Are you a caregiver or someone seeking hope amidst grief? The following resources can help equip, uplift, and strengthen you for the journey.
We’re Stronger than We Look by Jill Brown
Caregiver, are you overwhelmed? Do you secretly (or not so secretly) have bouts of despair, bitterness, and even hopelessness?
As a caregiver, you run the risk of disappearing. Your time goes overwhelmingly to the needs of your loved one. Relationships get strained, and challenges and anxieties are difficult to articulate. It’s easier to just keep your head down and do what must be done.
What’s more, you probably didn’t sign up for this role or train for it. And yet here you are, reliving the trauma that got you here, providing support you didn’t know you had in you to give, struggling with fatigue, making critical, life-altering decisions, and yearning for the community you had that has changed or disappeared.
As a caregiver, do you ever wonder:
- Where did everybody go?
- Why can’t I do a better job? Am I a complete failure?
- How can I keep up this level of care without exhausting myself?
Rich in stories, threaded with humor, and unflinchingly real, We’re Stronger than We Look is a safe place for you to process the life you’ve been given, to accept that it’s okay not to have it all together, and to be inspired about your caregiving role—even while recognizing the need to take care of yourself as well.
Aching Joy by Jason Hague
When his oldest son was diagnosed with severe autism, pastor Jason Hague found himself trapped, stuck between perpetual sadness and a lower, safer kind of hope. This is the common struggle for those of us walking through the Land of Unanswered Prayer. Life doesn’t look the way we expected, so we seek to protect ourselves from further disappointment.
But God has a third path for us, beyond sadness or resignation: the way of aching joy. Christ himself is with us here, beckoning us toward the treasures hidden in the darkness.
Aching Joy is an honest psalm of hope for those walking between pain and promise: the aching of a broken world and the beauty of a loving God. In this place, rather than trying to dodge the pain, we choose to feel it all—and to see where Jesus is in the midst of struggle. And because we make that choice, we feel all the good that comes with it, too.
This is Jason’s story. This is your story. Come, find your joy within the aching.
In the Lingering Light by Cynthia Fantasia
Alzheimer’s is a particularly cruel disease. It robs us of the people we love—slowly, subtly, but unrelentingly. Our love for them is tested as their needs increase and their recall decreases, and our own needs suffer neglect as more and more of our time and attention is given to our loved one. Cynthia Fantasia is a caregiver. In this deeply understanding and empowering work she walks you through the landscape of caregiving—for your loved one and for yourself. She introduces you to friends and fellow travelers who offer their own words of empathy and insight. And she slowly, subtly, but unrelentingly empowers you to live well as you care for your loved one in the lingering light.
Either Way, We’ll Be All Right by Eric Tonjes
Does God have a hope to offer us in times of pain? Can God meet and sustain us even if our circumstances don’t improve?
One of the few guarantees in life is that we will suffer. Everything around us is broken. Each of us has an expiration date. A few years ago, Eric and his wife, Elizabeth, together with their young children, were confronted with this unavoidable reality when she was faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Shattered by grief, they began to wrestle with what it means to follow Jesus when everything around them seemed to be giving way. What this pastor and his wife discovered were a set of truths about God from Scripture that provided the resources they needed to survive—truths too often neglected by the modern world. God meets us in our grief, but not always in ways we expect or even want.
Coming from that jumbled place of agony and assurance, Either Way, We’ll Be All Right is a journey through the darkness in hopes of discovering light on the other side.
Wounded Children, Healing Homes by Jayne Schooler, Betsy Keefer Smalley, and Timothy Callahan
Why doesn’t our child return our love? What are we failing to understand? What are we failing to do? These questions can fill the minds of adoptive parents caring for wounded, traumatized children. Families often enter into this experience with high expectations for their child and for themselves but are broadsided by shattered assumptions. This book addresses the reality of those unmet expectations and offers validation and solutions for the challenges of parenting deeply traumatized and emotionally disturbed children.
Helping Those Who Hurt by Barbara Roberts
Whether you’re a layperson or a professional counselor, Helping Those Who Hurt will help you care for others encountering life crises such as illness, hospitalization, death, suicide, troubled marriage, and addiction.
All God’s Comfort by Herbert Lockyer
The classic “All Series” books have graced the shelves of pastors, students, and laypeople alike for decades. All God’s Comfort continues the series’ tradition of offering a faithful and comprehensive treatment of biblical subjects. All God’s Comfort explores the divine work of comforting those who suffer the effects of this fallen world. “In our complex lives today, the need to know God’s comfort is more necessary than ever,” states the Preface. After studying the God of comfort and exploring His promises, Lockyer applies these truths systematically to the common valleys of human grief and fear. Wth an approach that is pastoral and practical, Lockyer uses Scripture and the writings of scholars, poets, and hymnists to encourage those who need comforting. He also provides guidance to those who seek to become comforters and describes the individual and community benefits of doing so. Grieving people and those who care about them will find Lockyer’s book an insightful guide to availing oneself of God’s comfort.
Caring for Aging Loved Ones by Focus on the Family
Whether you’re preparing for the responsibility or are in the midst of caring for an elderly loved one, this complete guide from Focus on the Family provides the practical information you need—and a spiritual and emotional lifeline. Topics include burnout; physical, emotional, and mental changes in aging; medical, financial, and legal help; elder abuse; choosing a care facility; and end-of-life decisions. Caregivers will also learn what the Bible says about caregiving and the keys to effectively fulfilling that role. True stories throughout the guide share common concerns and a sense of support from those who have been there.
When God & Grief Meet by Lynn Eib
Where do you go with the heartache you can’t even put into words?
Whether you have lost a loved one to a prolonged illness or to an unexpected tragedy, it helps to encounter others who have walked a similar road and faced similar questions. When God & Grief Meet offers just that: Real-life stories that meet you in your sorrow and inspire you with the hope and strength to go on.
Lynn Eib, a longtime patient advocate and grief support group facilitator, shares her gift of encouragement in this heartening message for mourners. You won’t find pat answers, clichés, or easy-fix formulas, but you will see that God specializes in consoling those who grieve. As Psalm 34:18 promises: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” This is the spirit of When God & Grief Meet: A book that will give comfort for your present and courage for your future.
The Caregiving Season by Jane Daly
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.
