The Caregiving Season Finding Grace to Honor Your Aging Parents by Jane Daly - a Book Review

Jane Daly, author

The Caregiving Season, Finding Grace to Honor Your Aging Parents by Jane Daly is a well written book that deals with a difficult subject. Ms. Daly's book provides insight and encouragement for those currently dealing with aging parents and also for those about to enter this season of their lives. Ms. Daly lives in California with her husband, Mike and helps to watch over her 92 year old mother on a daily basis.

I loved the way Ms. Daly wrote her book. She used personal experiences to help the reader understand the challenges of caring for an aging parent. As I read Ms. Daly's stories, I was impressed with her openness and honesty. Several of the incidents she described in caring for her aging Father before his death hit home for me as I'd experienced very similar challenges with my Father before went home to glory. As she talked about the trials she's faced with her aging Mother, I could relate to each one as I am also helping care for my invalid Mother.

The Caregiving Season is a wonderful guidebook that points the reader to Christ as each challenge comes along. There are helpful tips and advice as well as heart wrenching stories of personal trial. I wish I'd had this book before going through lung cancer with my Father. It would have given me great peace to know some of the feelings and challenges I faced were also faced by others. I am thankful to have the book now and will use it often in the days ahead as my Mother continues to decline. In the book, Ms. Daly spoke about the importance of setting boundaries while extending grace to our aging parent. I found this bit of information extremely helpful. Ms. Daly said, "When you're in the position of caring for your parent, it's easy to revert to being a child again, especially if your relationship was never healthy to begin with. It can be difficult to create a boundary as an adult if no boundaries previously existed." She also states, "We need to be flexible and be able to shift boundary lines as we adjust to the new reality." Ms. Daly gives 3 steps to setting boundaries. The first step is to pray about how to approach the parent. Enlisting the prayer support of a friend or pastor may be necessary. Step two is to learn to speak humbly and with grace. She encourages the caregiver to learn to speak using "I" statements instead of "You" statements such as "I feel sad when you say those things to me." The third step in creating boundaries is to be prepared for some pushback or resistance. She says you can't expect things to change instantly. Another area I found very helpful was Ms. Daly's advice on choosing our battles. She points the caregiver to Colossians 4:6 which says, "Let your conversation be always full of grace." She says that verse helped her understand that sometimes it's important to bit your tongue instead of "responding to a barb."

At the end of each chapter, Ms. Daly includes Grace Growers thoughts and questions. These helpful points provided a lot of insight regarding how God views the care of aging parents. A sample of some of the Grace Growers from chapter 9, The Line in the Sand:

• Consider some of the parental boundaries you set with your children. Do you also need to set some boundaries with your aging loved ones for their good and yours?
• Do you have a need to be "right" all the time? Think about how you can lay thath aside and focus on your parents' needs. 
• Mediate on Proverbs 16:24 and Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law." Focus on exercising self-control. Think about how your words can be sweet to your loved ones' ears. Remember, "A gentle answer turns away wrath." Proverbs 15:1

The Caregiving Season is filled with wisdom and would be a great addition to anyone's personal library. I think this book should be readily available to caregivers and should be provided by hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities that promote elder care. I am going to personally recommend this book to anyone facing the challenge of caring for an aging parent or other relative. 

I would like to thank Tyndale House Publishers for the opportunity to review this book. I was given a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review and I was not encouraged to provide a positive review. 

You may purchase the book on Amazon by clicking here. 

365 Pocket Morning Prayers, Strength and Joy to Begin Each Day - A Book Review

The 365 Pocket Morning Prayers, Strength and Joy to Begin Each Day is a beautiful little devotional book compiled by David R. Veerman, Senior Editor of the Life Application Study Bible. Mr. Veerman was born in Chicago and raised in Rockford, Illinois, He received his B.A. from Wheaton College and his M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical School. Mr. Veerman and his wife, Gail, live in Naperville, Illinois, and are active in Naperville Presbyterian Church. They have two grown daughters, Dana and Kara, and one granddaughter. Mr. Veerman worked for 26 years with Youth for Christ both in the Campus Life ministry in Illinois and Louisiana, and at YFC headquarters as the national campus life director. He has authored more than 60 books.

Mr. David Veerman, author

Inside this little devotional book, the reader will find daily prayers to help guide them into each new day. The prayers are written simplistically and with great honesty. They are purposely written to cause the reader to look to God for answers. Along with each prayer page, the reader will find an accompanying Scripture that ties into the prayer perfectly. The Scripture verses included are displayed in the easy to understand New Living Translation of the Bible. The devotional prayers included in the book can be read randomly or in order. A topical index is included at the back of the book to aid the reader in seeking prayer for specific needs.

The small size of the book will make it handy for travel. Approximate measurements are 4.1 x 1 x 6 inches. The 365 Pocket Morning Prayers book is bound with a beautiful light blue leather like material and weighs just a little over 8 ounces. It's a little larger than the average shirt pocket but will conveniently fit into a purse or travel bag without adding much weight. This book would make a great gift or keepsake and can be used over and over again.

I would like to thank Tyndale House Publishers for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not encouraged to provide a positive review of this book.

Lessons from the East by Bob Roberts Jr. - a book review

I review a lot of books and sometimes the information I glean from them can be overwhelming and not always in a good way. Recently, I received a complimentary copy of  Lessons from the East, Finding the future of Western Christianity in the Global Church by Bob Roberts Jr., from Handlebar Publishing. This book was filled with information that not only touched my heart but enlightened my viewpoint on Christianity both in America and areas around the world.

As I read the book, I was immediately taken aback. Within the first few chapters, I found myself rethinking how our faith in Christ is presented here in America. As the author shares, American's are often focusing on building megachurches filled with thousands of members that offer programs to keep the members engaged and satisfied. They become self centered and cliquish. They quickly forget to center their focus on reaching the community for Christ and become their own little empire. Mr. Roberts says "Instead of being salt and light, we've become tasteless and dark." He says, "How can we be salt and light if we aren't engaged with decay and darkness?" As I read those words, I really began to think about my own church and how often we forget the community and only focus on our own members.

Mr. Roberts helped me see, through his statements in the book, that American churches today are fearful of engaging and ministering to people from other nationalities. American churches see themselves as being set apart and set above those of other Christian nations. We tend to focus on making the peoples from other nations projects instead of ministering to them solely as Christ would. We tend to shift our focus from sharing the love of Christ and serving those around us with humble hearts and instead defend our own turf.

I agree with Bob Roberts, Jr., when he says, "Great worship services don't change the world; empowered, impassioned disciples do." He states that people in our communities aren't necessarily looking at the quality of our worship or to see if we have something to offer them but instead, they're looking for people with the qualities and values of the Sermon on the Mount. His statement, "When people of other faiths (or no faith) see the disconnection between our worship on Sunday and our lives on Monday through Saturday, they assume we have nothing to offer them" was powerful to me and made me want to re-examine my own life.

Mr. Roberts wrote his book with the intention of opening the eyes of pastors and others in the ministry. He wanted to help them see what we are doing wrong and how we can fix it. I loved reading about pastors in other countries, like Sam Sung Kim and Eddy Leo. Their view of serving the community was almost identical. The main focus was on the "Up relationship with the Father" since everything comes from God. Next comes the "In relationship" how we related love and concern to in our relationship with others and lastly, comes the "Out relationship" which focuses on how we serve God in our community. This viewpoint, the Eastern Christian cultural view, was vastly different from the Western Christian viewpoint among most American churches. Instead of focusing on me and mine, the Eastern churches focused on building disciples for Christ.

As I continued to read this book, I gleaned an entirely different view of how our Christian faith should be shared with others. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to read, Lessons from the East, Finding the Future of Western Christianity in the Global Church by Bob Roberts, Jr. If pastors around our country would take time to read and take to heart the many lessons compiled in this book, there would be amazing changes in our country that could impact the world for Christ.

I would like to thank Handlebar Publishing for giving me an opportunity to review this book in exchange for my honest review. It was a pleasure to read this book and I will keep it in my reference library to share with others. I would highly recommend this book to anyone involved in ministry or anyone hoping to learn how to better minister to others.