HAVE YOU HELPED
THOSE WHO NEED CARE?
Discern your calling and personal meaning in the experiences of being a caregiver.
Welcome to All Called
We want to provide you with a companion on your journey to discover meaning and purpose in life. This is the ordinary way people like us come to understand our callings throughout our lives. Sometimes we discover our calling through experiences of joy and celebration, other times through difficulty, challenge, or loss. For many, by discovering their calling they come upon a much deeper meaning and purpose for their lives. They discover a loving, merciful, and gracious God who wants to accompany them on their life’s journey.
We invite you to explore calling as a Caregiver in three movements. Begin with the Enter & Experience videos and questions that introduce the possibility of finding a calling through caregiving. Move deeper through the Engage & Explore videos, reflections, and discernment questions that provide inspiration and guidance for discovering your calling. Be sure to take time for reflection with the song, Scripture verse, and prayer. Conclude by considering your next steps in Embrace and Encounter. We’ve listed a variety of next steps, including connecting to a faith community that can support you in discovering and living your calling today.
Enter & Experience
Find Meaning and Purpose in the Experience of Caregiving
Maybe it started slowly. You visited your parents and started to worry about them living alone. You found yourself taking over more of the responsibilities for your spouse. You are assuming more and more of the responsibility for caring for your grandchildren because your son or daughter is not able to care for them.
Maybe it happened all of a sudden. Mom slipped and broke her hip. The neighbors called to say that dad was wandering around looking lost. Your loved one became seriously ill. However it began, you are now a caregiver.
And you are not alone! Every day, more than sixty-five million Americans wake up and care for loved ones. Nearly one-third of the U.S. adult population are caregivers, providing an average of 20 hours of care per week – with some providing care around the clock.
In Rosalynn Carter’s book, Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers, the former First Lady quotes a colleague as saying there are only four kinds of people in the world:
- those who have been caregivers
- those who currently are caregivers
- those who will be caregivers
- and those who will need caregivers
Watch the stories of people discovering a calling as a caregiver.
Kym’s Story of Caring
Junalyn’s Story of Caring
Maria’s Story of Caring
Click here for our Spanish All Called site for more videos.
Engage & Explore
Find a Calling as a Caregiver
Mary Margaret and Ken’s Story
When Ken was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, his wife Mary Margaret struggled to pray—until a doctor helped her trust God again.
Betty’s Story
“I really didn’t consciously make a decision to be a Caregiver, I think it’s just a calling…”
Explore Caregiving as a Calling
“Caregiving has made me a better person. I’m the sandwich generation, caring for both a small child and an aging parent. This role has made me step back and appreciate every single little moment of joy. And oftentimes I have to work hard to create these moments, but they are worth it. My daughter and I created the Give Back project where we document a monthly service project to help others in similar situations. This month, we are writing thank you letters. I’m thanking my hospice team, my daughter is thanking her grandmother. Next month, we will collect Baby Dolls and Blankets and deliver them to dementia patients to give them comfort.”
(Steph Jackson, http://www.caregiversconnect.com)
A calling involves responsibility and duty, but also love and care. The question of whether or not you understand your caregiver as a calling is a complex struggle, one that deserves careful reflection over time.
You may have the assumption that God calls you once, for just one purpose. In reality, it is safe to say that God calls us many times throughout the situations and seasons of our lives, and each call challenges us to stretch further than we might have anticipated or imagined.
This is almost certainly the case for those who find themselves in the role of caregiver. As you reflect on this challenge (and invitation!), it’s quite logical to seek deeper meaning from it.
You likely have a bit of anxiety, and a whole lot of wonderment for how this is going to go. One thing is certain. As you embrace this role, and consider how caregiving is a call, you will discover an aspect of God that you have not seen or experienced before.
How can you see caregiving as a calling?
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What does this challenge mean for me?
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How does it change my outlook on life?
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What is my relationship with the one for whom I am giving care?
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How does it affect my relationship with others?
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Who is my role model?
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What is God doing in my life?
Going Deeper: The Joy of Now: A Caregiver’s Tale by Phyllis Peters
Caregiving can at times take over every part of your life. Phyllis shares her experience caregiving for the five members in her family’s older generation. Phyllis Peters is an author and educator who has variously embodied the spirit of musician, waitress, filmmaker, rape crisis advocate, wanderer, and ingrate. Her latest novel, Untethered: A Caregiver’s Tale is a fictionalized, comedic take on her family’s experience with caregiving in the ‘sandwich generation’.
How does Phyllis’s story resonate with your own as caregiver?
How can you embrace the joy of ‘now’ amidst the challenges and demands of caregiving?
Discover Your Calling
How might you discover your calling through the experience of caregiving?
Watch the video, Discerning God’s Call, by Jennifer Haworth and then use the reflection questions below to help you discern God’s call during this time of life transition.
Discerning a Calling
Consider these three insights as you begin discerning how God is calling you today.
1. Pay attention to your daily experience and what it stirs within you.
In the stuff of everyday experience – your hopes, your fears, your dreams, your routines – God is at work, inviting you to notice what brings you joy, what you’re good at, and what others need you to do. Pay attention to where God is active in your life.
2. Reflect on what you notice, sorting and sifting in order to understand what is leading you to an abundant life and what is not.
Understanding develops through reflection, taking the time to see the patterns in your experience, and grasp their significance. While you can begin to notice and interpret God’s action in your life, if you want to hear deeply, see clearly, and choose wisely, trusted companions on the journey are essential.
3. Take loving action on what you have learned.
Discernment does not end with becoming aware of how your experiences are drawing you closer to or further away from God. You must eventually decide what you want to do with this knowledge. How will you act on what you’ve learned?
We grow into our distinctive callings if we are willing to become aware of God’s movement in our lives, to reflect on this movement prayerfully alone and with others, and to take loving action on what we have learned.
Questions for Discernment
In the midst of your experience of caregiving, you can discover God’s calling emerge. Consider these three questions:
- What are you passionate about now? What gives you energy?
- What new gifts has God called forth in you? How will engage your abilities and talents fully?
- Where do you have the greatest opportunity to love others? How can your passion and gifts serve others?
It’s your answers to these three questions which will help you discern how your experience of caregiving can be a calling from God.
Take Time for Reflection in Song, Scripture, and Prayer
In Song: Your Labor is Not in Vain – Porter’s Gate
In Scripture: A Story of Caregiving
One of the great Biblical stories of caregiving is the story of Ruth and Naomi. After Naomi’s sons and husband die in Moab, she releases her daughters-in-law back to the families. But Ruth “clings” to Naomi and refuses to leave her. Her decision to go with Naomi was a great sacrifice. Rather than remarry among her own people, Ruth leaves her homeland and goes to Israel as a widow, the very lowest member of that society. Still, Ruth dutifully goes out to the fields and provides for herself and her mother-in-law. It is an act of great courage on her part, as well as a loving sacrifice—to care for the needs of Naomi, while her own future was anything but secure.
Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die–
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!
(Ruth’s words to Naomi in Ruth Chapter 1:16-17, NRSV)
In Scripture: Words of Encouragement
Do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. (Psalm 46:1-3)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
In Prayer
Blessed are those who care and who are not afraid to show it —
they will let people know they are loved.
Blessed are those who are gentle and patient —
they will help people to grow as the sun helps the buds
to open and blossom.
Blessed are those who have the ability to listen —
they will lighten many a burden.
Blessed are those who know how and when to let go —
they will have the joy of seeing people find themselves.
Blessed are those who, when nothing can be done or said, do not walk away,
but remain to provide a comforting and supportive presence —
they will help the sufferer to bear the unbearable.
Blessed are those who recognize their own need to receive,
and who receive with graciousness —
they will be able to give all the better.
Blessed are those who give without hope of return —
they will give people an experience of God.
A Blessing for Caregivers
May you see with tender eyes
The wounds of those before you.
May you hear with well-tuned ears
The unspoken needs of those whose voices are muted.
May you hold with gentle hands
The bodies and the spirits of those you care for.
May the beauty of soul,
The strength of spirit,
The wholeness of being
Lead you, inspire you
And let you know your own
Beauty of soul,
Strength of spirit,
Wholeness of being.
May you know that,
As you care for others,
God cares for you, sees you,
Holds you tenderly.
Amen.
(This blessing comes from the book,Voices from the Journey, authored by Sr. Juliana Casey, IHM. www.chausa.org/voices)
In Daily Reflection
- Find a quiet space and arrange your body in a comfortable but upright position. Sit in silence for a few minutes and invite the Holy Spirit to be present with you and to quiet your spirit.
- Ask yourself, “For what moment today am I most grateful?” and “When did I feel most alive today?” Thank God for these blessings.
- Ask yourself, “For what moment today am I least grateful?” and “When did I feel life draining out of me today?” Pray for comfort and healing.
- Thank God for being present throughout your day, in good times and bad.
- Reflect on your examen experience. What did you notice while praying? What feelings surfaced and to what parts of your day were these feelings connected? Note patterns that emerge as you practice this over time.
Embrace & Encounter
We are hoping that you will continue your journey – growing deeper in your sense of calling and finding ways to live your calling in everyday life. We want to offer our encouragement and support – and a few ideas to help.
#1. Engage in daily reflection and prayer.
Start using the Daily Reflection to conclude your day (at the end of Engage & Explore section). Try one or more of the following apps to incorporate prayer into your daily life.
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right and spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Pray As You Go is a daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time, and lasting between ten and thirteen minutes with music, scripture and some questions for reflection.
Daily Prayer is an experiential app designed to develop long lasting spiritual rhythms of prayer and scripture reading. Join in prayer and read scripture in the morning, in the midday, in the evening, and/or in the late evening.
Abide is a Christian meditation app to stress less and sleep better. Find deep rest as you listen to stories based off the Bible. Wake up with the daily meditations that will fuel your mind for the day ahead.
Soulspace meditation app has been created to help anchor your thoughts to the love of God and the way of Jesus. Soulspace seeks to rid the soul of fear and stress while filling it with truth and life. This creates the opportunity for true and lasting wholeness.
#2. Have a conversation with a “calling companion.”
Find a significant trusted relationship – family member, friend, colleague – who can be your “calling companion.” Find time for a cup of coffee together or video chat. Share your story of discovering your calling through caregiving. Share your highs and lows, good days and difficult ones, in discovering and living your calling. Turn to your calling companion regularly for support and encouragement.
#3. Grow through reading about calling.
We have selected several books to deepen your understanding of calling and vocation. Each book offers practical ideas for living your calling now and into the future. Go to our Resource page for the description of each book.
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- Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life – by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
- Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation – by Parker Palmer
- The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work – by Steven Garber
- Sustaining the Spirit: Callings, Commitments, & Vocational Challenges – by Catherine Cronin Carotta and Michael Carotta
- Consider Your Calling: Six Questions for Discerning Your Vocation – by Gordon T. Smith
- Your Vocational Credo: Practical Steps to Discover Your Unique Purpose – by Deborah Koehn Loyd
- Live Your Calling: A Practical Guide to Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life – by Kevin Brennfleck and Kay Marie Brennfleck
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#4. Find a caregiver support group.
A good caregiver support group can be a lifeline, providing a place — in person, on the phone or online — to share feelings confidentially, make new friends, get help navigating the health care system and learn from others who have walked a similar path. Check out support groups sponsored by local religious congregations, community organizations, hospitals and health care facilities, schools, etc.
AARP has a guide to caregiver support groups on their website.
Care.com has a list of 23 popular online and in-person caregiver support groups.
The Family Caregiver Alliance supports the work of families and friends nationwide who care for adult loved ones with chronic, disabling health conditions.
You can find (and build) local support groups by using the MeetUp website and app to meet other caregivers.
#5. Find support and encouragement in a local faith community.
We want to encourage you to consider connecting to a local faith community that can support you in discovering and living your calling today. Congregations are great places to find a course, attend a presentation, participate in a small group study or a support group, engage in service to the community and world, and, of course, worship with a community of people.
To make it easier to find a faith community in your area we have developed a list of churches with a link to their website so you can learn more about their ministries, and another link to what they are doing to support people in discovering and living their callings.
You find a welcome home in a faith community that wants to support you and help you live your calling at this time in life.
