Week of May 6, 2013
Prayer Requests
Remembering Monica's
Parents
Dear Friends:
As many of you know, my wife Monica and I began the
Friends of St. John the Caregiver in 2005. (And
YourAgingParent.com is one of its programs.) Monica died
of uterine cancer in January of this year, and last week
her mother,
Terry Faudree, passed away at the age of 92. Her
husband Russ, Monica's dad, died at the age of 97 just
two years ago next month.
After Monica's death many people pointed out what a
tremendous legacy from her the Friends of St. John the
Caregiver is.
And it is.
But it's also a legacy from her parents. They were the
ones who taught her what love, faith, family and service
to others truly mean.
I thank God for that.
And for them.
- - -
This week we're so pleased to welcome Ann Marie L. of
Maryland, Barbara S. of Michigan, and Laura W. of
Virginia 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!
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
Week of May 27, 2013
Prayer Requests
'Do Whatever He
Tells You'
Dear Friends:
A colleague is working on a new book and asked a number
of us to answer this question: "If you had 24 hours to
to be a witness in the earthly life of Jesus what day
would you choose?" What immediately popped into my head
was the wedding feast at Cana (John
2:1-12). (I was surprised!)
You probably know the story of Christ's first miracle.
Mary, Jesus and some disciple are invited to a wedding
where the host runs out of wine. Mary intervenes and
Jesus turns water into wine.
Her "intervention" includes letting Jesus know about
the situation and telling the servants to do what he
tells them to do. Which, certainly to their way of
thinking, makes no sense. Or worse, puts them in
jeopardy of getting into trouble with their boss. Even
so, apparently trusting Mary, they follow her advice and
do what Jesus tells them to do.
At times, as a caregivers you're one of those servants
and what Jesus is asking you to do seems
impossible. In so many ways. For so many reasons. It's
Mary who continues to advise, "Accept this
vocation and today,
right now, just do this." This one task. This one
visit to the doctor's office or pharmacy. This one meal
or load of laundry.
But there's another side, another request that's a part
of caregiving, that you may more quickly and easily
dismiss: take time, make time, for yourself.
Those breaks, those periods of
respite, are a vital
part in preventing
exhaustion even though, at first glance, they may
seem selfish if not impossible.
Harder still, Jesus may be telling you to
acknowledge that you need help from others and to get
it.
And, arguably hardest of all, it could be
accepting the fact that the time has come to look into
placing your loved one in an
assisted-living facility or
nursing
home.
- - -
Again this week 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!
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
