Little Blessings: Words of Hope and Encouragement for Parents and Families of Terminally Ill Childre

Little Blessings: Words of Hope and Encouragement for Parents and Families of Terminally Ill Children [Rick, Sheree Drabek] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping.
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There has to be a reason for it all. I also realized that I was about to face a new beginning, new hope, do and see more with a whole new prospective on life. After going through all that I did during my breast cancer period, I was left with a few complications I now have to live with; one being daily pain.

For a while, I wasn't happy with the way I looked around my breast area, nor the pain I had to endure each day, but I decided to snap out of it. Even after being diagnosed with another cancer colon a few years later. Which totally took me by surprise. But even with the pain I had to endure through each diagnose, and all the struggles I've dealt with all my life, I still feel truly blessed. I think about the individuals that are no longer among us.

Hope for the Journey: Meaningful Support for the Terminally Ill

I also realized that there will always be someone worse off than I am. One day during one of my surgeries, I experienced something of a miracle, as if I went to the other side, so I felt the compulsion to write it down. Writing had become therapy for me. I took that poem, along with many others I had composed during my breast cancer period and placed them into book form.

I was blessed enough to have that book published. I later had another inspirational children's book published, with a third one on the way. I'm hoping that anyone who has the opportunity to read my first book of poems, get out of them, what I placed in all of them. My poems are from the heart, as real as any could ever be.

With the words and phrases of each poem of statement, I wish to make a positive impact on someone who's ill or otherwise, where they could develop the strength to embrace life in a whole new way. I never anticipated becoming a writer, I just became one. That's what I'm all about now, inspiration. I would have never become a writer, producing inspirational poems and stories, if I had not gone through all that I did.

I'm a true example that you can survive cancer not once, but twice, providing you catch it in time. I won't say all will be easy, I can't say everyone will survive it, but I can say, have faith and allow that faith to direct your path. Thanks so VERY much for compiling so many wonderful sentiments on one page!

I normally come up with pretty appropriate words when needed. But there are other times like now when my brain just can't seem to come up with them. Finding wise and profound words often fail at the time of need. Thank you for this lens with a rich compendium of what can used when needs require. I've book marked your lens for times of wisdom and appropriate words.

Thank you and blessings, Benn. Hi,I am a Kenyan Citizen aged I would like to meet well wishers to sponser my education. May God bless you all A great big thank you for some wonderful ideas. Sure to become a favorite reference point. I'm going to definitely use this for reference, I always have writers block when I have to write words of encouragement for a card.

Some lovely encouraging words on here. IT can be very difficult to know what to say except the clichees when someone is ill. Thank you so much for taking the stress off of me while I was recuperating from a recent hospitalization. The stress of having to word so many thank yoy notes so many different ways, when you truly are not a good writer, well, that;'s where the thanks comes to you guys for greatly assiting me with your various choices of words that I used for my thank you, with ease.

These are some great suggestions! It would make a big difference in this world if we would all pay attention to sharing words of encouragement. Certainly, God is good and is our healer. We pray that God will completely heal your sister You are in our prayers. Jesus died for all our sickness.

Congrads for reaching Sqidoo level And thank you for some inspirational wisdom. Just what I needed in this cold winter morning. Have a great time! It is essential to find encouragement at this time. Blessings on your site! If you ever feel a need to raise your spirits, come on over! I'm lost in the pain of the news we heard about a preacher who once taught us about the love of the Lord, uplifted us all, gave us guidance and strength in our hard times.

We just found out he has colon cancer, what do you say when you want to comfort someone, but all you feel is saddness and pain.. Today I sent my mom flowers as she just had breast cancer surgery. I had no idea what to write in the card. Thank You for helping me find the perfect words! May God bless you and give you strength. You have a lot on your plate.

But, I'm sure your Mom, Grandpa and Aunt realize you care and that's all you can do.

Rick Drabek (Author of Little Blessings)

And, the fact that you are expressing how difficult it is to write the best words, tells them how much you care. I will pray for you and your family to have hope, peace and love throughout this time. You will get through this. This is a great resource for us who can't allows come up with "just" the right thing to say. Great job blessed by a SquidAngel. Thank you for all your ideas. Everyone is right, sometimes you just don't know what to say: If anyone who reads this spares a second and a prayer of any denomination or faith, that would be a comfort for me.

It seems there isn't enough time in the day to care for all of them even though I don't work. Just shows you that a few kind words goes a long way. Awesome lens and so inspiring.

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I often find myself trying to come up with those "right" words. You have provided so many useful ideas and words. Thanks for sharing your blessed gift from God with us!!! I have a friend who has been in the hospital for two months now and is getting ready to have surgery. I was googling "get well quotes" and clicked on this lens before even realizing that it was a squidoo lens. Nice and very useful lens! I have liked it and favorite it already, thank you so much for this lens. I also appreciate your time and energy in building this lens. Pure Love and positive Energy went into it, I can tell.

It is the meaning of life! The real reason is fear and a sense of helplessness. We don't like to face our own mortality. We're afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing, or having nothing of value to offer. Our own fears can paralyze us into benign neglect. Early in my hospice career, as I struggled with my own inadequacy and the sense that I was "just wasting time" on my visits, a quote from Sister Wendy Beckett changed my attitude: Spending time with the terminally ill is love in action. It's body language that says, "You are important. You are worthy of my time.

All the masks and games and trivial relationships fall away during a terminal illness. The authentic person shines through, and our own false self becomes quite transparent. Promoting normalcy One of the first things that happens to the person with a life-threatening illness is the loss of a normal life. Time revolves around doctor appointments, tests and treatments. The rest of the time is spent talking and thinking about them. Eventually, in a terminal illness, medical intervention runs its course, and the patient is sent home to live out his life.

The old routine is gone. It's very common to get stuck in an in-between place. When I think of the difference "normal" can make, I think of Lucille. When her doctor said, "You have six months to live," she went home, gathered up all her clothes and all her shoes and gave them away. Eighteen months later she said, "I'd like to go somewhere; maybe get out of this house for a bit. But I don't have any clothes and I don't have any shoes. And it would be so wasteful to buy new ones. I'm dying, you know. In his book, Intoxicated By My Illness, Anatole Broyard said, "I think that only by insisting on your personal style can you keep from falling out of love with yourself, as the illness attempts to diminish or disfigure you.

We need to avoid putting on our "visiting the afflicted" face. Anything we do to treat them normally is a blessing. I learned this lesson from a fellow hospice nurse. She made friends with a resident who assumed the role of official greeter and hospitality minister at a nursing home as she went about her rounds. The resident always opened the door for her, then flirted and joked as he escorted her to the elevator. One day she went to admit him to the hospice program.

She followed her usual routine: Toward the end of the visit he asked, "Lisa, what's wrong? Have I done something to offend you? He said, "Well, something's changed.

You're not joking with me today. And what did that mean? If the difference was so noticeable, she needed to re-examine her approach to all her patients. If we are representing the Church, visiting the terminally ill may involve the sacrament of reconciliation and the Eucharist.


  • How to Personalize Someone Else's Words.
  • Keeper of the Earth (Daughter of Destiny).
  • The Killing Season: A Summer in South-Central with LAPD Homicide.
  • 8 Miracle Prayers For A Sick Child.
  • Daddy Knows Best: A Raw, Uncut True Story!
  • What to Say When Someone is Sick.
  • How High the Moon: A Novel.

Afterward, I urge you to step out of your ministerial role and spend some time connecting, one person to another. Long ago I made a rule for myself: Stay five minutes after I'm ready to leave. Over and over, those last five minutes have proved to be the most fruitful. Creative, confident problem-solving In a final illness, the rules change.

People's trust in their body diminishes or evaporates. Losing the ability to do the simplest tasks can deal a crushing blow to hope. The terminally ill person needs an advocate who can look at the situation with fresh eyes. Making phone calls and getting necessary help can make an enormous difference in daily life. Every loss of function is a little death, and must be grieved. During those times it's important to say, with our actions if not our words, "I'll hope for you, until you can hope for yourself again.

It's common to feel burdensome and useless. But every human being is capable of teaching, learning and growing to the very end of life. And every person has non-material gifts that will go to the grave if they aren't shared. I've personally been the recipient of fail-safe tips for playing the stock market, words to dance hall songs and instruction in the finer points of bull-riding. I may never have need for any of it, but it was an honor to sit at the feet of masters, and a delight to see hope ignited before my very eyes.

These treasures can be purchased with the only currency that matters: Suffering is incredibly self-centered work, and anything that calls the suffering person out of that center, to extend care to others, should be encouraged. I have a beautiful picture in my mind of a tiny, arthritic woman all alone in the barest of rooms, furiously crocheting a baby blanket for our hospice chaplain. Very often, the life of the spirit flourishes as the life of the body declines.

Consider making prayer requests of the terminally ill, sharing as much detail as you can about the needs of individuals in your community. Caring for different people every single day can take a toll on nurses. This is particularly true for nurses working in the pediatric ward. Though you are not seen, We know that you stay by our side. Jesus, You love us, More than we could know, And you feel each tear that we cry. Jesus, You promise to, Comfort and care, Until we are laughing and playing again. O Lord God, I come to You for help and succor.

Help me to understand that You mean well. Do not forsake us, but give us an assurance of Your loving Kingdom. Saint Nicholas, who like the Savior, loved children so tenderly and gave generously to those in need, listen to us who plead for this sick child who is so dear to our hearts. May the Lord, through your intercession, restore perfect health if such be His divine will. Gerard, who, like the Savior, loved children so tenderly and by your prayers freed many from disease and even death, listen to us who are pleading for our sick child.