Many of us in and out of the Sandwich Generation are enjoying Advent candles and wreaths along with devotionals full of words of encouragement this season to help us prepare our hearts for Christmas.

As I talk to different family members and friends, and read various blog posts online though, I have been reminded of how many hurting hearts there are among us which can make this season more difficult.  I was so blessed to be reminded of these encouraging Bible verses and next time I light my Advent candles, I will be rejoicing that they don't just remind us of Christmas. They can also remind us that, thanks to the blessings of Easter and the Resurrection, there is so much joy that awaits us in heaven!

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night here; and they need no candle , neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And He said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true…

Revelation 22:3-6a (NKJV)

Aren't those encouraging and comforting Bible verses? For more uplifting Bible verses for the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for the elderly parents in your family and helping with your grandchildren…

Kaye

The next in our set of Bible Memory Verses activities for all of us Sandwich Generation grandparents and their grandchildren is:

Love…

It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking.1 Corinthians 13:5a (NIV)

Isn't that a fun photo and verse to share with our grandkids in this Scripture memorization project?  This granny nanny had a great time showing it off to the grandkids and enjoying their giggles! For more Inspirational Bible verses, words, and photos of encouragement, be sure to pop over to Internet Cafe Devotions for Word-Filled Wednesday.

Too busy with the Baby Boomers Generation issues of caring for elderly parents and helping with the grandkids to "stop and smell the roses?" That's never good. So here's one to enjoy. No great scent, but no allergy issues either.

For the Sandwich Generation dealing with a wide variety of family issues, it really is important to take a few minutes to just rest, breathe, pray, relax, play with your digital camera and all the photos of your grandkids.

Can you tell I enjoyed playing around with my iPhoto 09 and a rose picture taken by my easy to use Canon Powershot a1100is digital camera – one of the silver ones? Wonderful for this Baby Boomer Grannny Nanny!!! 

For more fun photos, you'll enjoy Sweet Shot Tuesday.

How has your week been going? Are you full of energy or have the Sandwich Generation issues of caring for elderly parents and pappy and granny-nanny-ing worn you out a bit? That's me. As always, it's a happy worn-out. I'm surrounded by a bevy of adorables as we prepare for a new little one and it's a lot of fun. But, as is the case with many large families, we are also currently passing a bug or two around. Definitely keeps one sleeping well each night!

Today I thought I'd share one of many wonderful and encouraging praise and worship songs to lift our spirits and encourage us in the Lord. This is Nichole Nordeman singing You Are My All In All (from the CD) with delightful photos as backgrounds for the lyrics. (You'll see her name as Nicole Nordeman on the video, but in checking her website, the correct spelling is Nichole Nordeman. )

I hope and pray  that put a smile on your face, words of encouragement in your heart, and a new lightness to your footsteps as you head back to the Sandwich Generation chores. I'm right there with you!

One of the hardest parts of being a member of the Baby Boomers Generation and the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents is the process of dealing with their illnesses and eventually with their deaths. While it's probably the most difficult, it's not the only crisis we face in our lives. I am currently praying for several dear friends walking through a wide variety of "the shadow of death," whether it's the death of a family member, the death of a job, the death of a dream…. 

As I was reading my email the other day, I spotted a headline that caught my heart - Five Steps to Peace in a Really Bad Situation. Of course, I had to read it. It was GOOD. It wasn't anything new, necessarily. In fact, it was along the lines of things I've written about before, such as The Sandwich Generation Issues of Knowing and Trusting the Will of God Even With a 5th Metatarsal Fracture or 1 Thessalonians 5:18 To Encourage The Sandwich Generation.

I've learned, though, that even though you know something, it still helps to hear it again from another perspective. I was really blessed by this devotional and I think you will be as well. Particularly if you are going through or about to go through the death of a beloved parent or other relative. 

Dr. Dean, who wrote this devotional, is, among other things, a pastor, a professor, and a counselor. And from the sounds of it, he is also right there in the trenches with us, caring for elderly parents. He wrote:

"How do you get peace in a really bad situation? You may be in the fight of your life financially and about to lose your home. It may be that you've been diagnosed with lung cancer as my father-in-law was last week. It may be that your marriage is falling apart. You fill in the blank. We're either headed into a crisis, in the midst of one, or coming out of one. Now coming out of one is great. We can see what God was up to in part and we get a measure of peace from that. But how can we get peace if we're headed into or in the midst of a crisis? God tells us how to do just that in Phil. 4:4-9. "

Rejoice in the Lord always ; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4: 4-9

This devotional and the Bible passage seemed especially appropriate this weekend as we remember all our fallen heroes in uniform. My dad and several uncles served during World War II, friends and relatives in my peer group served when I was younger, and currently I am blessed with a few special young men in my family who are actively serving and protecting us and I am so blessed by them and proud of each one of them, as I know each of you are by those special people in your family and friends.

I want to say a STRONG THANK YOU to each one, past, present, and future, as tears roll down my cheeks. You are a blessing to our country and our family! And I also want to say THANK YOU to each person who has sacrificed a beloved one to help protect our country and ourselves. 

I pray for each of them, each of you in the Sandwich Generation and the Baby Boomers Generation, and each of my family, friends, and myself, that we may be blessed on this Memorial Day weekend. And for any going through trials and loss, I pray that this devotional, and God's precious words will comfort us all. 

P.S. On this Memorial Day, if you'd like more devotions and words of encouragement, you might enjoy Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Military Chaplains, No Atheists in Foxholes, and Daily Guideposts: Daily Inspiration for Our Men and Women in Uniform :)

Kaye

Welcome to Spiritual Sunday at SandwichINK. When I was working on finding some interesting videos for last week's post, A Merry Heart for the Whole Sandwich Generation Family, I came across another one that I thought was perfect for today. The Gaithers and their family and friends have been a blessing to me since I was a young mom, just starting a close walk with God – often feeling like a failure over my mistakes, yet so encouraged as my kids and I enjoyed their children's records. One in particular, which is now on a Gaither kids DVD, was the childrens song, I Am A Promise. It was as much an encouragement to me as it was to my kids. Flash forward 30+ years, and they are now grandparents, as am I. Their kids hymn songs and praise and worship music are now blessing my grandchildren who absolutely love their Find Bullfrog DVD.

As you watch this Gaither video, I wanted to mention two things that confused me the first time I watched it. You'll see Bill Gaither on one of their homecoming tours DVDs, as he introduces an old clip from 16 years ago – at the very first Bill Gaither Homecoming. Then you'll see the old clip, which ends with the end of the prayer. THEN it flashes back to current times with a trio singing. The trio is the Gatlin Brothers and Larry Gatlin is the gentleman they are praying for. At Faithful Reader, I found a very interesting excerpt from a book by Bill Gaither and Ken Abraham, It's More Than the Music: Life Lessons for Loving God, Loving Each Other, telling more about the background of this video, including:

"We sang some more, praised the Lord, and prayed for each other. Larry Gatlin had recently come out of a rehabilitation center, where he had won a major victory over an addiction problem. He had made a fresh commitment to God and was doing well, but he was scheduled to undergo surgery on his throat to remove nodules from his vocal cords-every singer's nightmare. He didn't know whether he'd be able to sing again when he came out from the operation…Vestal Goodman had known Larry all his life. "Well, I used to change your diapers," she quipped to him. "Let's just gather around and pray." We all joined in, asking that God would heal Larry completely and give him strength. A sweet Spirit permeated the place, and we knew in our hearts that Larry would sing again." 

And as you can see by the end of this clip, filmed 16 years later, God answered that prayer resoundingly. I highly encourage you to pop over to Faithful Reader to read the whole excerpt, or better yet, click here to buy the book itself. Just the excerpt brought tears of joy to my eyes at the power and majesty of God.

Wasn't that wonderful! As a member of the hate-to-admit-we-are-aging Baby Boomers Generation, it seems like sometimes I am seeing more and more people impacted by major health problems – and not just in my generation or older. I don't know if it's just that I know more people, or major diseases are getting more insidious, but I currently know at least four people actively battling cancer – from four years to 25 to 45 to a senior citizen! These were such words of encouragement to me as I continue to pray for each of them! 

I pray for each of you, as well, in the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents, helping with the grandkids, and praying for everyone in your life, that you would also be blessed and encouraged this week in your prayers. 

Kaye

As members of the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents and helping with grandkids, do you ever find yourself in a crisis and unable to call and ask anyone to pray? Maybe there is no phone, no time, or it's too late and you don't want to wake anyone.

Did you know that you ALWAYS have someone praying for you?!?!

Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant….because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Hebrews 7:22,25-26

There's a LOT in these inspirational and encouraging Bible verses but for today, let's focus on eight words. "He ALWAYS lives to intercede for THEM." Awesome words to know that Jesus LIVES to INTERCEDE for THEM. Even more awesome to realize that THEM means US! His children. As one pastor puts it, "His kids!"

KNOW that as you go through your day, whether it's easy or hard, quiet or busy, full of sorrow or full of joy, Jesus prays for each one of you who are His children! What wonderful words of encouragement for all of us in the Sandwich Generation!

And, for more inspiring Bible verses and photos for those of us in the Baby Boomers Generation, caring for elderly parents, be sure to visit Amydeanne at the 160 Acre Woods for Word-Filled Wednesday.

Are you, like me, always on the lookout for tasty treats that are reasonably healthy and lo-cal? As a member of the metabolism-is-changing-as-I-am-aging Baby Boomers Generation, I am constantly on the lookout for that.

Thanks to a happy mistake, I have a new goodie for us. While waiting for my senior mom to do some errands, I popped into one of my favorite restaurants, Panera Bread. I love them because they have such healthy and yummily delicious soups, sandwiches, and breads. When my kids were young, I regularly used some favorite homemade wheat bread recipes and my Bosch to whip up several loaves of homemade wheat bread. They were good!

Now that I stay so busy, though, I really appreciate Panera Bread as their bread is almost as good as my homemade bread was. Not only that, they are a great place for me to get some work done while running errands and staying busy with the Sandwich Generation issues I constantly juggle.

I ordered the Pesto Vegetable Soup in a bread bowl. (I know what you’re thinking. That bread bowl adds tons of calories! It does too. But I only eat the top of it, so I stay within the calorie count of about 160 for my soup. YAY!) I have to confess, as much as I love Panera, I was a bit disappointed when they changed their Vegetable soup recipe a few months ago. I loved their old one and I haven’t been as enthused about this new one. I love Pesto sauce by itself, but I wasn’t that crazy about it in the vegetable soup. I still order it, though, on days when I want an easy-on-the-tummy soup, which was why I ordered it on this particular day.

When they buzzed me to let me know it was ready, I went to pick it up. I was thrilled when she said, “Oh, wait a minute. I forgot to add the Pesto.” My first reaction was to say, “Oh, don’t put it on!” My second reaction was to “hedge my bets" – in case it was better with the pesto than without. So I added, “Please just put it on the side.”

Talk about a great mistake! The soup was much more to my taste without the pesto in it. AND with the Pesto on the side, I was able to enjoy a treat I used to love – use the pesto sauce as a bread dip! YUMMY!

It was a small enough portion, it shouldn't be too high in calories and they are already included in the calorie count Panera has on their menu boards. A delicious treat and yummy lunch!

Today I went back with my senior mom and purposely ordered the Pesto Vegetable soup with the pesto on the side. They were happy to do it and it tasted just as yummy as the last time. I must say that was definitely a delightful mistake and gift from God to this member of the Sandwich Generation. If you’re looking for a slightly different lunch treat or missing the old vegetable soup, as well, give it a try and let me know what you think.

As members of the Sandwich Generation, caring for elderly parents and helping with our grandchildren, praying for our families is always a high priority. Interruptions can come frequently which is another reason I love to have a list of simple Scripture prayers. They make it easy for me to be praying Scripture according to God's will for everyone in my family, from my senior parents on down to my youngest grandchild, and for myself as well. They are also great for prayer and Bible memory verse activities FOR grandparents and their grandchildren!

All of you, live in harmony with one another;

be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing,

because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing…

seek peace and pursue it…

in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

1 Peter 3:8,9,11,15 (NIV)

Aren't those wonderful and encouraging Bible verses to use as simple Scripture prayers? They're hanging in my bathroom and in my car right now!

For more pictures along with inspiring Bible verses for all of us in the Sandwich Generation, dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents while helping with our grandchildren, please visit Penny Raine for Word-Filled Wednesday.

How's your weather doing? Ours has been extremely interesting, with the emphasis on extremely. My grand-tween and I made it to church yesterday, plus did some shopping afterwards – dodging massive rain, prolonged thunder, and rooster-tail rain puddles in the street gutters all day! For this member of the always-fighting-aging Baby Boomers Generation caring for elderly parents and being a Granny Nanny, getting enough sleep is vital. Didn't happen yesterday! Between thunder and storm alerts, I was up after 5.5 hours of sleep and spent the rest of the day, I'm afraid I have to confess, a bit on the grumpy side. I kept fighting it and praying about it and dealing with it.

Then God gave me a big smile! Popping into Sam's Club for my last errand, I discovered that two of my favorite healthy snacks, which had both disappeared late last fall, were BACK! It was like a hug from God and such an encouragement. Then I came home and started visiting some of the Spiritual Sunday sites and got even more hugs and smiles and words of encouragement. I never saw a physical rainbow yesterday, but God definitely gave me several spiritual rainbows!

What were those healthy snacks, you ask? Of course I'll share them with you.

Late last summer and into early fall, I thoroughly enjoyed Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers. Hummus is very healthy for you, though a bit high in fat. The nice part, though, is that the fat is primarily olive oil which is a good fat. (Yup, I learned that from the South Beach Diet Recipes Books.) I am not a fan of plain hummus (Isn't that a tough name to spell? After "experimenting" with my spellchecker, I discovered it is NOT spelled hummis or hummos or humuus! ). I am, however, a big fan of the flavoring of this delicious Sabra Hummus Dip. The Multi-Grain Crackers add a special tang to the flavor with their sesame and flax seeds (among other grains).

A couple of weeks ago, though, I bought some favorite crackers that also have a rather strange name – Kavli Rye Crispbread Crackers. These come in a variety of ways, including garlic, pesto, and thick.  My favorite, however, is the crispy thin which disappeared from my local grocery store shelves quite a while ago. After much research, I discovered I could buy them from Amazon for the same price as the grocery store and, with my Amazon Prime Discount Membership I could get them in two days with no shipping fees! As a busy member of the Sandwich Generation dealing with the issues of caring for elderly parents, helping with the grandkids, writing, and more, I really appreciate that! And it turns out they taste delicious with my hummus as well! Woo Hoo!

My second treasure from the Sam's Club Warehouse was the Italian Rose Mango Salsa. This is a fresh gourmet tomato salsa that has a hint of sweetness from the mango. One of my daughters introduced me to it after discovering it at her Costco, and I'm so glad she did. It's delicious with Pita crackers, the Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers, or any tortilla chip. I try to stick with the baked ones to keep it a bit healthier, and when I can find the multi-grain chips, like Trader Joe's carries, I'm always thrilled. Sadly, we have no Trader Joe's near us. I am pleased to report, however, that Amazon has Garden of Eatin' Tortilla Chips with Flax Seed (I LOVE flax seed!) for a very reasonable price and they, too, are eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime Discount Membership. I'm going to give them a try!

For those of you who can't find the Sabra Red Pepper Hummus or the Italian Rose Fresh Mango Tomato Salsa, or prefer to make your own, I did find some intriguing looking recipes for you. I think I'm going to send them to a good friend, as well, before my next visit to her, with a bit of a "hint hint." They sound really good!

Taste of Home is a favorite cooking magazine resource for both my senior mom and myself. When I saw their site was one with mango salsa recipes, I had to grab the link!

Pinch My Salt has a yummy looking recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. I'm not sure if it's the best hummus recipe out there, but it looks awfully good. And the article is really fun to read!

If you give these a try, or have your own resource or recipe, we'd love to hear about them. For the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents and chasing after grandchildren when playing tag, eating healthy isn't just tasty, it's downright important! Our healthy bodies can help give us the energy we need to keep up with all our family responsibilities!