Finding Grace in Caregiving arises out of Bradley Hanson’s quest for grace in caregiving his wife, Marion, who has Alzheimer’s Disease. Hanson knows from long experience that caregiving someone with dementia is very tiring and stressful. In search of spiritual practices that would foster patience and kindness, he turned to Scripture for guidance. The heart of the book is reflection on the qualities that St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. Drawing also on his personal interviews with others across the country who care for someone with some form of dementia, Hanson gives caregivers encouragement, guidance, and hope. Those of us who do long-term caring for someone with dementia, whether we are a family member or professional caregiver, generally try to be patient and kind. Yet the stress and fatigue of long-term caregiving may lead us at times to erupt with anger. Since caring for his beloved wife, Marion, since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2010, Brad Hanson has looked to what St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in strengthening his kindness.

Caring for elderly parents is challenging. It’s a season of life that requires grace and strength that can only come from God. In The Caregiving Season, Jane Daly shares personal caregiving stories, offering practical advice to help you honor your aging parents well and deepen your personal relationship with Christ along the journey.

Through personal experience as a caregiver to my parents, I gained first-hand knowledge of the responsibilities family caregivers carry on their shoulders. It became important for me to find out what other family caregivers say they need to help sustain their spirit during the journey of caring for someone they love. The outcome of this inquiry is a devotional developed in direct response to family caregiver interviews and their answers to survey questions. Woven between the pages of this devotional is a message for family caregivers, individuals concerned about family caregivers, faith communities, and for community groups that are not faith-based. The devotional is a companion for the caregiving journey that invites you to seek spiritual strength and wisdom from God and to replenish your spirit of compassion and love.

The journey from grief to Grace Inevitably, difficult change and loss become realities for each of us, and too often, profound grief is only steps behind. Finding Grace uses the author’s personal experience as well as authentic stories of grieving parents to maintain the assertion that grace is every bit as close as grief, living fully available in every human heart during troublesome times. The soulful calls of grace, when answered through such avenues as traditional faith, spiritual mysteries, supportive community, mindful reflection and acceptance, and loving rituals serve to carve new pathways beyond life mired in a grief-filled reality. The nineteen stories and eight essays presented in Finding Grace: journeys of grief, courage and healing follow those who are moving forward, charting their own next steps toward grace.

The first comprehensive resource for spiritual and pastoral caregivers—a vital resource for clergy, seminarians, chaplains, pastoral counselors and caregivers of all faith traditions. This essential resource integrates the classic foundations of pastoral care with the latest approaches to spiritual care. It is specifically intended for professionals who work or spend time with congregants in acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, rehabilitation centers and long-term care facilities. Offering the latest theological perspectives and tools, along with basic theory and skills from the best pastoral and spiritual care texts, research and concepts, the contributors to this resource are experts in their fields, and include eight current or past presidents of the major chaplaincy organizations.

When you are responsible for another person's physical needs, your own needs can take a back seat. After caring for her spouse, who for ten years suffered from a rare, debilitating disease, Kay Marshall Strom is able to bring a voice of experience and compassion to this important topic. Finding spiritual support ; Maintaining balanced relationships ; Deciding when living at home is no longer possible ; Working out the finances ; Understanding the impact on the whole family ; Dealing with the personal losses.

Through the presentation of detailed case studies, this textbook illustrates the foundations, key concepts, and developmentally appropriate practices of early childhood education, while fostering professional development. In addition to seven foundational chapters, each of six chronologically organized, age-related chapters integrates a profile of one child, his or her family and community, and educational/ care giving situation along with the best practices for working with a child of that age.