Caring for aging parents is crushing me - caregiver burnout

What you are doing is honored by God - caring for parents is faith made practical: 'if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God' (1 Timothy 5:4). But burnout is not a badge of faithfulness, and exhaustion is not a sin to push through indefinitely. Even Jesus withdrew from crushing demand to rest and pray (Mark 6:31 - 'Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while'), and God built rest into creation itself (Exodus 20:9-10).

Sustainable love requires help: siblings called to share the weight, church community, respite care, and honest conversations about what you cannot do alone - asking for help is wisdom, not failure (Exodus 18:17-18, where Moses is told 'this thing is too heavy for thee... thou art not able to perform it thyself alone'). Grieve, too - watching a parent decline is a long goodbye, and that grief is real before the funeral.

'Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee' (Psalm 55:22).