Caregiver Help Photo A few weeks ago in the middle of the church service, my 6-year-old granddaughter piped up and said, “My parents don’t believe in God.” I whispered, “I know. That’s okay. Papa and I do, and you can too.”

I wasn’t happy with my response. A few days later I asked our priest how he describes God. He replied, “The Bible says, ‘God is love’”. My response was, “Of course. That explains everything.”

When you are a caregiver, it’s easy to get discouraged and to question where God is in all of this. I believe the answer is that God is in each of us in the form of love. It’s love that gives us the patience to care for someone whose memories have been stolen by Alzheimer’s disease. It’s love that enables us to slow our pace to match that of a person whose gait has been affected by Parkinson’s. It’s love that gets us up in the middle of the night and gives us the strength to keep going during the day when when we’re cleaning up messes, preparing meals and dispensing medication for people who are aged, chronically ill or disabled.

Melissa will be going to church again with us today. I will look for an opportunity to tell her that God is love. I will also tell her that it’s okay if her parents don’t believe in God right now, because I know God still believes in them.

As you go about your caregiving duties today, I hope you can be aware of God’s love within you and can believe that God is grateful for all you do.