What happens when the rhythms of caregiving make it difficult to establish any rhythms at all?
That’s the question guiding author Jen Pollock Michel as she considers what spiritual practices can look like in the midst of caregiving for a family member with a disability. Drawing on her own experience caring for her mom who has Alzheimer’s, Jen shares with Amy Julia Becker how caregivers can create space for meaning, connection, and faith even when days rarely go according to plan.
00:00 Understanding the Rule of Life
04:09 Caregiving and Its Challenges
10:01 Receiving Our Lives as They Are
14:58 A Personal Rule of Life: Tenderness, Gentleness, Gratitude
21:58 Finding Spiritual Rhythms in Chaos
28:32 Inviting Help and Community Support
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
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ABOUT:
Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of six books: A Rule for the Rest of Us, Teach Us to Want (Christianity Today's Book of the Year), Keeping Place, Surprised by Paradox (Christianity Today's Book of the Year Award of Merit—Beautiful Orthodoxy), A Habit Called Faith, and In Good Time (Canada's Word Guild Book of the Year Award). Jen is a sought-after contributor to publications like Christianity Today, The Christian Century, The Gospel Coalition, Mockingbird, and The Dispatch, among others. She is also a first-year mentor in Whitworth University's MFA in Creative Writing program, and she travels to speak at churches, conferences, and retreats. Over the past several years, she has been teaching rule-of-life workshops to hundreds of people across various life stages. The mother of five children, she is married to Ryan, and they live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Social handles:
Instagram: @jenpmichel
Substack: A Habit Called Faith
X: @jenpmichel
Website: JenPollockMIchel.com
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Take the Next Step is a resource from the Hope Heals Network, a collective of thought leaders offering honest and hopeful wisdom to help people flourish in the good and hard parts of their stories. To learn more about the work of Hope Heals, visit hopeheals.com or follow @hopeheals on Instagram.
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