183 South Broad Street, Nazareth, PA, 18064 
(610) 759.0893
$('#shuffle').cycle({fx: 'fade',speed: 2000 });Family Life Ministries
News
What is the sandwich generation? Not a group of pastrami on rye loving people! It is any adult raising children while also caring for one or more aging parents. The general age range seems to fall on adults between 40 to 60 years old that still have children at home to care for and a parent starting with health problems as they age. Within the past year and a half I became part of this sandwich generation. Having two young children at home and a mother living two hours away has added an extra challenge to my sandwich, which many days feels like a Panini melted and smooshed!
My new routine is getting in the car before first light and driving to the nursing home to take Mom to one of half a dozen specialist doctors for the required check up of the month. After trying to spend quality time in the waiting room, we meet with the doctor, discuss changes in medications and health, head back to nursing home, get Mom settled with a kiss and I love you and back in my car to get home for my children coming off the bus. Then the second half of my day begins with homework, housework and processing of Mom’s information out of my head and into a notebook with all details of her medical history from birth to present. It is a dizzying process, but what I and millions of others have committed to do for the men and women who once did everything for us.
Becoming a caregiver to a parent requires lots of help: help from family, help from friends & neighbors, help from doctors and local agencies on aging, and help from bankers & lawyers. My biggest help came from my family at St. John’s UCC. We have a wealth of staff members that can provide support and guidance for everything from picking the best assisted living or nursing home to living wills and end of life decisions. Brenda Lee Howell, our parish health nurse, has an endless amount of medical information and offers a support group twice a month, Pastor Curt Kemmerer provides counseling services to help process all of the emotions that come along with making fast and hard decisions, and Pastor DeRemer has the big picture outlook to send you in the right direction.
If you are in need of guidance with your own journey, please call the church office at 759-0893for Rev. DeRemer or contact myself at jmohrman@rcn.com. All calls are confidential.
Jackie Mohrman
Family Life Ministries Coordinator
Upcoming Events - Mark Your Calendar
Family Life Ministries is hosting a Jesus Loves Me Valentine’s Tea on Saturday, February 11, 2012 from 1-3 p.m. in St. John’s Council Room. Come out and enjoy some sweet treats and make a homemade valentine for someone you love. Activities are for children ages 10 and under. All family members are welcome. A sign-up sheet is in the Church Gallery or please call Jackie Mohrman @ (610)759-0982.