Do you enjoy sharing encouraging and inspirational Bible verses with your grandchildren, whether they live nearby or far away? As a member of the Sandwich Generation, dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents while having fun with spiritual and educational activities for grandparents and their grandchildren, that's one of my biggest pleasures. Last week, while my grandsons were having fun with a play clay Pasta set, I was able to use the time and the project as a great illustration of the verses,

O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter;

and all of us are the work of Your hand…

Isaiah 64:8

and

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…

Ephesians 2:10a

Doesn't their "spaghetti and meatballs" look good enough to eat! We used it to talk about how, just like they were creating their little masterpieces out of the play clay, God is the potter Who is creating His masterpieces out of us. As with play clay, He may have to smooth pieces out, soften them up, reshape them, but He is perfect at all He does! We just need to surrender ourselves to Him to be used by Him in whatever wonderful ways He will take us.

It'll take a few more years, and a few more clay sessions for them to fully understand the point, but eternal seeds have been planted in their hearts and in ours. What seeds have you planted in a child's heart this month? We'd love to hear about them!

For more words and Scriptures of encouragement and inspiration for the Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandparent, please visit Word-Filled Wednesday at hosted by Susan from Forever His.

For many of us Sandwich Generation senior home care givers and grandparents, our schedules are not our own. We make plans, someone gets sick, there go the plans! In reality, though, they should never be our own. As a few wise pastors have taught me down through the years, my goal each day is to surrender myself, my life, AND my schedule to God. I've been doing that for years and never regretted it.

As David reminds us in Psalm 31:14-15b, "I trust in You, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in Your hands!" (NIV) 

Those words have been a rock for me in many traumatic storms throughout my life, including as a Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandma. I have been blessed to have them memorized for those moments when I so desperately needed them!

For more wise words of encouragement  for the Sandwich Generation, along with interesting and intriguing pictures, please visit Penny Raine where you will find plenty of wonderful inspirational Bible verses to encourage and inspire you on this Word-Filled Wednesday.  :)

I was watching the NCIS TV show this week and chuckled when Ziva used the line, "You say potatos and I say po tahhh toes" (or something like that ), referring back to the Gershwin, "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" lyrics.  I thought of that line today when I was doing some research on one of my favorite "weapons" against cold weather – Cuddl Duds. Or, as many people write it, Cuddle Duds. Or then again, CuddlDuds or even CuddleDuds. With the E or without it, I love them! They are perfect for a busy Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandmother who is bopping in and out of the car, in and out of the grandkids' house, in and out of the doctors' offices, in and out of the store….

Cuddle Duds are wonderfully lightweight, yet warm, long underwear, including long pants and long-sleeved shirts, among other items. They come in ultra-thin and regular weights. They seem to be the perfect blend of whatever is needed to keep us warm outside without roasting too much when you are inside. I just use the long pants for winter warmth. Since my body temp is fairly warm these days, I wait until the temps are going to be down in the 30s or less. Then, if I know I'll be in and out during the day I pop them on under my jeans and I'm comfortable all day long.

My senior mom has reached that season of life where she gets cold much easier, so she will often wear the pants even when the temps are in the 50s. Both of us prefer the thinner active wear style Cuddle Duds pants compared to the cuddl johns which are thicker. I do have those, as well, but usually have to wear pants a size larger than normal to be comfortable in them. They are a bit warmer, so I save them for days when I know I have to be outside all the time. I rarely have those anymore, since my days as field trip coordinator and driver to such fun activities as a school ski day are long gone with the graduation of my youngest years ago.

They are also very useful for aging parents even if they are staying at home all day. My senior mom is great at layering, but my grandfather hated doing that. He could have worn these cuddle duds (yes, they have them for men, too), under his regular clothes, and then wouldn't have needed to keep his heater at 80! (I kid you not!!!) 

I love that Cuddle Duds are one of the few items of clothing my whole family loves – from the youngest adult to the eldest. When there's a sale on Cuddle Duds, we all try to let each other know, though if I do need more and my schedule won't allow me to get to the store, I appreciate that I can easily order them at Amazon complete with home delivery! Now that's especially nice for a senior home care giver and grandmother who is constantly juggling different needs!

How about you? Have you tried Cuddle Duds? Do you love them as much as we do? If not, what do you use to keep warm outside and not too hot inside as you are out and about on those busy Sandwich Generation days?  :)  :) 

Looking for some interesting Christian fiction to read while waiting at the doctor's office with your elderly parent? How about some historical or contemporary romance novels for those times you are sitting in the car pool pick up line waiting for a grandkid? Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group has several new novels for us to enjoy and you can find out about two of them right here at SandwichINK as we join them for a Value Fiction Blog Tour! What's that, you might ask? It's where several blogs join together to write about new books that might be of interest to their readers. In my case, I'll be reviewing books that might appeal to the Sandwich Generation, as well as the Baby Boomer Generation, their senior parents, and maybe even some kid books for our grandkids.

BENEATH A SOUTHERN SKY by Deborah Raney is an intriguing contemporary novel that will remind many of us in the Baby Boomer Generation of the Doris Day movie, Move Over, Darling. Daria Camfield is a Christian missionary working with her husband, Nate, in South America. She is grief stricken when she is informed of the death of Nate. He had left her behind to provide medical help to people in a native village further away from their mission home base. Once she heard the news, she decided to go back to the states in order to have help from her family with the baby she was expecting. As in Doris Day's movie, time passed, she met another Christian man of high integrity who grew to love her and her daughter, and they were married. 

Three years after her husband's death she and her family are shocked and devastated to learn he had not died after all. Unlike Move Over Darling, this book is not a comedy. Instead it's an interesting Christian novel with substance that realistically portrays mission life along with all the ramifications of this particularly difficult situation. I really enjoyed reading it, especially since it had a solid ending that was very satisfying.

YESTERDAY'S PROMISE, by Linda Lee Chaikin, is a novel similar to the Regency Romances my cousin and I enjoyed when we were young adults, only with more depth. Combining a dashing aristocrat, a sweet and lovely young woman of mystery, and a death that may not have been of natural causes, this has all the ingredients for an enjoyable read, coupled with well-researched historical information for both England and South Africa in the 1800s. It also includes a missionary theme interwoven with the fascinating mystery and, of course, a sweet romance. It's part two of a three part trilogy but it was fine that I hadn't read part one. One caveat to this book if you loan it to an elderly parent. It moves back and forth in time to heighten the suspense. It's a common tactic in many of today's TV shows, but that can make it hard for an aging parent to follow it. I'll be passing it on to my senior mom, but I'll warn her about that so she'll know what to expect. They do a great job of helping you keep track by putting the dates in the top, which I very much appreciated.

Both books combine interesting stories with faith-based plots to make our waiting periods a lot more interesting. I'm recommending them to you and plan to send some as gifts to a couple of my senior adult bookworms. They'll make a great Random Act of Kindness.  For that matter, I bet my sweet cousin will enjoy them along with a couple of my daughters. Definitely good books for all of my Sandwich Generation friends and family.  If you'd like to pick some up as well, you can find them at Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group, who provided these books for this review.  A hearty thank you to them for the blog tour and for providing all of us in the Sandwich Generation with some great reading options. 

It's truly wonderful what kind of impact familiar music and lyrics can have on the beloved elderly of the Sandwich Generation. It's especially exciting when it can reach the mind, even if just for a second, of one who has dementia symptoms. One such song that has that kind of potential has to be Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby.

I was thinking about that a few weeks ago, as I stood in church singing this song with the congregation. I looked around the room and saw so many faces – from very young to very old – singing away, many sharing the broad smile I had on my own face. I love the music, and even more, I love the wonderful words – especially the refrain:

Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:

This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;

this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. 

Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

            (Refrain)

Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest,

watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

          (Refrain)

I already knew Fanny Crosby was a blind songwriter from the 1800s who loved God with all her heart. I was touched to read in Wikipedia that her father died when she was young and she was raised by her mother and grandmother – talk about a great example of the Sandwich Generation, long before the term was ever coined. I especially appreciated the quote I found there,

"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.

Most of us don't have to struggle with blindness in our day to day lives, but we all have various trials and tribulations. This is especially true for those of us in the Sandwich Generation who may be dealing with our own health issues as well as those of senor parents, and sometimes even our grandkids. But without those trials in our lives, perhaps we might not have come to know God in the same way. I'm with her. Those are opportunities for us to submit ourselves totally to Him and watch Him work in and through us.

Submit, therefore, to God. James 4:7

Here is a wonderful YouTube version of this lovely hymn. It would be perfect for sharing with a special senior or two. Wouldn't that be a delightful Random Act of Kindness for them, that will bless you as well. And if you do, we'd love for you to share it with us too.

Have a blessed Sunday. And don't forget to sign up for the FREE SandwichINK email for more great praise and worship songs through the year to encourage Sandwich Generation senior home care givers and grandparents and their families.

Welcome to SandwichINK. Normally you would find an article full of great Tuesday Twitter resources for you. Today, though, I'm doing a bit of exploring. First, I'm learning about how to add occasional polls to this site. Even more importantly, I'd like to use this poll to learn your opinion of the Tuesday Twitter (sometimes Monday Micro) resources. I'd love it if you'd select one of the options below. And yes, I'd also enjoy reading comments from you – how the poll worked, if you like polls, more info about how you like (or don't like) the Tuesday Twitter resources articles, etc.  

My grandkids and I finished working on the Fruit of the Spirit Scripture memorization verses, activities and crafts, and have gone back to our Awana verses. We still do a lot of talking about love, though. God’s love for us and our love for each other. Yesterday, two of the grandboys and I were talking about loving God with all our heart, loving others, and even loving our enemies.

As I was praying about God’s love this morning, He reminded me of the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that talks about love:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly;

It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

Does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails…But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Isn’t that a wonderful prescription for caregiving. It doesn’t matter whether you are taking care of an aging parent, an adorable but precocious grandkid, or for that matter, dealing with a sweet but but occasionally recalcitrant spouse. Perhaps it’s a cute but capricious teen? How about a boss or coworker who sometimes makes you want to scream. Let’s face it, no one is perfect. And as members of the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents and grandchildren, we sometimes see our loved ones in worse moods than anyone else because they don’t feel well. Focusing on and following God’s prescription to love them, no matter what, really does make a difference.

It’s not enough, though, to read this once, think how nice it is and promptly forget it. I used to have it posted in my bathroom and would pray through a different verse from it each day. Over the last few years. I must have prayed through it more than one hundred times. You’d think I’d have it totally memorized, but my brain just doesn’t work that way anymore. The Holy Spirit does though. It astounds me how often I will be in the midst of a difficult situation, start feeling a little hot around the collar, and all of a sudden one of the verses from this passage pops into my brain. I wish I could tell you how perfect I am at following it all the time. I'm not. I’m learning, though. Step by step and prayer by prayer. And when I’m working on activities for grandparents and grandchildren to teach them, it’s awesome to see God using it there as well.

It's not currently hanging in my bathroom as the shower humidity crinkled my old one and when I moved, it got put into the "to do" box. If I were really on top of things, I’d grab a roll of clear plastic contact paper, encase a new printout of the verses in that, and hang it up. Then it would stay much nicer, much longer. I’d add some pretty pictures too. Simple works for me, though. So I guess I'd best take my own advice, reprint it, hang it in my new bathroom, and start praying through it again. It'll be a great way for this member of the Sandwich Generation to start this New Year! I'd love to have you join me in this and let us know in the comments below. Have a blessed day and a great week!

Happy Second Sunday of Advent! My senior mom and I returned late this week from visiting family. It was so wonderful to see family members we rarely see and we were thrilled with all the wonderful hugs and love. Then we got to come home to even more wonderful hugs and love from family we are blessed to be close to. Talk about a wonderful HIGH for the week.

It wasn’t all happy and roses though as we had to deal with some health issues for a close senior relative, including a CAT scan to see what, if anything, was causing some stomach discomfort. After a lot of prayer and concern, the doctor said nothing major was showing up and that hopefully the discomfort would pass, otherwise more tests would follow in the coming weeks.

So far, praise God, the pain seems to have vanished and our dear kin is doing much better. I was so encouraged by all the prayers from our family, including one grandchild who even asked her class to pray. It is such a blessing to see the fruit of our teaching blooming so wonderfully in the next generation! And it is so encouraging to see God’s hand at work, even in dark situations. This time, it looks like He is giving us a reprieve. I know another time He may allow us to go through “high waters.” I also know that, even then, we can rest solidly on His promises including one of my absolute favorites from Isaiah 41:10:

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Surely I will help you,

SURELY I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

I LOVE that second SURELY, don’t you! What a wonderful verse to give us hope during difficult situations! And what a blessing to be surrounded by family and friends who God often uses to encourage us.

One of my online friends who is great at that is Denise Brown from Caregiving.com. Today, she is kicking off a “Caregiving Holiday Progressive Blog Party” for care givers. To any and all who are visiting from that party, WELCOME! The goal of SandwichINK is to provide information and words of encouragement to all care givers, with a focus on the Sandwich Generation. The Sandwich Generation is made up of those who are providing senior home care to aging parents while still caring for kids at home and/or even helping extensively with grandchildren. Many of us are also in the Baby Boomer Generation.

I’ve been a member of the Sandwich Generation for over ten years, helping with senior parents, including my father who is now in heaven after battling with Parkinson’s Disease for over 15 years. I also help care for four of my many wonderful grandchildren, and deal with a wide variety of issues in that arena including special needs. Life is always challenging, never boring, and definitely rewarding and I am so grateful to God for that! I enjoy helping others, both through hands-on care and through my writing. SandwichINK, along with SandwichINK Real Estate Info (where I combine my love of real estate with the needs of the Sandwich Generation), both give me a chance to do just that!

I’d love for you to sign up SandwichINK’s free email. You’ll get regular updates on all that’s going on here, including fun projects for grandparents, great resources for senior home caregivers, tech tips to keep your computer working well, happy holiday ideas like Advent wreaths and fun Christmas tree ornaments, and so much more!

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed Christmas season! Don’t forget to click on Caregiving.com’s Party Widget to find more interesting Progressive Party sites!  And check back tomorrow for A Pause for Advent!

The holidays are coming closer and I suspect there’s a wide mixture over how various Sandwich Generation senior home care givers are feeling about it. Some of us are looking forward to it with total glee. Others are in the place I was the year my dad passed away. Our joy and anticipation in the season is tempered by sadness in dealing with our aging parent’s declining health.

I remember going to a Thanksgiving church service and being blessed by the joyful songs and the adorable children’s choir, then going home straight into a new crisis resulting in a trip to the emergency room. We never made it to the church’s Christmas programs which are often one of my favorite holiday traditions. The Hospice program helped so much, and also kept me so busy during that time period. There are many sad memories, but also many blessed ones, like how the kids helped out so wonderfully during the difficult situations, and how his great-grandkids could bring a smile to my dad’s face that little else could do. I especially loved how sweet my parents continued to be with each other during this hard time. It was definitely not our normal holiday season, but it was a blessed season of life!

Other senior home care givers are dealing with aging parents struggling with long-term chronic illnesses such as cancer. Last year, at the end of the holiday season, I read an interesting article by Melanie Haiken, from Caring’s website, How to Celebrate the New Year — with Cancer. It was such a good article, I put it on my calendar to be sure I shared it with you during this holiday season, well before New Year’s! Even though her focus is on cancer, I suspect that much of it is true for most of our aging parents with any kind of debilitating illness. Of course, you always want to check with your own doctor to be sure, but this article should give you some great questions next time you take your aging parents to the doctor’s office. If you aren’t going before the holidays, you could give your advice nurse a call and check with them.

After reading this article of how much our aging parents can probably do during the holiday season, I was greatly encouraged and I hope you will be too.

What about you? Do you have any tips to share with us on how to combine senior home care giving and the holiday season? We’d love to hear them. And be sure to sign up for the SandwichINK free email with plenty of resources to inform and encourage you during the holidays and beyond.

As the old saying partially goes, few things are as certain as death.  Whether it’s a beloved senior parent, an aging relative, or even a dear elderly neighbor, we are very likely to be in a position to plan or help plan funeral services sometime in the not so far away future.

When I was a teen I remember reading a book by Vance Packard that, among other things, detailed the various ways to save money on funerals. His books were interesting and informative and I was determined to follow the guidelines he suggested…until I was in a position when I had to do so, while dealing with waves of grief and helping family members deal with their pain as well. Saving dollars on funeral costs was the furthest thing from my mind then. All I cared about was making things as easy and comforting as possible for everyone I loved.

I thought of that when reading an interesting article in the newspaper this week. Emily Fredrix wrote, “Wal-Mart starts selling caskets, urns online,” about the fact that Walmart is now selling caskets on line at deeply discounted prices. Turns out Costco also sells caskets online, along with a few other stores including Overstock. I was interested to note that Sam’s Club does not carry caskets though they do have some lovely casket spray floral arrangements.

Walmart can ship their caskets directly to the funeral home you selected and they give you the option of taking up to 12 months to pay with low monthly payments and no interest. That could be a big help to those dealing with an unexpected death, those who have to wait on insurance payments, and those on tight budgets, especially if they’ve been dealing with a major illness requiring expensive hospitalization. Walmart cannot deliver caskets to all areas of the U.S. You should check their list now for future reference, and then check it again at the time you actually need it, as changes could occur.

Costco can also ship to the funeral home of your choice and they, too, have restrictions on where they can ship the caskets.  Both also limit returns to “due to freight or cosmetic damage from shipping” and you will need to contact them before returning it.

These are definitely interesting and useful options to know about. I think it would be a bit more stressful in the short-term to go this route, as opposed to letting well-trained staff at the mortuary walk you through it all. At the same time, a very expensive funeral will cause stress over a prolonged period of time.

Discussing future plans ahead of time with all your family members, especially your senior parents, is one of the wisest steps you can take. Share this info on caskets along with information about other funeral costs with them as well and talk about what you all would prefer and what you can handle. Be aware, though, that when the time actually comes, you may change your mind just because of strong emotions. Discuss that as well so that you will all be prepared for that situation as well.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…