'Dear Friends' May 2012

Weeks of May 7 and 14, 2012 Prayer Requests    A Caregiver's Priorities Dear Friends:        We were cleaning out the attic --crawl space -- a few weeks ago and came across a needlepoint piece that was on our wall when our children were tiny. The words talk about caring for a baby but the sentiment applies when caring for a loved one of any age. We don't know who the author is but this is the poem: Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow... for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow... so quiet down cobwebs... dust go to sleep... I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!!        Don't let your worries about cobwebs or dust, weeds in the garden or thank-you notes that need to be written, weigh heavily on your mind. You have more than enough concerns in your heart.        It may take some effort to let those to-do items go...but it gets easier with practice! We suggest you make spending time with your loved one, simply being with him or her, a top priority. - - -         This week we're so pleased to welcome Michael Z. of New York, Sheryl T. of Missouri, Terri N. of Michigan, and Donna W. of Illinois as the newest members of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep them and their intentions in your prayers. They have promised to pray for you and yours.        And we cordially invite you  to join the Friends of St. John the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include YourAgingParent.com and CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about becoming a member here.        No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).        You can:         sign up on-line here                 or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)                or print and mail an application form.        God bless you!                                                           Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Materials order form Past "Dear Friends" letters "Among Friends" quarterly newsletter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeks of May 21 and 28, 2012 Prayer Requests    The Holy Spirit's Gift of Knowledge Dear Friends:          We thought we'd mark Pentecost Sunday (May 27) with a look at one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge. This is from Bill's book, "The Seeker's Guide to the Holy Spirit":        Sometimes our education has nothing to do with our schooling. We learn things we had no intention of learning, things we never, ever wanted to know.        Time and again, in every life, there are the “clubs” we’re forced to join. There are ones we never wanted to be a member of, never dreamed we’d be a member of, but here we are. And because we are, we have a knowledge that can allow us to help other new members.        The list is endless. Drug addiction. Mental retardation. Spina bifada. Divorce. Sexual abuse. Domestic violence. Hearing loss. The death of a loved one at a young age. [Caregiving!] And on and on.        If most of the time gaining knowledge, becoming educated, is like climbing a flight of stairs -- taking many small steps -- then this is more like being thrown down a flight of stairs. More than a flight. An endless number. And, unlike school, we don’t know when we’ll be done. We don’t know where we’ll be when we’re through with a particular “grade.”        We simply fall. We simply hurt.        And when we finally seem to stop, to reach the bottom, there are bumps that turn into bruises. Lacerations that turn into scars. Broken bones that turn into deformities. We have changed. We have been changed. Forever.        We can’t “unlearn” what has happened. We can try to ignore the experience but that knowledge is there. That insider’s view, that gut-wrenching lesson or series of lessons. On addiction. Chronic depression. Cancer. Divorce. Abuse. Violence. Unemployment. Illness. Death.        And where, in this, is God? Where, in this, is an all-merciful, all-loving Creator? Where was he as we tumbled and where is he as we find ourselves in a broken, battered heap?        Again, we learn. We can learn that, at times in our lives, God doesn’t seem merciful or loving. He doesn’t seem to care at all. We can learn that sometimes in the valley of the shadow of death, we see only death and not the shepherd.        We can learn that we can get angry at God. We can feel betrayed by him. We can yell at him. We can curse him. We can storm away from him.        We can gain all kinds of knowledge we never imagined, never dreamed possible.        And whether we feel his presence or not, whether we acknowledge his presence or not, God is with us. Theologians may point out that God doesn’t create evil or rain down evil but he allows it as the natural and logical consequence of sin. It’s not that we, as an individual, are such a notorious sinner that we somehow deserve what has happened to us or to our loved one but, rather, living in a world steeped in sin, sometimes we or they are its victim.        But those words may bring little comfort. No comfort.        Because of what we’ve been through, what we’re going through, we know that. Now we know.        Now we know why some people are so angry with God. So angry with the Church and what they see as pious prattle. So angry with do-gooders who spout religious adages as if they were talking greeting cards.        We know pain and despair and abandonment because they’re what we feel.        And because we know it, because we feel it, we can know what another is going through, what another is feeling. The Holy Spirit may offer us an opportunity to help someone else who is hurting as we did. The opportunity to use this gift, this knowledge.        We can do things now we weren’t able to do before that pain, that sorrow, that grief. We can do things now because of that heartache. And the things we can do, based on what we have learned, can be tremendous. They can be astounding. Of course knowledge is power. Its source is our all-powerful God. Come, Holy Spirit! - - -         This week we're so pleased to welcome Kathy E., Rita E., Donna D., Marilyn W. and Janice H., all of Missouri; and Donna W. of Illinois, as the newest members of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep them and their intentions in your prayers. They have promised to pray for you and yours.        And we cordially invite you  to join the Friends of St. John the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include YourAgingParent.com and CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about becoming a member here.        No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).        You can:         sign up on-line here                 or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)                or print and mail an application form.        God bless you!                                                           Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Materials order form Past "Dear Friends" letters "Among Friends" quarterly newsletter