D and A.

So that she is not pulled in all these different directions. Because I'm telling you, there's nothing like addiction to muddy the water. It will obfuscate everything. And unless you have the clarity. Of the mind of Christ, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus.

Now, do you see? Do you see the stakes here? This is not just a radio show on a Wednesday afternoon. People's lives are. in train wrecks.

And if we don't go, and apply the very Word of God to this. Who's in line behind us to do it? And what is our responsibility here? This is what I'm talking about. Mike in Dayton, Ohio.

Mike. What do you know? Welcome to the program and what do you know? You know, Second Corinthians 1.4, do you know that verse? Not off the top of my head in the Greek.

Not off the top of my head in the Greek, Mike. That's okay.

Okay, I'll I'll I'll quote it in the um international version. Who comforts us? Comfort one another with all the same comfort that we ourselves have received from the God of all comfort. Is that it? Yeah, that's it.

Yeah. Oh, beautiful. Love that verse. I love that verse too, and that's what you just did. You comfort her and I'm will be praying for her, that's for sure.

Indeed, you know. Yeah, um And then you comfort me too. And since you speak fluent caregiver, I do it too. And I'm getting ready to my father's getting ready to move into my uh house. And I think I've been playing defense by getting it ready.

for him to move in, like making a walk-in shower. Putting cowboys up. But I realize I'm playing offense. I'm not letting troubles happen before they happen. And if that's how you feel, I mean, I'd like to say that.

That's a practical approach. I'm more talking about the trauma that's coming. I wrote an article about this not too terribly long ago. When it comes to moving your parents in with you, start with the toilet. Start with the toilet.

Because if that person that you're taking care of can't properly and safely get to the toilet as a caregiver, you know what kind of day you're going to have. I mean, it's just, I had to buy, we got a horse out here who's got some sand in his gut. And so we had to go down there, and the vet wants me to help flush this out. We're working with him because somehow he got a bunch of sand in his gut. And so I got 40 pounds of horse laxative the other day.

If you get 40 pounds of horse laxative, you know what kind of day you're going to have. And I told Hank, his name is Hank, the horse, I said, I'll stand beside you, but I won't stand behind you. And so you you um but the same thing with the toilet as a caregiver. You're you're you're Thinking ahead, you're being proactive to find a place that your father or your parents or whoever it is that can get to the bathroom facilities. You start with the toilet.

If the toilet is accessible, And safe to use with plenty of bars and so forth. Then you go to the shower. Then you go to how do they get, you know, from there and there, and all the way out to the entrance of the house. And that's the way you do it. If they can't get to the toilet, I promise you, you're going to have some challenges as a caregiver.

And so, and then the second thing is the shower. And if they're not safe in that shower, I promise you, you're going to have some challenges. I just finished building, remodeling, and building a whole wing here for Gracie for my wife to make sure she had the most handicap-accessible house in our county, I think. I mean, I came down here every day while they were working on it, and I got in one of her wheelchairs and went through the entire addition there to make sure she could navigate this. And so it, but it's not the same principle as what I'm talking about with the rockets coming at you.

I'm talking about people who are trying to harm you. Your parents aren't trying to harm you, they're just going to live. But you're trying to honor them and make sure that they have the dignity and so forth to do that. And that's very admirable. Um in in the the contrast with with Cindy Her daughter's trying to harm her because her daughter is in the grips of this terrible disease known as addiction.

And that d that disease will take everything down with it. And I don't know what's going on with your parents, but if it's just age and they're getting frail, it's one thing. But if they have dementia or Alzheimer's or things like that, the disease will come at you. And you've got to learn how to deal with that and navigate through that. And that's another show, and we can talk about that at another time.

But you're doing a great job on that with Mike and making sure that just get lots of handicap bars. Make sure the doorways are wide enough. Uh for a walker, for a wheelchair, uh throw rugs, get them r get rid of them, carpet. I hate carpet, Mike. I do.

I really do. I'm sorry to all the carpet manufacturers and salespeople, but when you're dealing with prosthetic legs and wheelchairs and crutches and walkers, oh my. You don't want carpet because things spill. Make sure there's plenty of lighting. That's another thing.

Make sure they can see properly. And those are all little things you want to do, but lots and lots of bars, and there are people that can help you with that. Please, please, please make sure that everything is safe because they're going to fall. I promise you. I got a chapter in one of my books called They're Going to Fall.

I mean, they're going to fall. And you you but you stay strong and healthy as you take care of them. All right, Mike? Oh, great. And can you plug me one of your books?

Well, it's all at my website, hopeforthecaregiver.com. I have several. One of them is called Hope for the Caregiver. The other is called A Minute for Caregivers. And they're just little one-minute things that you can read.

I timed them all. And then the most recent one is called A Caregiver's Companion. Scriptures, hymns, and 40 years of insights for life's toughest role. And this applies whether you're taking care of a kid with autism, a parent with Alzheimer's, or a family member like Cindy with addiction. The same thing because it's all about helping you stay strong and healthy as you take care of someone who is not.

There is all of this available at Hopeforthecaregiver.com. I'm Peter Rosenberger. Mike. Thank you so much for the call. I really do appreciate it.

It's always great to hear from you. Cindy, again, we thank you so much for being vulnerable. We want to hear your progress, and I am thrilled to be with you every Wednesday on Truth Talk Live. We'll see you next time. Yeah.