Week 189: Marriages and the Chronic Illness of an Adult Child

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Please join us this week in praying for marriages living through the chronic illness of an adult child.

The emotional stress of this life situation is not lessened because a chronically ill child is an adult.  Parents don’t cease to be parents because a child is grown.  For a number of reasons the stress can actually be greater than it would be if the child were a dependent.

Usually an adult child and his/her parents live in separate households and often are separated by a geographical distance that makes care-giving difficult and just staying informed a challenge.  Also, the fact that an adult child has established a level of independence can cause parents to question what care is expected, desired or would even be accepted.

In ideal situations in which the child/parent relationship is good, the parents’ marriage can still be strained as they take on time-consuming care-giving, such as care of grandchildren and medical transportation, or even financial assistance at a time when they themselves may be on a fixed income.

If the child/parent relationship is unstable or totally fractured, the parents’ marriage can be challenged in a different way as they deal with the guilt of not being allowed to help because of the relational distance.

Please prayer that these couples will
  • Seek the peace only God can give
  • Discuss the nature of the care they can give and agree to make the necessary sacrifices together
  • Seize the opportunity to heal fractured relationships
  • Be granted extraordinary strength, patience and perseverance as they take on additional responsibilities
  • Know when they as care-givers need help and be willing to ask for it
  • Be surrounded and supported by those who care for them and know their situation

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