DEMENTIA CAREGIVER GRIEF SUPPORT
First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama
"Tracing Faith: New Perspectives on Caregiver Grief and the Gospel" 

One of the main reasons I decided to invest in our little backyard farm was to create a special place of healing and restoration for me and my mom. I did a lot of research and wanted it to include a combination of veggies, flowers, plants, and pollinators to invite added sensory enjoyment to help with sustaining mom’s cognitive functioning as long as possible. About a year before mom died (having no idea her death would come when it did) I went in search of planting 3 trees.

Do you know how relational the Lord really is? The scriptures offer us so many clues as to how God moves in the lives of His children. I was listening to a sermon this week and heard an exegesis that took my breath away about how the Old Testament is like a shadow and the New Testament like the living presence of God (through the Jesus in human form) It moved me so because it downloaded this fresh experience of the ambiance and essence of Christ and how connected He truly is

In a world with one-minute reels, social media sermons and 30 second affirmations I don’t want us to get to a place where we substitute the quick takes for time with God. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing better than leaning into the Lord – periodt. I submit there are a multiplicity of ways to do that. Sincere messages of encouragement and thoughtful, balanced sermon snapshots can be a Godsend. I must balance this with another truth in hopes of filling your soul even more

Spiritually religious moments are not working anymore. Even before the pandemic there was a slow simmer elevating to a boil in the Christian church. As I prepared to graduate from seminary, I spent over a year with St. Marks United Methodist Church working with the Pastors and community; I learned how dissatisfied and unfulfilled the souls of our people were in the routine of their daily lives. Our faces are smiling, bodies in church, mouths singing/praising, relationships po

I was talking to several people this past week about grief. Each of them happened to be Christians and were talking about their grief journey almost apologetically. Though each relationship unique and grief journey different, the persons seemed to hold a belief that somehow because they were Christians navigating life without their loved one should not feel as hard – that the depth of their emotional heaviness should not be so low or endure for so long. Nothing could be furth

Hello everyone. I’ve been out and about trying to elevate the pitch about caregiving economics, caregiver respite, mental wellbeing, and soul health. This week an opportunity came up fast for an interview live on WBOK talk radio with Courtney P. and Gralen Banks. Their show, The Front Porch is kind of a saucy respite of its own making – fun energy, rich conversation, Nola vibe, real talk, and community love. My conversation with Courtney and Gralen was yesterday May 12th and

Grief has a language easiest to understand by the bereaved. Sometimes supporting a person on this journey may feel confusing and the language difficult to follow especially if you haven’t experienced a certain magnitude of death yourself. It’s ok if the language feels unfamiliar, the principles are simple - words aren’t nearly as important as consistency and presence. Your person grieving is at a loss for words and their reality shaken. This adjustment is emotional, mental, s

When I was caring for my mom, there were times I would experience bouts of angry. I knew my love for my mom was immoveable; I also knew no matter what hurtful thing the Alzheimer’s would cause her to say to me, she did not mean it. Over the years, my prayer life became filled with moments of great anguish and grief, other times uncertainty, anger, and impatience. Certainly, the demands of caregiving can take a toll. My counselor’s and support systems regularly validated those