Finding Grace in Caregiving arises out of Bradley Hanson’s quest for grace in caregiving his wife, Marion, who has Alzheimer’s Disease. Hanson knows from long experience that caregiving someone with dementia is very tiring and stressful. In search of spiritual practices that would foster patience and kindness, he turned to Scripture for guidance. The heart of the book is reflection on the qualities that St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. Drawing also on his personal interviews with others across the country who care for someone with some form of dementia, Hanson gives caregivers encouragement, guidance, and hope. Those of us who do long-term caring for someone with dementia, whether we are a family member or professional caregiver, generally try to be patient and kind. Yet the stress and fatigue of long-term caregiving may lead us at times to erupt with anger. Since caring for his beloved wife, Marion, since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2010, Brad Hanson has looked to what St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in strengthening his kindness.

There Is Hope . . . When a patient is diagnosed with dementia, it impacts not only the patient but also those who care for them. It can be devastating to watch loved ones lose the independence, personality, and abilities that once defined them, knowing there is no cure. How should Christians respond to a diagnosis of dementia? Experienced geriatrician Dr. John Dunlop wants to transform the way we view dementia—showing us how God can be honored through such a tragedy as we respect the inherent dignity of all humans made in the image of God. Sharing stories from decades of experience with dementia patients, Dunlop provides readers, particularly caregivers, with a biblical lens through which to understand the experience and challenge of this life-altering disease. Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia will help you see God's purposes as you love and care for those with dementia.

Caring for elderly parents is challenging. It’s a season of life that requires grace and strength that can only come from God. In The Caregiving Season, Jane Daly shares personal caregiving stories, offering practical advice to help you honor your aging parents well and deepen your personal relationship with Christ along the journey.

Caregiving is probably the hardest work you will ever do. Yet it can also change your heart and transform your life. Experienced caregiver Beach offers practical help and spiritual insights to those facing the challenges of caregiving.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • “A powerful, heartbreaking, necessary masterpiece.”—Cheryl Strayed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wild The moving story of what one woman learned from fostering a newborn—about injustice, about making mistakes, about how to better love and protect people beyond our immediate kin May you always feel at home. After their decision not to have a biological child, Sarah Sentilles and her husband, Eric, decide to adopt via the foster care system. Despite knowing that the system’s goal is the child’s reunification with the birth family, Sarah opens their home to a flurry of social workers who question them, evaluate them, and ultimately prepare them to welcome a child into their lives—even if it means most likely having to give the child back. After years of starts and stops, and endless navigation of the complexities and injustices of the foster care system, a phone call finally comes: a three-day-old baby girl named Coco, in immediate need of a foster family. Sarah and Eric bring this newborn stranger home. “You were never ours,” Sarah tells Coco, “yet we belong to each other.” A love letter to Coco and to the countless children like her, Stranger Care chronicles Sarah’s discovery of what it means to mother—in this case, not just a vulnerable infant but the birth mother who loves her, too. Ultimately, Coco’s story reminds us that we depend on family, and that family can take different forms. With prose that Nick Flynn has called “fearless, stirring, rhythmic,” Sentilles lays bare an intimate, powerful story with universal concerns: How can we care for and protect one another? How do we ensure a more hopeful future for life on this planet? And if we’re all related—tree, bird, star, person—how might we better live?

A young girl is in terrible danger ... but can they reach her in time? Somebody’s coming for you California: Twelve-year-old Melanie has been in foster care her whole life, moving from home to home—unloved and unwanted. And although she has found relative contentment with her current foster parents, Melanie harbors a secret that, if discovered, would blow her world apart. Someone talks to Melanie, a presence no one else can see or hear, and this presence has a message for her: something bad is about to happen. New York: After years of battling with her troubled, unpredictable mother, Louise has managed to find peace in her solitary existence. Until the day Grace crashes back into her life and entreats Louise to help her save a child from imminent danger. Unwilling to get caught up in her mother’s madness, Louise resists. But she realizes the only way to be rid of Grace once and for all is to play along. Louise and Grace set off across America in search of Melanie, driven by Grace’s firm belief that they have to get there before the bad thing happens. To do that, Louise must first come to understand and trust her mother. But after a lifetime of pain and dysfunction, can the two finally heal old wounds in order to save one young girl?

Discovering how to live with dementia"I'm a stranger in a strange land," sighed the dignified gentleman Janet L. Ramsey met walking down the care-center hallway. Those words, her first glimpse of the confusion that comes with dementia, led her into a lifetime of work with older adults.If you have been diagnosed with dementia or you are accompanying someone with this illness, you may find yourself on a journey that began with a sudden diagnosis and an acute sense of panic. Or perhaps your journey started gradually, as you noticed changes in yourself or in your partner or parent. Whether sudden or gradual, the impact of a diagnosis of dementia reorganizes a family's entire life.Drawing on her own experience as a pastor, teacher, therapist, and family caregiver, as well as on interviews with eight family and professional caregivers, Janet L. Ramsey helps caregivers and those with impaired memories learn as they listen to each other. She also shows them how the Holy Spirit can awaken their imagination and understanding while they discover how to live with dementia.

For the weary dementia or Alzheimer's caregiver If you are a caregiver to someone with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia, you carry a heavy load. On top of having to watch someone you love suffer, you are probably losing sleep, growing frustrated, and struggling with loneliness or even depression. With little to no help and no time for a break, this unrelenting stress is hard to carry. Whether that’s you or someone you know, the caregiver needs care, too. Grace for the Unexpected Journey: A 60-Day Devotional for Alzheimer’s and Other Dementia Caregivers provides that support. Each daily devotion: Is short, ideal for demanding schedules Reflects on a relevant Scripture passage Features a relatable caregiving story Offers a key Scripture for meditation Debbie Barr is a speaker, health educator, and the author of multiple books, including Keeping Love Alive As Memory Fades (coauthored with New York Times bestselling author Gary Chapman). As a health educator with a deep concern and compassion for dementia caregivers, she saw their need for faith-based encouragement. With compassion and understanding she uses Scriptures to address their practical hardships and spiritual concerns. When the struggles seem insurmountable, this devotional offers strength. When stress floods in, it points to peace. And when darkness falls, it illuminates hope. Caregivers walk a long, difficult road. This devotional gives grace for their journey.

Don't feel alone and isolated any more. As a long-hour caregiver, you face incredible stress: financial, emotional, and physical. Yet, in the midst of all that, God is gently calling you to come to Him. Come, so you no longer feel desperate and overwhelmed. Come, so you can discover the deep soul-satisfying meaning in your difficult work. Come, experience satisfaction, peace and joy like never before. The Heart of the Caregiver is the path to finding God's heart in your unique situation. Diving into scripture that is relevant to all caregiving situations, fellow caregiver Mary Tutterow shares personal insights and Scripture passages that will help transform your perspective and purpose as you move from overwhelmed to overjoyed. Discover how you were made to love others through the care you provide. The Heart of the Caregiver is the first study in a ministry resource series dedicated to supporting caregivers by addressing issues specific to their spiritual needs. In addition to meeting the spiritual needs of caregivers, this two-part series aims to equip local churches with quality resources as they minister to these dynamic families.

Do you wonder where God is in Alzheimer's? Are you searching for hope in caregiving? I searched too--I lost both of my parents to Alzheimer's. They were its innocent victims. Caregiving for someone with Alzheimer's can be painfully brutal. We know how it ends. There is no cure. It doesn't get better. But I learned that we don't have to be defeated by it. And there is much grace and collateral beauty to be found in the journey. From broken memories to broken bones, Alzheimers catalyzed terror and defeat in my family. My parents were terrorized by the scrambling of their minds. We who loved them had to suffocate our feelings of defeat as they returned to innocence. As a caregiver, God allowed me to share in my parents passages back to undefeated innocence. I gained loving moments that I would have missed if I hadnt been involved and if I hadnt taken up the proper vantage point to see them. Undefeated Innocence offers hope to caregivers by weaving poignant personal experiences, humor, and biblical stories with a study of the Beatitudes. It answers Where is God? in Alzheimers. It confirms that caregiving experiences are abnormally normal, and its okay to store toothpaste in an underwear drawer. Undefeated Innocence reveals Gods grace through the storms and affirms that caregivers are not alone in wondering if life can return to a place of peace.