A strong roster

4:50 p.m. Today's project was to welcome a new caregiver to stay with Steve while I was out working my business as I do each Friday. This gentleman had been with the State of California in-home caregivers for years, but the office he worked out of was too long of a commute. The location of Bright Star in Riverside met his requirements and he meets theirs. He and I talked about gas prices continuing to rise, and how we need to cut back in any way we can.

Now we have three regular caregivers for Steve, which gives all of us flexibility to fit in with their other care clientele and college classes for two of them. My goal is to have aides so familiar to Steve that when he needs actual medical and living assistance, trust will already be established. My other goal, of course, is to increase my Mary Kay beauty consultant earnings. And when I start up our ladies' home Bible study in late May, I'll need to have several hours blocked out on Thursday mornings for our in-depth, verse-by-verse (sometimes word-by-word) study of I Samuel. Now that the Lord has blessed our study with two moms who want to do childcare, I'm excited to see who might join our group, knowing that their little ones will be cared for and have a Bible lesson! And our ladies can count on Jesus' promise in Matthew 18:20,

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

The Lord has been so gracious, providing for Steve's needs, but I do not want to take too much advantage of His provision, or use up our insurance benefits before the need becomes critical. We Christians don't want to "frustrate the grace of God (Galatians 2:21)," as Paul says, setting aside God's grace or taking it for granted, so we can do our own "good works." I owe ALL of my life to God's grace!

All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and your saints shall bless You. (Psalm 145:10) And the salvation of mankind is God's greatest work!

The temptation will be strong in the run-up to Heidi's wedding, to call upon our roster of fine caregivers more frequently, like today, when I took an additional hour to try on M.O.B. dresses at Steinmart. The hunt started when Heidi and I met up at Macy's dressy and formal wear department yesterday afternoon to get a general idea of what she has in mind for me to wear on June 25th. I can't imagine Steve stuck in some chair near the fitting rooms waiting for me to be finished; whereas he and his caregiver examined the broken lawnmower and the gentleman may even have a replacement part on a mower he's not using. So we both had a productive time this afternoon.

As I look expectantly toward a weekend of gardening and togetherness, I think the Lord is showing me a beautiful balance!