Peter Rosenberger: Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver, here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Rosenberger, and this is the program for you as a family caregiver, a show for caregivers, for people who knowingly, voluntarily, that means without pay for those of you in McDuncan and oftentimes exasperatingly put themselves between a chronically impaired loved one and even worse disaster. How are you doing? How are you holding up? What's going on with you? That's what this show is about. That's what we ask. Those are the questions we ask. We ask a lot of questions. All for the express purpose of checking in with you to help you stay strong and healthy as you take care of someone who is not. Because. Say it with me. Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. Say it again with me. Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. See, there you go. Hope for the caregiver.com hopeforthecaregiver.com if you want to find out more information.

American Family Radio is celebrating 35 years with a survey

Okay. I recently completed a survey. This was sent to me by the American Family association of this network belongs to them, American Family Radio. And they have a, publication called the Stand. Maybe you've heard of it. And it's. They have an, online and then they have a print version. And I have participated in that publication in various ways over the years that I've been with American Family Radio. And they're doing a special AFR issue to celebrate the show host and 35 years of American Family Radio. What were you doing 35 years ago? Think about that. Back in 1991, George H.W. bush was president, and we didn't have widespread use of cell phones and social media. It was a. We didn't even know what it was. CNN was just coming online during the original Gulf War. I mean, things were much different 35 years ago at. American Family Radio is celebrating 35 years of this, and they ask all the different hosts to fill out a survey. And I did, you know, and I'm very grateful they, they allowed me to do this. I told you last week, this is the eighth year now that we've completed with American Family. We're in our ninth year now. And on this show. And, the fact that they choose to keep me around either, number one, shows a deplorable lack of judgment on their part or they just. Or basically I was kind of concerned because I thought maybe they. If I just kind of keep under the radar, they won't know that I'm still on the air. And they won't say anything. You know, there's, there's always that if I just got to keep it quiet, but darn if they didn't say, hey, you know what? We want to hear from you on this. And I thought, oh, oh, oh, no, no, no. But they were, they were very gracious to let me do this. But in the process of the survey, they ask a lot of very good questions, just for the, you know, just show some things about host and what our interests are and what we do and so forth. And one of the things that came out in this. What. What is something that you do that may surprise people? And I answered truthfully because, under penalty of perjury, they have all that on the form there. If you answer this wrong, then we will come and we will hurt you. No, they don'.

>>  : That.

>> Peter Rosenberger: And, and I, I put on there that people may be surprised to know that I enjoy ironing. I enjoy irony. Now, before you summon men in white coats with large butterfly nets, let me, let me explain. Let me explain. Mom taught us all to our. I, have four brothers and sisters. She taught us all how to iron early on, okay? And we were expected to do so. Dad was. In addition to being a pastor, he's a military man. And he was never out of uniform, whether he was as a pastor or as an officer. He always looked crisp and clean. Dad had this ability to do tasks and never get dirty. I remember seeing him come home and we had a garden, with all types of different things, pole beans and things like that. And he'd go out there and he'd be in shirt and tie. He didn't have his coat on necessarily at the time because it was South Carolina, it was hot. But he'd be in dress shoes, you know, suit pants and shirt and tie. And he would stop by the garden and do a little just weeding, just picking a few things, checking on things. And then he would just literally brush the dirt off of his fingers and then come in the house and just wash his hands. But, and never look like he'd been doing anything except sitting in a nice office all day long. He had this ability to do this. Well, guess what? I will tell you that I have inherited that ability. I can do that sort of thing. I, have a best friend of mine, lifelong best friend, who cannot. Decades and decades ago, when we were in high school, junior high, we worked at a camp, and we were part of the, work crew, and we did trash runs and worked in the kitchen and all that kind of stuff. And he used to. They made fun of me because I would do the same work. I was doing everything with them, and I would still look clean and tidy. And I don't know, I got that from dad. But anyway, dad always was pressed and neat and, never disheveled in that regard. So that was just his thing. And he maintained that, and he was very dignified in that. And he expected us to leave the house without looking rumpled or slovenly. you don't get to use the word slovenly very much, but I wanted to throw that in there for you. But he expected this. And we had to learn how to iron, you know, our clothes and, and look appropriate. And by the way, just on a separate note, if you ever scuffed your feet when you walked, oh, you could get a flick behind your ear real quick. He wouldn't stand for that. Shoulders back, walking straight. I mean, he was a captain of the Navy. I mean, he, he expected certain things. And there was a time he literally wanted to see a quarter bounce on my bed when we made the bed up. I mean, he, he just wouldn't tolerate that kind of thing. And I respect that and I'm very grateful for it. But ironing was something that you had to learn how to do. Mom was not there to iron for all of us. And, I mean, there's six kids. I mean, she'd be ironing 24, seven. So we learned how to do it, and it was just a chore. and it was practical. I mean, dry cleaning bills can be expensive. Send it to the cleaners. And, yeah, it's nice to get impressed, but, but also, cleaners are hard on a shirt. And, and I saw no reason to pay for somebody else to do something that I already knew how to do. Plus, now we live more than 50 miles from a cleaners, okay? So I'm not going to have exactly an easy time getting to the cleaners with a bunch of shirts. Now, I live in Montana, so it's not like I'm wearing pinpoints every day to the office.

Why do I like to iron? And what's going on with that

Even though when I do video hits for different media things and interviews and so forth, I'm always wearing nice shirts, jacket, so forth, because I've done, you know, new stuff from, back east and, and all kinds of things. So, you know, even in my office, I will still have dress shirts and so forth. I don't wear buckskin and, you know, things like that. Just because I'm in Montana. it looked like Roy Rogers, but. But no, we, we, you know, it was just something that you learn how to do and it's practical. But over time, what used to be a chore became something else. And this is what I learned from doing this survey from American Family. I didn't really think about it that much until I was writing this out. And you'll see this in the stand. And I don't know that I got into all that greater detail with it in the stand, but, it just brought this to surface on why do I like to iron? And what's going on with that?

One of the hallmarks of caregiving is plenty of laundry

One of the hallmarks of caregiving, that they don't tell you in the brochure when you sign up for caregiving University, is that there's plenty of laundry. Now, you may not have yet noticed that as a caregiver. I, on the other hand, being a caregiver of 40 years, have indeed noticed that there's quite a bit of laundry and that you must become adept at doing laundry. I, when I now mom did teach us these things, but some of the things didn't stick. The ironing did. But laundry, you know, everything goes in the same thing and you wash it on, you know, just cold. And you know, I'm surprised that my clothes were ever clean, you know, once I got into college and so forth. But, you know, that's a different story. But it certainly. Gracie was fastidious about laundry and she wanted to make sure that I. And I've been doing pretty much all the household chores now for well over 30 years. And I do all the laundry. I pick out the laundry detergent that I like. By the way, recently we had to buy a new washing machine because our old one had to have a Christian burial. So we took it out and shot it. And, and it's, you know, that's just part of being a caregiver, though, is you got to have a very good washing machine and you got to deal with a lot of laundry and you need to know what to do with it. And for example, Gracie doesn't like everything dried, you know, because the dryer can be hard on clothes. It can shrink certain things. It can be hard on things. So she wants certain things hung up and so forth. And I learned how to do all that. And, and I used one piece of technology in all my chores. That is my favorite piece of technology, and that is a Bluetooth earpiece. So that when I'm on the phone, and I'm on the phone a good bit, but I need to be hands free because I'm always doing chores and well, look we're up against the break, so I need to stop right here. And I'm going to come back in a moment and tell you the rest of this gripping story about ironing and why as a caregiver, this has become important to me. Hope for the caregiver and ironing. Yes. See, this is why I was reluctant to fill out that survey for American Family, because they're going to find out that I'm doing a show about ironing. They're going to get mad at me. We'll be right back.

>>  : Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by preborn allowed her to hear her baby's heartbeat.

>> Peter Rosenberger: The sonogram sealed the deal for me. My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope, and I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside, I mean, that sonogram changed my life. I went from just Candace to mom. Thank you. To everybody that has given these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love.

>>  : Preborn currently has clinics that do not have ultrasound machines. Would you consider a leadership gift and sponsor a machine today? These life Saving machines cost $15,000 more than most centers can afford. Your donation will save countless lives for years to come. Dial £250 and say the keyword baby or go to preborn.com afr while

>> Peter Rosenberger: in the emergency room with my wife as she was struggling with the Cove 19 virus herself. And I looked at her, I said, are you scared? And she said, a little bit, but I've been through worse.

>>  : The certainty of mankind's history with uncertainty. An article by Peter Rosenberger.

>> Peter Rosenberger: And then as her fever was approaching almost 103, she started singing. In Christ alone, I placed my trust and find my glory in the power of the cross. And that's how she has anchored herself in the certainty of Christ, through her huge medical journey that has included 80 surgeries, both of her legs amputated, 100 doctors have treated her, 12 hospitals, and now the COVID 19 virus. And so when we live with those kinds of uncertainties, anchoring ourselves in Christ, in Christ alone, that's the only place we can run to where there is certainty.

>>  : To read this article and more, visit afa.net thestand.

Peter Rosenberger hosts Hope for the Caregiver on American Family Radio

>> Peter Rosenberger: Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Rosenberger. Hope for the caregiver.com Hope for the caregiver.com Take a moment to go out there and see what I've put out there for you. From there, you can access music, books, my substack, which is it? you could directly link from my website or go straight to it@caregiver substack.com Standing with Hope, which is the presenting sponsor for this radio program, and it's Standing With Hope. we have two different outreaches. We have one for Gracie's fellow amputees, the prosthetic limb outreach that we've been doing for well over 20 years now, and the others for my fellow caregivers. It's for the wounded and those who care for them. You can see all of that out at my website, Hope for the caregiver.com. hope for the caregiver.com. okay.

I'm always on Bluetooth, so I can be hands free at all times

When last we left our heroes, we were talking about a pressing matter, which is ironing and a survey that I filled out for American Family Radio that's going to be featured in, in American Family Association's publication the Stand. I didn't get into a lot of details on my love of ironing, or maybe it's my sick obsession with it, but one of the survey questions was, what's something about you that may surprise people? And so I put that on there and I was thinking about the, why. Why, as a caregiver, is this something I discuss, do, you know, even think about? And so I wanted to take a moment to share that with you and share why this has become something. And I told you before the break, I have a Bluetooth that I, have in my ear at all times. So I'm on the phone when I'm out riding horses. I have it with me. So Gracie can call me and I can quickly answer the phone and come rushing back at a gallop. Tour. Tie the horse, up to the hitching post out front? No. Well, we do have a hitching post, but it's not right out front of the house. And, but, but I'm always debt or in my truck. I'm always on Bluetooth, so I can be hands free at all times. And I use that to, talk. I do interviews when you guys call me or reach out to me. people, people send me an email that listen to this program and they're surprised when I call. But it's a lot easier for me to call you than it is for me to text back to you or email back to you. So sometimes I just pick up the phone call. But please know that while I doing that, you're probably going to hear me doing chores. I'm going to be washing the dishes, emptying the Dishwasher, whatever. I'll, have my head in the, washing machine. Not in the oven. We don't even have a gas oven. I'm going to get one. I had one, but we don't have one anymore. We had one, before at our house in Nashville, and I really want to get one here, but not for the reasons you're thinking. no, I'm just kidding. But. But I. I'm always doing stuff, and a lot of that is ironing. And so when people call me or I'm talking to them, or I've even done media interviews while I'm doing all these things, I don't sit down and have a phone conversation. The longest I'll sit and do things is when I do this program. And usually I'm standing when I do that. I just don't do that. If I sit down, I fall asleep. So I get a lot of chores done in the morning before I get up very early, before Gracie ever gets up. And I get a lot of chores done and try to get everything kind of ready for the day. And then once she's up, I'll take care of her for breakfast, and then I'll go back to some other chores, Riding, recording, all kinds of things that I'm doing. Busy. But I'm back and forth with her. I have a standing desk. I sometimes sit while I'm working, but most of the time I'm standing. And if my Bluetooth goes out and I have to hold the phone to my ear, I won't talk very long. You'll get 30 seconds to a minute out of me. and I don't like being on speakerphone with it, because I walk away from the phone, and then I have to go find out, you know, you have to go back to the phone because I'm always walking around. I mean, I'm. I'm carrying a basket of laundry. I'm doing this, and I walk to the other room, and then the phone's in the other room kind of thing. In fact, I lose the phone a lot because I'm always talking about where did I leave the phone? So that. That's just the way I am. I'm always hands free. And I started ironing while doing that. And then I listened to a lot of teaching, a lot of theology, and I have a couple of pastors and a retired pastor who also was a professor. I have a messianic rabbi, a friend of mine, who is also just, a tremendous scholar. And I listen to all these guys and Talk to them personally and we discuss a lot of theology and things. I have a lot of questions as I'm working through issues and so forth. And while I do that, I'll fold laundry and I'll, and I'll iron. But it's more than a way just to stay busy. And here's where I think you as a caregiver are going to understand what I'm talking about. I can't take away Gracie's pain. I can't reverse the damage that was done to her body. I can't make her legs grow back. But here's what I can do. At night, she can get into freshly ironed sheets. Now, why is that important to me? Well, when I was younger, mom and dad always felt like, the grossest work possible was good character building exercises for us. So, like, my first job was cleaning horse stalls. Okay, that was my first job. I was 14 years old and I worked for a local stable and I was a stable boy. And I got to get $2 a stall plus free riding lessons. Even though, you know, I ride exclusively Western now, and I have been for many, many years out here in Montana, I actually started learning how to ride on an English saddle. And I remember the first horse I would ride, his name was Sam. Big old fat horse. They put me on him. And, But I would clean horse stalls. Mom would take me out to the stable after school and I would work until dinner time, and then she or one of my brothers would come pick me up. And the most I ever did and the after school till dinner time was like six stalls. I remember I was able to get six dolls, which doesn't sound like very many. And that's $12, by the way. But, for those of you paying attention to McDonkin M. But I, you know, they're big stalls. Have you ever, you ever try to clean a messy horse stall? I mean, it's a big stall and so you have to scrape everything out, all the soiled shavings and everything else. We use cedar shavings. And you take it out to the dump, the wheelbarrow behind the stable, and then you get it down to the bare dirt floor and then you put all new shavings in there and scattered out and it's. And I would often stand in the doorway when I finished a stall and look at it. And it was just. You do. You could just smell the cedar shavings and everything else. And it was just really quite, satisfying to see what was pretty rough looking just prior and so I appreciated the fact that it was a clean stalls when the horse came in. It was, it was nice and pristine for the horse. Well, then I graduated from cleaning horse stalls to working with our friends Tommy and Betsy. They had a farm and they had a bunch of pigs. And my best friend and I were tasked with a high pressure hose to go out and clean an old pig barn.

I worked in laundry at the hospital where I was born in South Carolina

Well, now that's, that's, again, mom thought the more horrific the task, the more character it would build in her teenage son. And I got to tell you, she was wrong about that. And I didn't appreciate it at all. But she, dad were just insistent that we work. You know, we didn't have video games and things like that to distract us. And you better not be lounging around watching television when dad walked in the house. I mean, we read a lot and we worked puzzles and things like that on rainy days and things like that. But when it was clear weather, we were outside that it. Go outside, just go. And we, when we didn't have street lights. So when the, when the lightning bug started blinking, that's when it was time to come in for dinner kind of thing. So that was, that was my life growing up in rural South Carolina. And so I'm cleaning the pig barn and doing all these things. And, by the way, I still remain clean. When I did it, I didn't get all dirty. Now my best friend did. I didn't. And I, again, I inherited that from my father. But I enjoyed seeing the beautiful concrete floor from this pig barn after we'd cleaned it up. And it was pretty rough to clean it up, but we got it done. And then when in college, I got a job working at the local hospital there where I grew up. And it was a hospital I was born in and I worked in. Hold on. You ready? I worked in laundry at the hospital. I mean, talk about a foreshadowing. And I, I. It was the worst job ever. Again, Mom. Mom thought the more brutal the job, the better it will be for her son. And all of us, we hauled hay out there in the South Carolina heat and humidity. That was just awful. And you know, I remember we worked all day, one day in this very cheap. He was an orthodontist, and he had a huge house and he had a farm, and he hired a bunch of neighborhood boys to haul. Hey. And we did it all day long and gave us all $10. my dad didn't say anything because dad was known for his restraint, but I could tell by the look on his face, what he thought of that orthodontist. but anyway, that's a separate note. So we did all these things, and here I am now in college. I come home, and I wanted to make sure that I was making money for my tuition and so forth, and make sure I didn't get over my head with student loan debts and all that kind of thing. And I worked laundry at the hospital. I did that 40 hours. I worked three jobs that summer, to help pay bills. And this job at laundry at the hospital was by far one of the worst jobs I've ever had in my life. And every Monday when I'd show up, you go into this room, and it was filled with those nylon bags that are in every hospital room. And then they just throw all the dirty linens in there. And it would go down a chute and into this big room. And I had to get a cart and go in there and lift all this bags of soiled laundry and throw it into the cart and take it back there. We had to sort through everything. So we had to sort the pillowcases out from the blankets and the top sheets and the other sheets. Well, there's a finite set of things that patients do in a hospital bed. Let me just tell you that right now, okay? In case you didn't know that. And so it was a pretty gross job. And. And yet the other team, I got to watch them, and they would take it out of the washing machine and put it in the dryers, and then they would have these big, huge pressers, and they would do it. And the. The. The linens came out incredibly crisp and neat and just beautiful. You see where this is going, don't you? So I did all that. And flash forward. I had no idea I was going to spend so much time in a hospital for the rest of my adult life. And every time I went into a hospital room, I saw those laundry bags, those nylon laundry bags that are in the corner where they throw all the towels and everything else in. And I thought about that chute, and I thought about that room full of dirty laundry. And I thought about me sitting at that table sorting all this stuff. And I always knew where every laundry cart was, by the way, for the clean laundry for the hospitals. I've known it for years. And I would go in and help myself to it. Didn't care, because I figured, you know, I paid it forward many years ago going through all the laundry stuff. And I, But I also also notice how Gracie slept better when the bed was changed in the hospital. It wasn't huge difference. It was just a little bit different. And she felt better in it. She felt just more settled in a clean bed. And it's not that we didn't change the sheets and all that kind of stuff, but I thought, can I step this up a little bit? And I remember the first time I ironed pillowcases, prayed over them as she slept on it. And I remember the first time I ironed sheets. And it's no easy trick to iron a sheet at a fitted sheet, by the way, I'll tell you that right now. But I remember the first time I did it and what it felt like for her and me to get into ironed linens and how different it felt. And we'll tell you the rest of this when we come back. This is gripping story about ironing. It's a pressing story. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back.

Pastor Jeff Shreve offers real truth for today on American Family Radio

If we do all of those other things, but the gospel is not being proclaimed, we will continue to seek the erosion of our nation from the inside. Religion informs politics. Politics touches every aspect of our lives. And as the scripture discusses that the Lord has made his people to be living epistles, what story are we a part of?

>>  : Join Abraham Hamilton III on the Hamilton Corner, weekdays at 5:00pm Central on American Family Radio, weekday mornings at 8 Central. Pastor Jeff Schrieve offers real truth for today.

>> Peter Rosenberger: I'm the pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Tex. And the founder of From His Heart Ministries.

>>  : The world around us is rapidly changing, but God and his truth will never change. I may be the host of the

>> Peter Rosenberger: show, but I want God's word and his truth to be the star of the show.

>>  : Join Pastor Jeff Schrieve each Weekday morning at 8 Central for real truth for today on American Family Radio.

The mysterious number of the beast is revealed in Revelation, but you may be surprised

The mysterious number of the beast is revealed in Revelation, but you may be surprised to learn that it appears much earlier in the Bible in the life of King Solomon. Solomon received unmatched wisdom from God, but he also amassed unmatched wealth for himself. The book of 1 Kings tells us the gold he received in a single year weighed 666 talents. Sound familiar? Centuries later, the apostle Jon described the mark of the beast as the number of a Man, 666. Solomon's apostasy, fueled by gold, women and self reliance, foreshadowed the ultimate counterfeit king. Even the wisest earthly ruler stumbled, a powerful reminder that every throne but one will eventually fall. This is Tim Moore wishing you. Godspeed.

>> Peter Rosenberger: Find out what the Lord wants you to do while you await his soon return.

>>  : Go to christinprophecy.org.

Peter Rosenberger hosts Hope for the Caregiver on American Family Radio

>> Peter Rosenberger: Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is the program for you as a family caregiver. Hope for the caregiver.com hopeforthecaregiver.com where I have so many things out there available for you, particularly at my substack, caregiver.substack.com, which you can access from my website. But if you want to go directly to substack, you don't have to pay for it. You. If you don't want to. You can if you want to. and I'm never going to say no, but you, you. There are plenty of things out there that you can read just by subscribing to it. Okay? That's it. And audio, video and everything else. Take advantage of it. I write quite a bit. They're very short essays that I have, and I'm published in a lot of different places throughout the week. But I'll put a lot of things that are the more background stuff and all that out on my sub stack and you can access to that. Okay. And I've been continuing with this story and I'll put this out on my sub stack as well, about my ironing and my love of ironing. And where did this come from? This was really sparked by my filling out this survey for American Family association about the 35th anniversary of American Family Radio. It's going to be in the stand and it just, it was things about you that you want people to know or that may surprise you. And so I put that on there. And. But, I thought about it a lot.

Peter was watching the impact of clean sheets with Gracie in the hospital

And as I left you in the last block, I was watching the way hospitals did their laundry, and I was watching the impact of clean sheets with Gracie in the hospital. We spent so much time in the hospital. The last stretch was five months. I got to the point where I was insistent, and this has been for my policy for many, many, many years. I was insistent that she would have the bed changed regularly. because sometimes they, you know, they. It's not that they don't want to do a good job, but sometimes it's just not high on the list. There's a lot of things going on, but I was always there and I watched over her on this. Regards. And I noticed that every time she was in clean linens that were nicely pressed, it gave a measurable sense of relief. For her, not a lot, but it was measurable. And so I decided to step it up. And I went through laundry at the hospital like nobody's business. I mean, if she had a corner of her sheet, of her top sheet that touched the floor, I mean, it was gone. And I got another sheet and I made myself at home in their laundry room there. I didn't, I mean, not, not the dirty laundry part that they had that shipped out. They don't do that in the hospitals, I don't think anymore. They sent it out to a service, but at least the ones we were at, down in Colorado, I would go down to the clean linen room and they didn't care. I mean, I was doing their job for them, for some of them, but that's, you know. And I was very, very insistent on Gracie having, clean pillowcases at all times, just because it felt better. And those pillows in the hospital are awful. I once brought, one of her pillows from home that you can wash. I brought it and you can wash it. But I ended up throwing the pillow away because once you've had stuff in the hospital, you really don't want to take it home. And, but, but while she was there, it was more comfortable. And I was very careful about those sort of things, and probably not as careful as I should have been, but I tried to be. And, and I, but I saw that it did, it did make a difference for her. And so I thought, well, let me try this. So I earned her pillowcases and I earned her sheets. And I remember the first time she got in and she, it was a noticeable difference and it just felt different to her. And then I started ironing her gowns. Well, you're thinking, you know, Peter, come on. It's ridiculous. Well, maybe for you it is, but you haven't necessarily spent 40 years in and out of hospitals like I have and dealing with somebody who's in chronic pain, everything on her hurts. And so if I can do anything that's going to make it less hurt, it's not going to necessarily make it better, but it won't make it worse. And it maybe will mitigate some things, offset some. And when we built our closet here in our, new addition that we built, I built this for her in her wheelchair. It's not a walk in closet, it's a roll in closet and everything is hanging. She has a dresser. And this, this is all in a separate room. So. Because in, in the bedroom, that's where she is most of the Time. And she has to be flat on her back when she's not wearing her legs. She didn't want her sitting for very long. And so when people come to visit her, I want it to be a really nice room for them to be able to do that. So it is. And then the closet she can roll in, that's in a separate room. All of her clothes and everything there, but they're all hanging because if she's having to bend over to go through a drawer, she's off balance. But she can wheel right up to the rack and take something off the rack. And I would have her gowns neatly pressed there, and that way she could get to them from her wheelchair. And I would iron her blouses and things, everything she was going to wear. They're small things. It doesn't solve the larger problem, but it does soften the edges. And I'm not losing time because I am doing business phone calls. I'm, listening to teachings. I'm doing media interviews. I'm doing all that while I'm ironing.

For caregivers, life is filled with things beyond our control

And, I thought about this a lot. For us as caregivers, you know, our life is filled with things beyond our control. We know it. That's. That's why you're listening to this program. That's why I'm doing this program. And perhaps that's why I find such satisfaction in placing something wrinkled on a board, applying heat and pressure, and watching disorder give way to smoothness. The transformation is small, but it's real. Just like cleaning those horse stalls, Just like cleaning that pig barn. Just like watching the piles of dirty laundry at the hospital go through the washing machine and then to the presser and coming out neat and pristine. And, you know, there are days for us as caregivers, we can't solve the thing that needs solving. We just can't do it. We can't cure the disease. We can't restore the damaged body. We can't guarantee a better tomorrow. But you know what? We could press the pillowcases. We can iron the nightgown. We can bring a little bit of order to a small corner of a disorderly world. I remember one time a caller called in years and years ago, I'll never forget it, and was overwhelmed by all the tasks. And I distilled it down to one thing. And I asked a question. I said, what does the microwave look like? She said, it's a little dirty. I said, why don't you just clean the microwave today and let that be enough. Get one thing done, clean one thing that you can make a little bit of order out of something that's messy. It doesn't have to be these grandiose things I like. I mean, all our laundry is always clean, but there's a difference. And you know this and I know this. There's a difference between clean laundry and pressed laundry, is there not? I mean, we agreed. And. And then I starch it. And it's even those pillowcases when they're nice and freshly starched. And by the way, the thread count in hospital linens is a lot different than the thread count that I like. I like a little higher thread. I can't always afford it. I have a, a Gucci taste, but. But a Walmart budget. So, you know. Or actually, let's be honest, it's Family Dollar, but, you know, but. But when you're in a high thread count sheet, it does feel different, doesn't it? You know, it does feel different to be in something that's nicely pressed. How much time did it take? What did it take away from me to do this? Did it take really that much? No. And so we have a linen closet where I put all these things. And you go in there, you open it up, and there they are. They're all nicely pressed, stacked in there with pillowcases that are iron and so forth. And then I went even further, and y' all gonna laugh at me for this. And, that's okay. It's all right. Because I've been laughed at by a lot of people in my life. But I found some lavender spray starch, and I started using that now on Gracie's pillowcases and her gowns. Again, it's just a small thing, but I thought, well, why not? Well, I want. How. What's it going to hurt? And is it really going to encumber me? Is it. Is it going to be a problem for me? And I know you're thinking, peter, could you be any more, you know, metrosexual? You know, but I, Her life is hard. There is just no question about this. I can't do much about it. And I have spent a lifetime pondering these things. But I keep going back to watching her sleep in a hospital bed for months at a time, and, how difficult that must be. And if it can be a little more comfortable, and if it's in my power to do, then I want to do it. But also knowing that for me, it's deeply satisfying because I'm doing something that makes something better. That looked disheveled and it feels Like I'm taking all that tension that I have as a caregiver of things just being out of order and chaos, and I can't control anything and I'm redirected into something positive. But there's something else going on. I, look at what Paul writes. That Christ will present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle. You remember the transfiguration? Mark said that his garment was so white that no launderer on earth could. Could bleach it that white. There is so much imagery in Scripture about the things that we wear. Garments, laundry, pressing, wrinkle, clean, evidently God likes clean laundry. He likes things pressed. But the spotless bride will not be the result of any of our housekeeping. She's not going to stand before Christ because she finally removed every stain and pressed every wrinkle from herself. She's going to stand there spotless because Christ loved her, gave Himself for her, and cleaned her, and made her holy. The church is not her own laundering project. She is the bride Christ prepares for Himself. That matters greatly to me as a caregiver. I knew what it was like to go into that room every Monday morning and see massive bags of dirty laundry. And the sinking feeling that I had of thinking that much work waited for me. That's a picture of what it's like for us here on this earth. It is a never ending toil of soiled stuff. But we have one who washes us, who cleans us, who presses us without spot, without wrinkle. And we're clothed in his righteousness. So everything I do on an ironing board, every piece of laundry I do, is a tiny picture, microscopic picture of what he has done for me in the imagery of what awaits us in heaven. Scripture has a lot of different things, but still we can't really process.

Peter Rosenberger enjoys ironing because it reminds him of Christ's work

No, I have seen no ears hurt. But I can tell you one thing. I know what won't be there. There won't be any more nylon bags filled with, dirty hospital sheets carrying evidence of another person suffering because there won't be any hospitals. And the redeemed will stand clothed in white in the brilliant righteousness of Christ. Nothing's going to stain that. Nothing's going to wrinkle it. One day the ironing board will be put away forever. But until then, every time I do that, it reminds me a tiny foretaste of what awaits us, beyond anything we could possibly imagine. It may surprise you that I like ironing, but now that you know the rest of the story. It doesn't surprise you of why I like doing it because it reminds me of the sanctifying work of God through Christ and by the way, that is available to each of us through Christ. But I will tell you this, this caregiver ain't ironing anybody else's stuff but Gracie's. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver. We'll be right back. I'll never forget walking into the hospital room after Gracie had her second amputation. Both legs are gone now and she looked at me. She said, I know what I'm going to do. And I was kind of startled. What are you going to do? She said, I'm going to help provide prosthetic limbs to my fellow amputees and tell them about Jesus. And I said, well, baby, can we get out of the hospital first? She never let it go. And for almost 20 years we've been working out of Ghana, West Africa. We treat patients all over there from other countries that come there. We send supplies, we send teams, we sponsor patients. We work with a prison where inmates volunteer to disassemble used prosthetic limbs so we can recycle the parts. All of this because Gracie trusted God with her heartache. We've got a huge shipment of supplies that is being loaded up right now to go out soon. Would you help us do it? Standingwithhope.com giving standingwithhope.com giving there's prosthetic feet, knees, pylons, sleeves, adapters, all kinds of connectors. All of these things we are sending over there so that people can walk. We're going to point them to Christ. Help us out. Standingwithhope.com giving afa stream it sounds like

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Peter Roseberger shares his thoughts on caring for the elderly on American Family Radio

>> Peter Rosenberger: Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on American Family Radio. This is Peter Roseberger. Glad to be with you. Hopeforthecaregiver.com Hope for the caregiver.com I hope you. You enjoyed a little bit of my foray into the things of ironing. It was a. It was indeed a pressing matter. But, again, these are things that I just think about as a caregiver that may or may not relate to anybody outside of the caregiving world. But I think as caregivers, we understand each other, that it's so frustrating to have to deal with things that are untidy, unkempt, unsolvable all the time. And when we find something that we can do that, that really it's manageable for that day, like I told that lady to clean the microwave oven. If that's all you get done today, you know what? You got a clean microwave of it. And if I can iron something, you know, there you go. And so anyway, if you want to read that article, you're welcome to go out to my substack caregiver.substack.com I am taking a request today for our hymn that every caregiver ought to know. I've been doing a series on this of just going through just various hymns that I feel like have a message for me as a caregiver and I think by extension to other caregivers. I field tested all of these. I sing these, I play these sometimes during dire circumstances. Let me just be blunt with you. If you can't sing a hymn while you're holding a toilet brush, then I question the strength of that hymn. I really do. For me, I mean, that may sound graphic to other people, but we're caregivers, okay? So we deal with graphic all the time. And part of this is that we are training our mind to think higher than our circumstances. This hymn was written by Philip Bliss, who has written so many of our great hymns. 150 years ago this year, he died. And it was a tragic death, actually. He and his wife Lucy were traveling by train through Ohio, and the bridge collapsed and the train crashed into the ravine below. The wreckage caught fire. According to the stories, he got out. He was 38 years old, but he went back after her to get her, and both of them perished. But I think she had already died. The last hymn of his that was found in his belongings was I Will Sing of My Redeemer. But he also wrote the music to it as well, with My Soul. And he wrote beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. He wrote that one too. He wrote many, many hymns. He was a prolific hymn writer. It didn't come from any kind of affluent backgrounds. Came from kind of a very, very modest, I think even poor background. But he had a, a real understanding of how to take deep, deep truths and put it to music. And. And he, was a leading gospel writer, a songwriter for the, Moody Revival era. He worked on farms and lumber camps. And I don't know that he had a whole lot of formal, musical training. He did become a traveling music teacher. He just had a lot of talent, I guess. But he worked with, he had been doing commercial music and teaching and composing, and he was a really good singer. But Moody encouraged him to leave all that and go into evangelistic work. And he was out on one of those trips, I believe that, when the train crashed anyway. And it's a tragic end to it. But what a life he lived and what a legacy he left for us. Well, I have a, dear friend of mine, who is a theology professor, retired, and pastor and chaplain. He tutors me and we have lengthy discussions, often while I'm ironing and he quizzes me, he pushes on me. I have several people like this. But he has worked with me now for about four or five years because, you know, I mean, I'm here on the radio and I have a decent sized audience that's listening to me, and I really don't want to be spouting off things that are error, you know, I want to make sure that I'm grounded in scripture and understanding. But anyway, he's working out from a, doing physical therapy after a heart issue that he had. And he sings these hymns, and he was singing this hymn that he asked for today that I'm going to do as a hymn that every caregiver ought to know.

Philip Bliss wrote this hymn 150 years ago

And let me step over here to the caregiver keyboard. This is, Philip Bliss wrote this. I'm not sure exactly when he wrote it, but like, I said, he. He was tragically killed, 150 years ago. This, this Christmas, this, this December. it was, December 29th, I believe. But my friend Micah asked for this song today, and it's man of Sorrows. What a name for the son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim ruined sinners. And that fits in what we've been talking about here with just laundry and the mess of things. And I think that's something. Just every time I see these things and you clean it, you just. It's just a tiny, tiny picture of, you know, our spiritual state that we're ruined, that we can't. We're always going to have to redo stuff. But he doesn't. And, then it goes to the magnificent statement at the end. Hallelujah. What a savior But a man of sorrows what a name. Now think about what he's saying there. He's man of sorrows for the Son of God who came man of sorrows what a name to call the Son of God man of sorrows. let's go back to that again. Men of sorrows what a name for the Son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim Hallelujah. What a savior Bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place condemned he stood Sealed my pardon with his blood Hallelujah. What a savior I mean, think about the lyrics of what we're singing here. And this is so strong, you know. Guilty, vile and helpless we spotless lamb of God Was he Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah. What a savior Guilty, vile, and helpless we. Spotless lamb of God Was he Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah. Come. Do you see how different it is when you slow these things down and take a moment to just punch each text, each note on that, that you're not in a hurry to get this. Get through this thing? We're caregivers, you know. Chances are we're going to be feeling whatever during that day. But it's usually going to be some form of weariness, exasperation, sadness or whatever. But what do you do with that? And I suggest to you, take it and channel it into these hymns. Let these hymns carry that. And it carries it above all this. Okay? That's the whole point of what we're doing. It's. Let me go back up here. Because we have got to lift our eyes up. We have got to see something higher, greater. Otherwise what we look at is going to cause us to sink in despair. But how many times the scripture say, lift up, look up, lift up, lift up your heads, lift up your countenance. All those words, looking up, looking up, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfector, all these things. That's what these hymns are doing. And it's. It is calling. Calling us to do this when he comes, our glorious king, all his ransomed home to bring has nothing to do with caregiving. Has everything to do with redemption, which. That's the whole point of this program. That's why we have hope as a caregiver. It's not because I could be a better caregiver, you know, seven ways to become a better caregiver.

Peter Rosenberg shares a song that every caregiver ought to know

No, I'm redeemed. That's the whole point. And then look at this. Then a new. This song we'll sing. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, what a savior. Now do you see? That's why we do this. I'm not interested. you will never see me write a book that says, here's a way you could be a better caregiver. No, that. That's not what I'm trying to accomplish here. You know, we're all pretty good at caregiving, okay? We've been, you know, most of the people have been doing it long. If you found this show, you've been doing it for a while, and you're probably pretty good at what you do, you know, Big whoop. That's. Is that the goal? No. The goal is to be faithful stewards where we are, knowing that we have been redeemed, knowing that we will be able to sing this song, you know, Then, then anew this song will sing. And by the way, just for those of you who are into music theory, what I did there was then. That's an E7, flat nine. I'm in the key of G. And then I do a walk down with a flat. I mean a minor, a flat diminished, and F7, which is the flat 7 of the. Of the key. do you feel that tension there? So when you get to the hallelujah, you resolve it on what is called a164. Hallelujah, hallelujah, what a savior. What if I do this? Hallelujah, what a savior. Throw in a couple of those high dollar chords there that I probably shouldn't do. But anyway, that's our song this week that every caregiver ought to know. Hallelujah, what a savior man of sorrows what a name for the son of God who came. This is Peter Rosenberg. This is hope for the caregiver. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen today. Thank you AFR for 35 years of faithful service to the gospel. And let's do 35 more should the lord tarry. And I am grateful for you all. Hopeforthecaregiver.com hopeforthecaregiver dot com we'll see you next time.

(00:00) Hope for the Caregiver is a show for family caregivers
(01:09) American Family Radio is celebrating 35 years with a survey
(06:50) Why do I like to iron? And what's going on with that
(07:45) One of the hallmarks of caregiving is plenty of laundry
(12:12) Peter Rosenberger hosts Hope for the Caregiver on American Family Radio
(13:03) I'm always on Bluetooth, so I can be hands free at all times
(19:36) I worked in laundry at the hospital where I was born in South Carolina
(25:00) Pastor Jeff Shreve offers real truth for today on American Family Radio
(26:01) The mysterious number of the beast is revealed in Revelation, but you may be surprised
(27:10) Peter Rosenberger hosts Hope for the Caregiver on American Family Radio
(28:24) Peter was watching the impact of clean sheets with Gracie in the hospital
(32:23) For caregivers, life is filled with things beyond our control
(38:44) Peter Rosenberger enjoys ironing because it reminds him of Christ's work
(42:10) Peter Roseberger shares his thoughts on caring for the elderly on American Family Radio
(46:23) Philip Bliss wrote this hymn 150 years ago
(51:38) Peter Rosenberg shares a song that every caregiver ought to know