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Week 2: When Caregiving Costs You Yourself

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Noticing the Quiet Erosion of Wholeness

Scripture: 

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’”— Mark 6:31

Reflection: Caregiving often begins as an act of love. Over time, it can quietly become a way of life where your needs are always secondary, postponed, or ignored altogether. At first, this feels normal—even noble. But slowly, something shifts. You stop noticing how tired you are. You stop asking what you need. You learn to function without checking in with yourself, believing that this is simply what faithfulness looks like.

 

Yet even Jesus noticed when the giving became too much. He saw the exhaustion. He named the need. He called His disciples away—not because they failed, but because they were human. Care that costs you yourself is not the goal. Wholeness is.

 

Wellness Insight:

 

When caregiving is constant and recovery is absent, the body and mind enter a state of depletion known as compassion fatigue. This doesn’t mean you lack love, it means you’ve been giving without replenishment.

 

Signs may include:

  • Chronic exhaustion
  • Irritability or numbness
  • Feeling disconnected from yourself
  • Loss of joy in things you once loved

Wellness begins when we stop spiritualizing depletion and start honoring our limits.

Today, practice an energy check-in. Pause and ask yourself:

What is my energy level right now—low, medium, or high?

What is one small thing I can do to support myself today?

 

Then choose one gentle boundary:

  • Rest instead of pushing
  • Asking for help
  • Saying no to one unnecessary demand
  • Offer this decision to God as an act of trust

Closing Prayer:

God, you see the ways I give and the ways I am tired. Help me recognize when love has turned into depletion. Teach me how to care without losing myself and lead me gently back to wholeness.

 

Amen.

 

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