What do you do when the spouse who has always handled the finances, paperwork, and big decisions can no longer do it safely?

In this episode, Lizette Cloete walks alongside Anne, a Christian wife whose husband was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as they talk through the first faithful step when dementia changes who carries the legal and financial load.

This conversation brings calm, order, and biblical clarity to one of the most overwhelming transitions Christian caregivers face.

• Christian dementia caregiving and stewardship

• When a spouse with Alzheimer’s can’t manage finances

• Health care power of attorney and durable power of attorney

• Elder care attorney and Medicaid planning

• Asset protection for Christian families

• Caregiver procrastination and overwhelm

God’s order in dementia decision-making

Protecting dignity while planning ahead

• Dementia care does not start with daily tasks—it starts with legal authority

• God is not a God of confusion; clarity brings peace to caregiving decisions

• Early Medicaid and asset planning is an act of love, not pessimism

• Procrastination often signals missing order—not missing faith

• Protecting the caregiver’s future matters just as much as caring for the spouse

✔ Confirm healthcare and financial powers of attorney early

✔ Choose a backup decision-maker who is not your spouse

✔ Meet with an elder care attorney who specializes in Medicaid planning

✔ Ask the right question: How do I protect my ability to live well long-term?

✔ One clear step today reduces years of stress later

Community and biblical grounding bring order where caregiving feels chaotic.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/join

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

Some burdens sit heavier than others — not just on your shoulders, but on your soul. In this episode, Lizette speaks directly to caregivers carrying grief, confusion, and responsibility they never asked for. Using James 1:2–5, she unpacks how Christian caregivers can find real joy, hope, and wisdom — not from easier circumstances, but from Christ Himself.

Whether you’re grieving a parent’s decline, feeling stretched thin by holiday stress, or just wondering how much longer you can carry this weight, this conversation will anchor you in biblical truth and help you take the next faithful step.

• Why you don’t have to pretend your burden is light (James 1:2-4)

• How God uses every kind of burden to produce steadfastness

• The power of Therapeutic Truth-Telling™ in dementia caregiving

• Why decision fatigue is real and how to ask for wisdom without shame

• How to hold grief and joy at the same time — and why that’s possible

• The reason hope is not in changing circumstances, but in Christ

• God doesn’t minimize your burden. You don’t have to either. Naming it truthfully is the first step toward healing.

• Every burden has a purpose. You may not see it yet, but steadfastness is forming.

• Wisdom is available — ask. You’re not expected to have it all figured out.

• Joy is a posture, not a feeling. It flows from knowing God is with you, not from things going your way.

• You are not alone. Join a community of Christian caregivers who get it.

Community and biblical grounding bring order where caregiving feels chaotic.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/join

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

What do you do when your loved one with dementia insists, “I’m fine,” while everything in you knows something is deeply wrong? In today’s episode, we walk alongside Jamie, a spouse caregiver facing the painful reality of caring for her husband as he refuses medical help, stops eating, and shows clear signs of cognitive decline.

This conversation offers practical tools, biblical clarity, and emotional grounding for Christian caregivers who feel stuck between what they’re seeing and what their loved one refuses to acknowledge. If you’re navigating frontotemporal dementia (FTD), apathy, anosognosia, or the overlap between dementia and depression, this episode will help you find your next faithful step.

In this episode, you will learn:

Why your loved one may deny anything is wrong (anosognosia)

A powerful explanation of why reasoning and convincing create more conflict—and how understanding brain changes can bring clarity and peace.

How to make steady decisions even without a firm dementia diagnosis

Why a diagnosis may not change what you need to do next—and how to anchor your caregiving in wise stewardship.

The hidden connection between dementia and depression

How depression can mimic or worsen dementia symptoms, and how caregivers can advocate for treatment even when a loved one refuses office visits.

Practical strategies for supporting hydration and eating

Gentle, conflict-reducing ways to encourage nourishment when apathy takes over.

One simple action step caregivers can take today

A clear, realistic step to reduce pressure and bring direction to your next decision.

1. You are not imagining the decline—your observations matter.

You don’t need a confirmed diagnosis before you make wise, protective decisions.

2. Anosognosia is not stubbornness.

Your loved one cannot see the decline, which means you must steward the decisions with clarity.

3. Depression may be playing a role.

Treatment can sometimes reduce apathy, refusal, and emotional withdrawal.

4. You can advocate without forcing confrontation.

Messaging your loved one’s doctor or using telehealth may open doors when in-person visits fail.

5. You do not have to walk this alone.

Community and biblical grounding bring order where caregiving feels chaotic.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/join

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

Read the Blog: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dementia-caregiver-support-when-loved-one-refuses-help/

What do you do when every clarifying question only makes the confusion worse? If you’ve ever watched your loved one insist something happened that never did—and felt the room tighten with every attempt to reason—this episode will give you a calmer, clearer way forward.

In today’s conversation, we walk through real caregiving moments with a daughter caring for both her parents. Her dad’s paranoia shows up as missing items, shifting stories, and sudden suspicion. Her instinct—like many Christian caregivers—is to explain, fix, or clarify. But as she discovered, those questions often feel like pressure to a brain already overwhelmed.

This episode introduces a simple, repeatable method you can begin using today: Yes → Validate → Redirect.

It’s honest. It’s gentle. And it brings peace back into the room without joining an argument you can never win.

You’ll hear practical examples, including how to respond when your loved one insists valuable items have disappeared or when old memories resurface as today’s reality. You’ll also learn why this approach works better than over-explaining and how Christian caregivers can apply these tools with patience and biblical clarity.

Whether you’re navigating paranoia, confabulation, or those “stink-eye” days when you know something is off, this episode equips you with language that lowers tension instead of escalating it.

🌿 What You’ll Learn

• Why reasoning or clarifying questions often intensify paranoia • How to use the Yes, Validate, Redirect method • How to meet emotional needs without lying or using confusing distraction • Why caregiving conversations are part of your spiritual growth • How to guide a moment back to safety when stories become fabricated • What Christian caregivers can do to bring calm into unpredictable interactions • This is practical support grounded in truth, clarity, and real-life caregiving experience—designed to help you respond with confidence the next time hard conversations arise.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/cds

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

Read the Blog: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/how-christian-caregivers-respond-to-dementia-accusations/

What if the very thing you never wanted is exactly where God grows you?

I share the behind-the-scenes journey of how this podcast became unapologetically Christian—and what God has taught me through two years of walking beside dementia caregivers like you.

If you feel like you didn’t sign up for this, you’re not alone. But here's the truth: God doesn’t waste your pain. He’s using even this season to shape you.

Here are the three things I’ve learned:

1. God Won’t Stay in the Background. He calls us to be visible with our faith—even in the hard, messy parts of dementia caregiving. You don’t have to do this alone or quietly.

2. Obedience Brings Clarity—But Also Conflict. Spiritual warfare is real. When we step out with biblical clarity, conflict may increase—but so does the peace of knowing you’re walking in truth.

3. God Grows You for a Role You Didn’t Choose. I never wanted to be a pastor’s wife or run a Christian dementia podcast. But looking back, I’m grateful. God has carried me—and He’ll carry you too.

You don’t have to pretend this is easy. But you also don’t have to carry it alone.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/cds

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

Does using your long-term care insurance feel like giving up? If so, you're not alone.

In this episode, Anne shares the emotional weight she carries as a wife caring for her husband with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Like many Christian caregivers, Anne wrestles with money fears, medical chaos, and legal roadblocks—all while trying to hold her faith steady.

She’s approved for long-term care insurance, but a quiet fear holds her back: “What if I run out of money? What if I make the wrong decision?”

That’s exactly why we had this conversation.

Here are three key takeaways:

1. Use the Policy — It's Provision, Not Waste. Anne had already met the requirements. It was time to start using what she’d paid into. Stewardship doesn’t mean hoarding. It means wisely applying the resources God has provided.

2. Secure Legal Protection Early. Missing paperwork meant Anne had to pursue conservatorship. If you’ve got family “wingnuts” in the wings, you need clarity and a good elder care attorney now—not later.

3. You’re Shepherding a Soul, Not Just Managing Symptoms. Dementia changes the brain, yes—but it doesn’t erase sin. Anne was reminded that her caregiving is a spiritual calling: to keep pointing her husband back to Christ.

If you’re drowning in the “what ifs,” this episode will help you come up for air. There is order in this journey—because God is not a God of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/cds

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

What do you do when caregiving decisions threaten to tear your life in three different directions?

In Episode 305, we meet Sonia — a Christian caregiver trying to juggle her father’s increasing dementia care, her sister’s support needs, and her own marriage. If you’ve ever felt like you’re one Uber call or appointment away from collapse, this episode is for you.

Sonia’s story is a clear example of what happens when logistics and love collide. She’s exhausted, doing her best, and unsure when (or how) to plan for what’s coming next. Together, we walk through how to make faithful decisions before burnout forces your hand.

Here are three powerful takeaways:

1. Clarify Decision-Making Authority. Before you create a plan, make sure you can legally and emotionally carry it out. Who’s actually in charge?

2. Prioritize Long-Term Sustainability. Uber rides help today. But what about next year? Proactive planning—like exploring assisted living—can protect everyone involved.

3. Steward Your Marriage, Too. Caregiving isn’t a solo mission. It’s a season God designed you to walk through with your spouse, not around them.

Sonia left our conversation with a plan to research care options — and a renewed sense of peace. You can, too.

Don’t walk alone. The Christian DigniCare Society (lifetime, under $100) gives you community, coaching, prayer, and practical tools. https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/cds

💬 What Do I Say When Dementia Makes Words Hard? Get “What Do I Say? How to Connect with Your Loved One with Dementia” — a free guide for Christian caregivers navigating confusion, repetition, and emotional moments. 📥 Download the guide now: https://www.dementiacaregivingmadeeasy.com/script

🤝 You Don’t Have to Do This Alone Join other Christian caregivers who are walking this road too — and learning how to care with compassion, clarity, and faith. 👥 Join the free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dementiacaregiversupportforchristians

🗣️ Ask Your Question Live — and Be Heard Bring your real-life caregiving questions to Ask the Dementia Coach — our free monthly Q&A session. You’ll get support, clarity, and maybe even be featured on the podcast. 🎤 Register here: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/ask

🎓 Want to Reduce Overwhelm Right Now? Join our free workshop: How to Immediately Reduce Dementia Caregiver Overwhelm and Stress — in 3 Simple Steps 🎟️ Reserve your seat: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/wsl

🧭 Still Feeling Stuck? If you’re wondering what’s underneath your stress, the Caregiver Stress Assessment can help clarify what’s really weighing you down — so you can take your next step with peace. 📊 Take the free assessment: https://www.thinkdifferentdementia.com/dca

❤️ Enjoy This Podcast? Leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify — it helps other Christian caregivers find encouragement and real help. 🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts