It’s Not Where I’m At; It’s Where I’m Going!: Journey Down the Alzheimer's Road with Mom

By Alisa Bullock

Perhaps this is the moment for which you were created. Esther 4:14
I saw this in a Christian Book Store, and it hit me like a rock. I believe we are all created for something, but I didn’t realize that it would be for me to find beauty in my mom’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s/dementia is well known for being a horrible disease that rocks the world of families that must deal with it. The elderly is a beautiful group of people. I have come to see them in a totally different way with the writing of my book. This book is about the love of a daughter that must step into the role of mothering her mom in every area of her life. Is it easy? No, but with God's Word and seeing things through the eyes of the Lord it only opens the door to a brighter future amid all the darkness that I find myself walking in. As I have been walking with my mom in this disease I have grown so much spiritually and although there has been so much negative there has been a lot of positive. I must continually remember that no matter how I envision the life my mom is living and how I see her declining every day I can find hope in the fact that she can be assured, It’s Not Where I’m At, It’s Where I’m Going!!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796053586

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Alisa Bullock.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019912740

ISBN:       Hardcover                   978-1-7960-5360-9

                 Softcover                     978-1-7960-5359-3

                 eBook                           978-1-7960-5358-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Rev. date: 08/27/2019

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Keeping the Faith

Chapter 2 Seeing through God’s Eyes

Chapter 3 Beneath the Clay of Alzheimer’s

Chapter 4 Choose to Be Thankful

Chapter 5 Far Away from Home

Chapter 6 Preparing for the Journey Home

Chapter 7 Conclusion

My Confession and Prayer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I feel so blessed to have been able to share my story of living with a mom with Alzheimer’s. It is not the life I hoped my mom would have, but I thank God that I was chosen by him to be her daughter. It truly is a devastating disease, but in this book, you will find that with God you can make the best out of any situation.

I want to sincerely thank Xlibris for working with me to make my book a reality.

Thank you to my husband, Matthew, for putting up with me during this process. He has been everything that I needed through every step.

I would like to thank my precious friend Linda Gayle Lee for believing in me and encouraging me to write about my mom’s illness. I knew it was something that I wanted to do, and she helped me bring this book to life sooner than expected.

I’d also like to thank my sister, Donna, and brothers, George and Wendell, for everything that they have done during this time. They’ve been so helpful when we all had to pull together.

Thank you also to my Deerbrook family and the Ladies HOPE Ministry for all your support, encouragement, and especially your prayers. Without each one of you I would not have finished.

Last and surely not least, I want to thank my Creator for guiding me to write this book. I know that without him I would not have been able to lay it all out and explain my thoughts to share with the readers. I pray for all who suffer from Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, who have a truly mentally challenging job. My mom has been blessed with a great team of caregivers, and I praise the Lord for each one.

Thank you for reading my book and I pray you will be blessed.

INTRODUCTION

It is truly amazing when you feel the Lord tugging at you, and you know that you need to sit up and pay attention. That is what happened to me at the end of July 2018. I remember thinking, I’ve got to change my way of doing things, and that is exactly what I did.

Back in March, a very dear friend of mine sent me a note and wanted to share with me that I should do a Bible study, workshop, or devotional about Alzheimer’s/dementia patients and their caregivers. I told her that it was on my mind, but I really didn’t know when it would happen.

Anyway, back to the end of July, I knew that I wasn’t where I needed to be, so I decided that starting in August, I would commit to spending more time with the Lord.

The first few days, I studied in the book of Psalms. On the third day, I was cleaning out a closet and found a bunch of papers that I picked up at an Alzheimer’s/dementia conference that I attended, and it took off from there. It is amazing what can happen when we allow him to be Lord of our lives. It is totally all God, and my friend that wanted me to write when my mom leaves her earthly home to be with Jesus will be surprised to find out that I have completed writing a book. I am so excited to see where God is going to take