Lamentations 3:22 – It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (KJV)
Romans 8:35 – Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (KJV)
Mark 6:31 – And [Jesus] said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. (KJV)

Several years ago, I was considered one of the Sandwich Generation. My husband and I both worked and volunteered; my parents, living in another community, were older and not in good health, requiring me to visit them frequently; our children were teenagers and involved in many activities requiring my presence in the driver's seat, at meetings, for fundraising, and just general attendance; and so I was sandwiched in the middle, trying to accommodate everyone, primarily my kids and my parents.

Spouses, or some other support system such as family members or friends, for those of us who are blessed with them, could be compared to the condiments of a sandwich, for while one of us is usually the primary caregiver, they are there to help our position, to boost our morale, to support us; for these can be very trying times. It is especially important during these times that we recognize God's smallest mercies, that we don't allow our circumstances to separate us from Him.

There are those for whom these times seem to swallow them up; they can't see themselves with any sort of relief in the near future. Community-based respite may not be available. Further family support may be sparse and far between or not at all. We find our trials and tribulations to be a test of our faith, a source to separate us from our love of Christ. However, we all have within us a desert place to which we can run. It is called prayer.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come to you in prayer at any time, in any place; the opportunity to give thanks, to ask for your guidance, for your presence to be ever with us. Help us to see that your compassion, your answer to our prayers often comes in many small mercies: like the light in the dawn on a Monday morning, a flicker of recognition of something on an Alzheimers patient's face, a phone call from a friend, an extra ten minutes' sleep. In Your name we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Mary Daniel <marydee@shaw.ca>
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
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