Finally, they made it to Attalia and caught a ship back to Antioch, where it had all started—launched by God’s grace and now safely home by God’s grace. (Acts 14:26 MSG)
When our sojourn to Arkansas started, even before the physical move in October 2013, I was drawn to the Arkansas State University campus here in Mountain Home and the beautiful facility called the Vada Scheid Center. Over a year ago, my husband and I attended a benefit at the Scheid, and I held at bay the hope in my spirit that one day I would get to speak there.
On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, not only did I live that dream of speaking at the Scheid, but by God’s grace the official launch was made of Regifted Grace Ministry. For the first time, I publicly spoke about the manuscript for Undefeated Innocence.
Nearly eleven months ago, I asked the question, “Where is God in Alzheimer’s.” When our family elder law attorney, Randall Drake, asked me to speak at the Elder Care Symposium that was organized for medical professionals and the community, I wept when he specifically asked me to talk about the book and spiritually encourage caregivers. Through the writing of Undefeated Innocence, God showed me where I could find Him and how to tell others. Last Tuesday, I began “to tell.”
Beatitudes and Fruit of the Spirit: When Jesus spoke to the disciples just before delivering the Sermon on the Mount, He described to the disciples the virtues He needed them to exhibit in order to carry on the ministry after He returned to Heaven. Those virtues are the Beatitudes and, in answer to my question, they describe how I am to live my life in honor to God. I am to be poor in spirit, mourn for the lost, be meek, hunger for righteousness, be merciful, be pure in heart, be a peacemaker, and rejoice in persecution. The Beatitudes represent our vertical relationship with our Abba Father. The fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) represents our horizontal relationships with others.
Undefeated Innocence combines the Beatitudes with the fruit of the Spirit and explores how we are equipped with Godly virtues (the Beatitudes) in order to provide compassionate care to those we love by demonstrating to them the fruit of the Spirit. By doing that, God allows us to reside in His presence and live out an authentic faith, even in the gut-wrenching task of caregiving for someone with Alzheimer’s.
Last Tuesday, I reassured the caregivers that God promises to never exclude them from His presence. Jesus knew what it felt like to sacrifice, and God promises to show mercy to those who show mercy to others.
After Randall asked me to speak, my prayers centered around one point: “Lord, what do You need me to tell them?” As caregivers, God sees how we pour out abundant mercy and grace to our loved ones, He sees every one of our struggles, and He promises to stand with us as we labor in love. He loves us deeply and mourns with us as we grieve the process and ultimate loss of someone to Alzheimer’s. I told them God loves us deeply as demonstrated by His abundant mercy and grace to us and our loved ones.
And at the end the presentation, I told the caregivers:
“Where is God in Alzheimer’s? Look in the mirror. You are a reflection of God’s love to those receiving your care. Your hands and your feet are being used by God to show your loved ones His grace, mercy, and compassion.”
Not only has God given an answer to where is He in Alzheimer’s (as seen through the Beatitudes, fruit of the Spirit, and His grace and mercy), He has shown me my calling. Since I was nine years old, I had a deep desire to write. Since I was twelve, I had a deep desire to speak. Through life experiences, He is giving to me the lifelong desires of my heart to write and teach about how He demonstrates His love through caregiving, while retaining our sanity!
As the above verse states, Regifted Grace Ministry has officially been “launched by God’s grace and now safely home by God’s grace.”
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV).
©2016 Regifted Grace Ministry LLC
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