{"id":27109,"date":"2017-10-25T00:09:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T05:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/differentdream.com\/?p=27109"},"modified":"2017-10-25T00:09:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T05:09:59","slug":"how-to-press-on-as-a-caregiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/how-to-press-on-as-a-caregiver\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Press On as a Caregiver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_color=”#42313A” title_font_size=”40px” meta_font_size=”14px” background_color=”#B4DBC0″ custom_padding=”50px||50px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ specialty_columns=”3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.4.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9mZWF0dXJlZF9pbWFnZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7fX0=@” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”src” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Guest blogger Kimberly Drew is learning to press on as caring for a beloved baby daughter with special needs takes a toll on mamma’s body and mind.\u00a0 Today, she explains where she looks for help and encouragement.<\/em><\/p>\n

Press On<\/h5>\n

I pulled out of the doctor\u2019s office and geared up for the almost 2 hour drive home. By the time I got home it had been a 6 hour day. Our youngest daughter Ellie was adopted with the knowledge that she would have special needs. Her recent cerebral palsy diagnosis was a big disappointment, but it was also expected. What I didn\u2019t anticipate was the toll that her care was going to take on my mind and body, how hard it would be to Press On.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I had forgotten how hard the early years were with our older daughter who has special needs, I had just forgotten what \u201chard\u201d felt like.<\/p>\n

Ellie is 22 months and only 15 pounds and 6 ounces, and she has oral feeding difficulties. Her feeding therapist wants us to wean her off the pacifier\u2013the same pacifier that the NICU team told us required a critical<\/strong><\/em> skill she needed to develop before weaning her off the feeding tube. So of course we encouraged her to use the pacifier all the time!<\/p>\n

We have had pacifiers in every room of the house, 3 in the crib, many lost, and multiples in the diaper bag at any given time.<\/p>\n

But at this stage, the pacifier can become a problem for her feeding issues and speech delays. Despite all the hours of effort, all the frustration, all the labored and intense therapy sessions to develop her reflexes in place for drinking from a bottle, the pacifier now has to go. It\u2019s simply time to move on toward our next goal.<\/p>\n

This lesson couldn\u2019t be more appropriate for the difficulty I am currently facing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, not matter how hard you\u2019ve worked at something it\u2019s time to move on. A pastor at a teaching conference spoke about the hardships that Paul went through in his journey as a devoted follower of Jesus.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 reads, \u201cI am talking like a madman\u2014with far greater labors,\u00a0far more imprisonments,\u00a0with countless beatings, and\u00a0often near death.\u00a0\u00a0Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the\u00a0forty lashes less one.\u00a0\u00a0Three times I was\u00a0beaten with rods.\u00a0Once I was stoned. Three times I\u00a0was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;\u00a0\u00a0on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers,\u00a0danger from my own people,\u00a0danger from Gentiles,\u00a0danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;\u00a0\u00a0in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night,\u00a0in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Despite those obstacles, Paul continued to serve, follow, and give his life up for the sake of God\u2019s glory and the Gospel even still. In Ephesians 3:8 he says,\u00a0 \u201c\u00a0Indeed, I count everything as loss because of\u00a0the surpassing worth of\u00a0knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I\u00a0have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

With the backdrop of his imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks, hunger, and public shame Paul looks to Christ for the strength to press on. In Phillipians 3:13-14 he writes, \u201cBrothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do:\u00a0forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,\u00a0I press on toward the goal for\u00a0the prize of the upward\u00a0call of God in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If you, like me, are struggling through the difficulties of raising a child with special needs and find yourself discouraged and weary, I encourage you to let go of what is behind, strain forward, and press on. Let’s read and meditate upon Paul’s words until they take root in our hearts.<\/p>\n

I love the song, Press On<\/em>, by the group Selah. I need to hear it today and imagine I’m not alone in that. If you have a few minutes to listen to it, you won\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n