Daily devotion

Caregiver Devotional Give-away

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

With this Covid-19 crisis now dragging on into mid-July the issues for those in Long Term care have changed from being a temporary adjustment to a near permanent situation. Visits through the window, masks and tearful good-byes are what is now accepted as the new normal. These emotional, physical and spiritual challenges on those who are caregivers and staff are equal to or in some cases even greater than on those in need of care.

I wrote Grace For the Road as a devotional first aid kit to encourage and point you to Jesus Christ the healer and caregiver of us all. Drawing on my three decades of service as a volunteer chaplain I have included as many real life stories as I can. This Monday through Friday you can download the e-book format at the low low price of free! You may follow the link below or search for it on Amazon.com under Grace for the Road: Devotions for Caregivers by Peter Caligiuri.

May God bless you and keep you safe in the palm of His hands!

The Lord bless you and keep you;  the Lord make his face shine on you
 and be gracious to you;  the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-25 NIV

A Landscape of Hope!

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

But I say, love your enemies!Pray for those who persecute you! Matthew 5:44 NLT  

This morning Deandra who writes Imago Dei on WordPress got me thinking about the issue of complaining. (I have done more than my fair share) and how it affects our lives and my initial comment on her blog led me to an entire post. So thank you Deandra and here is my story of hope for complainers like me. The link to her post is here…

https://deandrahurst.com/2020/07/09/a-thankless-job-part-2/

Back when I worked as an apprentice landscaper I had a boss named Al who specialized in making me crazy. When I struggled making a straight line on the edge of a flower bed   he’d say, “That looks like a dog’s breakfast!” Or he’d take a look at the bush I had just trimmed, snatch the tool from my hand and re-trim it then give the tool back and ask; “What are you Polish?”

One night when I was bringing my complaint session about Al home to my wife, God began to convict my heart that I needed to be praying instead of griping. Even though I wasn’t a bit excited about the idea I knew it was the right thing to do. So I began with short prayers like, “Bless Al and his family.”  Now it would be great to say that immediately things got better; but the reality was that at first I just didn’t get so mad about his remarks. Also my own attitude started changing and I began to try harder to improve my work.

The best day happened some months later when just Al and I were working together on a job out in the country. At noon Al glanced at his watch and said “Go ahead and take lunch. I’m just going to keep working.” So I sat down on a big rock and opened my lunch pail and saw an entire loaf of my wife’s home made zucchini bread. “Hey Al, don’t you have anything to eat?” I asked. “Don’t worry I‘ll get something later.”  “Hey, at least take five minutes and try some of my wife’s home made zucchini bread.” I insisted. It didn’t take much to convince him to sit down and try a sample. “Wow! That’s amazing!” he mumbled between bites as I shared my extra bottle of water with him to wash it down. My life wasn’t perfect after that lunch, but breaking bread with Al gave me hope. I had hope because I saw that God cares about changing tough circumstances and difficult people. I knew it- because he changed me. Now that’s a landscape of hope!

Jesus Knows How to Fish

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.  John 21: 8-9 NIV

I could have made the title a bit longer and added, Jesus knows how to fish and I don’t. Funny thing because my son who I taught to fish can cast farther and catch more but the disciples’ night fishing was about like mine would have been: a still one big fat zero!  Can’t you almost picture them throwing out their nets and pulling them in all night wondering why they are empty? Yet at the same time, Jesus was catching fish! By the time the disciples got back to shore with nothing, Jesus had already started a fire and started cooking the fish He had caught.

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

But the good news for us as well as Peter James and John is that Jesus is still waiting for us. He is waiting for us to give up and bring our boat back to shore. He is waiting for us to be ready to listen to Him. He is waiting for us to recognize His voice. Fishing without praying is just feeding the fish. Fishing longer won’t help. Often just giving up is the first step back to Jesus. He is standing on the shore. He has been working all through our night and He’ll have everything ready when we arrive!