Aging & Retirement

When you were a kid, what were some of the things you dreamed of being when you grew up? What's something you wish you had asked your parents, but never did? These and other thoughtful questions will get Mom talking. One thing's for sure: Doing the interview will help make wonderful new memories, along with a volume that will be prized for generations to come.

For the weary dementia or Alzheimer's caregiver

If you are a caregiver to someone with Alzheimer's or another type of dementia, you carry a heavy load. On top of having to watch someone you love suffer, you are probably losing sleep, growing frustrated, and struggling with loneliness or even depression. With little to no help and no time for a break, this unrelenting stress is hard to carry.

Whether that's you or someone you know, the caregiver needs care, too. Grace for the Unexpected Journey: A 60-Day Devotional for Alzheimer's and Other Dementia Caregivers provides that support.

Each daily devotion:

Is short, ideal for demanding schedules

Reflects on a relevant Scripture passage

Features a relatable caregiving story

Offers a key Scripture for meditation

Debbie Barr is a speaker, health educator, and the author of multiple books, including Keeping Love Alive As Memory Fades (coauthored with New York Times bestselling author Gary Chapman). As a health educator with a deep concern and compassion for dementia caregivers, she saw their need for faith-based encouragement. With compassion and understanding she uses Scriptures to address their practical hardships and spiritual concerns.

When the struggles seem insurmountable, this devotional offers strength. When stress floods in, it points to peace. And when darkness falls, it illuminates hope. Caregivers walk a long, difficult road. This devotional gives grace for their journey.

Navigating the challenging journey that families and friends of Alzheimer's patients must endure, this heartfelt guide reveals how their struggle is as complex and drawn out as the illness itself. Confronting their natural but difficult process of grieving and mourning, the study covers the inevitable feelings of shock, sadness, anger, guilt, and relief, illustrating the initial reactions people commonly feel from the moment of the dementia's onset. Healthy and productive ways to acknowledge and express these feelings are suggested along with 100 tips and activities that fulfill the emotional, spiritual, cognitive, physical, and social needs of those who care about someone afflicted with this debilitating disease. Special consideration is also shown for caregivers, whose grief is often complicated by the demanding physical attention that patients require.

In 2011, the first of the 76 million baby boomers--nearly a quarter of the US population--began turning 65. Every day for the next fifteen years, over ten thousand of them will celebrate that birthday. And for the first time in history, this generation will enjoy many years post-career pursing meaning and purpose outside of traditional retirement. What will they do with that time? One thing is for sure: most of them want to find something meaningful. This book lays out the choices to be made to find fulfillment in the encore years of life.

Launch Your Encore is a game plan for life after one's main-act career. Hans Finzel and Rick Hicks show boomers how to enter this new stage of life poised for personal satisfaction and contributions to society. They offer tested advice on finding new life potential and thriving in these later decades of life. With real-life examples of people who have made the transition from full-time work to volunteering, ministry, or even second careers, Launch Your Encore shows boomers how to make an impact later in life.

"Retirement as Spiritual Pilgrimage: Stories, Scripture, and Practices for the Journey" offers a Christian perspective on the personal dimensions of preparing for and living life beyond full-time work. First-person accounts of retirees, reflections on relevant passages of Scripture, and suggested spiritual practices provide insight and guidance for each phase of this journey. Questions for reflection and discussion at the end of each chapter make this book suitable for use by both individuals and small groups (e.g., adult classes, small group studies.)

Henri Nouwen shares heartfelt insights on what it means to be a caregiver and to be cared for and how the caregiving relationship can lead to spiritual growth

From writer and veteran columnist Jennifer Grant comes an unflinching and spirited look at the transitions of midlife. When Did Everybody Else Get So Old? plumbs the physical, spiritual, and emotional changes unique to the middle years: from the emptying nest to the sagging effects of aging. Grant acknowledges the complexities and loss inherent in midlife and tells stories of sustaining disappointment, taking hard blows to the ego, undergoing a crisis of faith, and grieving the deaths not only of illusions but of loved ones. Yet she illuminates the confidence and grace that this season of life can also bring. Magnetic, good-humored, and full of hope in the sustaining power of the Spirit, this is a must-read for anyone facing the flux and flow of middle age.

Free downloadable study guide available here.