Living with illness is hard. Yes, that is nothing new that you have not heard me say before. But Thursday I felt like I was hit “hard.” It’s not life-threatening news or anything, it was just one of those “can’t I catch a break” moments. And the tears flowed. And I used the time to talk with you.
As I have prayerfully listened to God’s voice on what direction to take Rest Ministries, one of my hopes was to “connect” with you more… to share the realities of life with illness–AND the hope we CAN find in Christ.
Sure, I usually fix my makeup and put on a shirt with a collar before making a video. I try to add a bit of sparkle so I don’t scare you off (smile) and so it at least appears I know what I am doing. But sometimes a gal just has to put aside that shiny image and get real. It’s not always pretty, but it is real.
If the video below does not show up or play you can find it here on our YouTube channel.
Tell me. . . how does this make you feel? Is it comforting to know I am on the same journey? Or. . . disheartening? Do you like seeing the “real” me? Or do you prefer the more professional version that looks a bit more filtered? I’m curious to know what you think.
Lisa
Lisa, thank you for sharing this. I am praying for you. I took prednisone for two weeks for a knee injury, and I gained a lot of weight. I am so sorry your doctor was so rude. I feel overwhelmed, like I can never get it all done, and I don’t even have a child. I appreciate your honesty. You are such a blessing!
Dear Lisa,
Your beautiful video touches my heart. I too have had a really tough week like so many of our brothers and sisters who have ” invisible illnesses”. Thank you for continuing with your ministry. Your devotions that you share with us and this website keep me going through bad days and nights. May God bless you and your family.
Pam
Thank you for being “REAL”,
This message was so meant for me this week. God sent it to me thru you. I just told my hubby yesterday that I was at my wit’s end. I couldn’t do it anymore. Blah, blah, blah……but I, like you , know there is a purpose. And we have God. And that is what sustains us. And he is why we keep moving forward no matter how hard it gets. This is our life and you shared the real you so that others like me could know we aren’t the only one! Being a wife and mommy is so hard some times with chronic illness but God has given us our lives the way they are for a reason and I am so glad that you shared your heart. It gives me strength to know there are other mommies out there just like me even though we may not have one right next door to talk to. Bless you dear friend. I will be praying for you.
Thank you for your courage Lisa, not only in your walk with Chronic pain but your courage to share your struggles and frustration. Know that God is wrapping his loving arms around you and is helping you walk this journey. You are a light shinning in the darkness of pain. May God bless you with all you need to finish the path he has you on.
Love Frances
Canada
Precious Lisa, thank you for your honesty and being vulnerable with your audience. God, most importantly, has heard the cries of your heart and your soul. I have also fallen into a rabbit hole of sorts, and it IS HARD..REALLY HARD…finding your way back up and out. We beg and plead and look for miracles that sometime come and often do not. BUT THE GREATEST miracle is and always will be the fact that God sent his Son for us to capture and captivate us in this old world and HE IS THE ONLY ONE who gets the glory from our broken down lives when we are sincerely seeking HIM above all else…as you are dear sister. He is pleased with your passion for Him and compassion for others. I am thankful for your ministry and your family and the support you lend to so many who are afflicted. Press on, Lisa, and know that we are standing in the gap for you even as you do for us. AND ONE DAY WE WILL BE FULLY UP AND OUT AND WITH JESUS AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE PAIN OR AGGRAVATION OF ANY SORT FOREVER AND EVER! Amen?
It is when we are weakest that God’s power is shown. How can you do it all? You can’t….GOD can! I have Fibro and advanced liver disease. On crummy days I remind Satan that he is a loser and I belong to Christ, I pray for people and sing praises to God for His faithfulness. I take delight in knowing that this praise is an Excedrin headache for Satan and his friends.
Dear Lisa: It meant so much to me to see the real you!…….and you know what?….you are beautiful!…..I would much rather have someone like you who KNOWS WHAT IT IS LIKE writing these devotionals, than someone who tries to pretend she “has it all together”……I too had an overwhelming sense of sheer frustration this past week with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a true meltdown, just so sick of it, feeling envious of “everybody else” who can live a “normal” life, etc. …..I had been asked by a new friend who didn’t know about my illness, if I would like to join her team in a 3.1 mile walk for Breast Cancer. I SO wanted to be a part of it, but had to tell her that the truth about myself, that even though I look healthy, I have CFS and cannot physically do that….I felt “left out”, “disqualified”, so done with this illness….I posted on my FB status that I was struggling a lot physically, emotionally and spiritually, and would appreciate prayer. People responded with love, encouragement and prayers, and the next morning God directed me to Hebrews 12:1-2. He assured me that even though I couldn’t run/walk THAT race, He still had a race for me!! I was NOT just left on the sidelines of life, but He had marked out a race perfectly suited for me to run!!……and I still could have the heart of a champion as I ran my race, fixing my eyes on Jesus. He told me I was still a strong woman, and that strength is so much deeper than physical abilities. He assured me again that He understands completely and even when I was crying out in frustration and anger, my voice to Him was beautiful because it was honest and He loves the real me.
Lisa, you are running the race He has marked out for you, and you are doing an amazing job!…you are blessing people, both near you, like your husband and son, but spread out far all, like me in NJ!! Thank you for your tender. loving, honest heart and all the sacrifices you make to encourage us along our races!
Love and blessings,
Karen
Lisa,
You are a beautiful person. You do so much and I am thankful for your heart of love for those who suffer. Rest ministries sunroom has been such a God-send for me….
Thank you for revealing your challenges and feelings. I am honored to have found rest ministries….
Keep resting in his grace. Christ is your strength and he will continue to carry you, holding you in his arms of love…
Praying for you and rest ministries,
Manuela
Dear sweet Lisa: It was definitely comforting to me to watch your video. Just the day before I’d had a sobbing spell, with many of the same feelings you described. One of the reasons you are so precious to me is that you have been willing to be vulnerable.
By the way, I loved your title, “Latte with Lisa – Completely Unfiltered”!
May our comments and the Holy Spirit comfort and strengthen you fo carry on.
Dearest Lisa,
You are so very precious!!!! I cried along with you thoughout your video. Tears of empathy, tears of understanding.
I loved your being real with all of us!! May God honor your courage to be transparent. Your husband and son are truly blessed to have you in their lives. WE, members of RM, are all blessed to have you in our lives!!
Your gentle and loving heart shine bright– whether through video, radio, or written word!
God bless you for your ministry and for your incredibly loving and faithful heart! You are in my prayers, dear one!
With love for you,
Brooke
Lisa, I will hire ‘Tony Soprano’ to beat up your doctor!
What’s wrong with her? Of course Prednisone causes weight gain – and guess what? I have went to three doctors in the past two weeks and each one’s weight scale was different! I almost hope your doctor starts gaining weight and then maybe she will have more sympathy.
My problem with some religious support groups is that often they have a ‘Pollyanna’ type attitude toward living with the frustrations and anger, etc that goes with chronic illness. Would much rather read something ‘real’ that doesn’t make me feel that I am coming up short when I am ticked off about bad days.Sigh… I’m afraid that I’m no good at being the sweet suffering type!
I’ll be praying that you can get the weight under control and maybe your doctor will have a crisis of conscience as to her lack of bedside manner. Best wishes
Sweet Lisa, I’m so sorry you continue to struggle. Please know you are in my prayers.
Your ministry, coupled with your honesty and transparency, is a source of hope and a safe place for those who too know the difficulties of chronic illness.
Sending gentle cyber-hugs and blessings,
Lisa
Good Morning Lisa,
I am glad I was able to take time to watch and listen to your video. I was also too so glad to see the real you. Because sometimes that is the most difficult part nad th ehardest part for people to see. But it truly encouraged me in my own journey. You video helped to let me know that it is ok for me to let the real me out even if others don’t understand. Someone people dont want to deal with the real you but I Thank you sooo much for sharing. Continue to do these videos, but it causes you to relate deeper and deeper with others and it really lets others know how much you truly realte to them and through this video they can even see it. THank You Lisa for sharing. I am praying for you and your family in Jesus name. Hold on to God’s encouragement.
Blessings,
Erica
Hi Lisa,
I fired the last doctor who got nasty with me and found one who had much more compassion for the osteoarthritis in my knees. I do not have the patience or money to pay for doctors who have no respect for me or my illnesses, injuries and pain. I suggest you email your doctor this video.
On the light side Lisa I just wanted to share with you that after 6 full months of planning and preparing (around our illnesses and that of loved ones) my three assistant leaders and I had our first HopeKeepers support group meeting last night at my church. We had 3 prospective new members, 2 assistance leaders, and myself in attendance. Our only male assistance leader is in the hospital now awaiting heart surgery. The meeting was scary, exciting, and fun. When I wasn’t sure what to do next I prayed and the Lord showed me your icebreakers for discussion and other material in the leadership manual that helped me run the meeting smoothly.
I just wanted to thank you for all you do for Rest Ministries, HopeKeepers, and all of us who understand all too well the difficulties you are facing and still reaching out to God. You have done all the work to develop this ministry so we do not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to starting a ministry for people with chronic illness and pain.
My husband has been struggling with cancer for 1 1/2 years and I have been there each day with sorrow, tears, and suffering, but also the joy, peace, and perseverance that only our Holy Father can provide. HE is strong through our weakness and in turn He strengthens us.
God Bless you Lisa.
Sincerely in Christ Jesus,
Cinda
Oh Lisa ~ your video breaks my heart. I too put on 30 pounds in about 5 months from medication. I don’t feel like me anymore in many ways. But what I hear from you is the OLD ME. Lisa, you are being way too hard on yourself. God keeps us – we don’t keep Him. He holds on to us. Yesterday there was an excellent post on the Internet Monk about why we must embrace our brokenness and never be good Christians. http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/imonk-101-when-i-am-weak-why-we-must-embrace-our-brokenness-and-never-be-good-christians I have changed my “theology” so much after all the losses in my life. Please, allow yourself to rest in the Lord. Stop trying so hard to be the good everything. The pressure is too much. The literal meaning of “Be still and know that I am God” is “stop striving”. You need to show mercy to yourself Lisa. You are such a blessing to so many but we don’t want you to put so much pressure on yourself. As we were taught in Griefshare – we need to take all of the “shoulds” off of ourselves. NO MORE SHOULDS!! Is there some way we could help with the cost of new tires?? Please let us know if that would be feasible. Love, Adrienne
Lisa, you are right, we all have those bad days. I have had many calls lately from Dallas members who are suffering with “one of those days” blues. I encourage them to just spill it out. Share. That’s why I created our support group. Some times things PILE UP… besides the ice here in Tx and the snow, life doesn’t necessarily respect our white flags… it just keeps going, with big pot holes filling our paths, and causing us to stumble, both physically and mentally. The good thing is our Jesus knows about these days… He doesn’t shake His head when we stumble… He doesn’t take disgrace and shake his head… He waits… knowing we will pull through, Look Up!, making it through the moments even in tears. That’s all he wants us to do… get through the moments even when they become days, weeks, months, years. THANK YOU for being raw…. I like that part of you best. Leave the collared shirts for the ones who don’t get it. We need you Raw and Real.. so we know, we are not alone!
Re Shelley’s Comment (Feb. 5th): I especially agree with your last two lines. THANK YOU for being raw … This does help us to feel not so alone.
In the lowest points in my life I would never want to go to someone who appeared to have everything together. I’d feel they would not understand and that I’d get “easy answers” advice, minimizing my suffering. Maybe not even a listening ear. Then I would hurt much worse.
Thanks Shelley.
Lisa, I so love the real you!!!!!!!!!!
I too have had a a bad week and it came to a head today with just one more thing. My wonderful amazing husband, realized I was having a bed pain day but failed to recognize my emotional state. He was busy getting caught up with things around the house as well. He asked me what I thought about a little project he was thinking of doing (I think this is how he deals with things, a carpenter by trade, be productive and make something tangible). Well I was completely graceless. Not only could I not deal with the project but I reminded him of all his little human flaws as well.
Some time later he came around the corner and the site of him made me just wail. He being graceful took me in his arms. I told him I just could not handle any more (the devil is a liar). And apologized for my dreadful behavior. I thank God for the Gift that is him.
Anyway, when we are real with each other then we can lean on each other, pray for each other, authentically love each other. Instead of wondering why it is the other person seems to have it all together. Why is it she can stay so positive when I feel like jumping out of my skin. The truth shall set us free, and the devil is defeated again!
Keep on keeping it real
Love and prayers
Christine
Hello Lisa,
I’m new to this website and it has been a blessing already. Watching your video this morning has blessed me more as you poured your heart out and I can so relate to your tears and frustrations. Thank you for opening yourself up and sharing with us. I suffer with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia/Interstitial Cystitis. I really connected to hearing you talking about the rude comments from your doctor. I wish the medical society would really address how they treat patients and how that so negatively impacts us. Negative comments can last a lifetime and are so hurtful. When I go to a medical establishment and the person or persons there go the extra mile (doesn’t happen often), it makes things just a little bit easier and is like a breath of fresh air. Once, when I had a painful procedure to endure, the nurse took my hand and just rubbed it during the entire process. That just made my day and the pain that much easier to bear. Simple gesture, but meant so much that day.
Yes, God may not choose to heal us physically, but you know Lisa, we can be spiritually healed and that is very evident of you and I know I’ve made some real progress in that area.
My heart hurts for you though as it is all overwhelming and what your doctor said to you is very disturbing to me. You have a right to voice your frustrations. I know what we all need to do is to pray for your doctor as that is what Jesus would do.
I’m so happy to have found this website. Been looking for something like this for quite some time.
Hope things improve soon.
Dear Lisa….thank you for baring you soul to us…..you are such a blessing to me! You used the word ‘overwhelmed’ and that is the way i feel so much of the time….there just isn’t enough energy to do all I need to do each day….just the basics! And I don’t have a child, husband and a wonderful ministry….you are ‘ wonder woman’ for sure:-) I keep asking God for wisdom, as you do, and it seems some times that i’m going to have drop something, even if it takes only an hour or 2 a week….but then, what to choose? Adding to what you said, living with chronic illness is like always being in the middle of a pretty severe trial….it pushes us to God, over and over….there is no where else to go….but I know that He understands our struggles and times of questions and tears. As you have said He is omnipotent and truly in charge of all and when we can truly surrender (sometimes daily) and come to Him with praises then we can find peace and sometimes its the right time for answers and sometimes we wait longer. And we can always turn to each other for support and comfort!
Thank you, Lisa
Love, Sue
sto go
I can totally empathize with your struggle of gaining weight while taking steroids. One look at your face on the video and I knew you were on a high dose of prednisone. It causes your appetite to grow and you gain weight so quickly. To taper off will be a long journey and during a flare might not be the best time to try.
I hate that your Dr. was rude to you in her efforts to get you to lose weight. She doesn’t understand the challenges you are coping with. I am so sorry that you had her lack of empathy on top of all the other challenges you are facing.
What a lovely family you have and they are a source of joy for you. Discouragement overwhelms the good things sometimes. Be still awhile and know that God lives. Let him comfort you through loving family, the beauty of nature and the support of your online friends.
Lisa, Doctors can be fired. I put up with quite a bit then decided it was not a good relationship for me. I found a new Dr. and he literally saved my life. He also treats me with dignity and respect. Very refreshing.
Well we know you are human, and I must say you are truly an inspiration to all of us!! I have wondered for years how you keep going, with a family, including a special needs son, and all the responsibilities of running this ministry! My hat is off to you, and my prayers are with you!! Thank you so much for all you do!!
Lisa,
Thank you for sharing ALL with us. This only makes you human–as we all are.
Lisa,
I just watched your video. My heart goes out to you. I’m a retired RN and I understand heartless doctors. I worked with a lot of them over my 30+ year career as a nurse. The few pounds you gained were not that important, prednisone does that to us and the doc knows that. I think,perhaps, she was experiencing a frustrating day, personally and/or professionally, and took her frustration out on you.
Although I do not experience nearly the difficulties you do with your illness, I can understand a little on how you feel. Let the tears roll. It helps to release the pressure. I went for years and did not cry, but in the last eleven years, I’ve cried so much I bet I could fill up a bathtub.
And, yes, I like to see REAL people with REAL emotions. It shows me and the others you are a human being with real feelings and problems–like us. I wish I could give you a big hug but this email will have to do for now.
Lisa, you are a beautiful blessing to me and I will continue to keep you in my prayers. I like what “Claudette” said above, “AND ONE DAY WE WILL BE FULLY UP AND OUT AND WITH JESUS AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE PAIN OR AGGRAVATION OF ANY SORT FOREVER AND EVER! Amen?”
Love,
Tricia
Dear Lisa,
Even Jesus wept. I was told once that one of the greatest words in the Bible was “and He wept. I know Jesus came to show us how to live. And I believe that crying is ok…God gave us the ability to cry. It is a relief valve…Like when a tire is too full before it explodes you use the valve and let air out. We too need to “Let the air out” when life becomes over wheming and let face those of us with disabilities; not only have the everyday issues that everyone else faces but we also have to deal with the pain of a disability and the ups and the downs that come with. You did nothing wrong. I will keep you in my prayers, and remember even Jesus wept.
With a shared love in Christ our Lord
Denise
Here i am, having just watched your “Lisa Unflitered” video again after a day of discouragement and sobbing. It’s amazing the comfort that comes when we are reminded once again, by “God with skin on”, like you, that we are not alone. Today I had to make a decision that disappointed my husband, in order to take care of myself. And the tension in our home could be cut with a kniffe for a few hours. This is my third comment, meaning I’vde watched this several times.
I hope today has been a better one for you dear heart!
Thank you Lisa.
http://www.dynamicministries.com/ Just another website I listen to its real good.
Lisa,
Thank you so very much for being “real” with us. It is so comforting to know I am not alone in my suffering… Thank you for persevering & taking the time to make this video & for all the time you have put into Rest Ministries to be a blessing to so many others! I love you sharing the real you… Somehow it helps lessen the guilt I seem to daily bear. I am a Pastor’s wife who has not been able to make a church service for years because of not being able to sit without pain since I had my lumbar fusion 3 1/2 years ago. I constantly feel so guilty for not being able to live up to the role of “Pastor’s wife any longer. My self esteem has diminished since I had to give up my job as my husband’s secretary. I am very isolated & away from my extended family. I have a wonderful husband & am so thankful God has blessed me with him. Both of my children love the Lord with all their hearts so I feel doubly blessed. Thanks again for all you do for us & the kingdom. I will be remembering you in prayer as the Lord brings you to mind. Please continue to share the “real” you<3
Blessings,
Barb
Lisa:
I think you’re fantastic, filtered or unfiltered, & I have no problem with “real” videos.
From an old nurse:
GET A DECENT RHEUMATOLOGIST! Fire this one ASAP!
This rheumatologist is “fat-phobic,” so find one who ISN’T. Any MD who is, to be blunt, so STUPID as to ask what taking 20 mg of steroids has to do with weight gain, doesn’t have the IQ of a nightlight & shouldn’t be practicing medicine. Her lack of compassion, intelligence, & fat-phobia are proven by her refusal to discuss your medication regimen. I believe she never answered because she really didn’t know. You’d have had better luck by far speaking with the pharmacist who filled the prescription to get an idea of specific questions to ask her, if needed. SHE IS A BULLY.
My GM used to say that people who picked on others were trying to hide either self-hatred, or something they were doing wrong that they were afraid would be found out. In my experience, it’s usually both. The self-hatred both leads to the sin & is caused by it, in a vicious cycle. This means their bullying can only be fixed when they realize & accept their need for Jesus, & get saved. Of course, this excludes modern-day “Christian” “Pharisees” who believe no one can be saved if they’re not physically perfect; that physical imperfections are caused by sin all the time (not by illness, medications, etc.) & that it is their God-given responsibility to make sure the person “accepts” their “sin” & “repents” as shown by almost miraculous & sustained progress toward their goal, not God’s, not the person’s – thus, they attempt to replace God in the person’s life. Why do you think Jesus really had a problem with scribes & Pharisees? Their laws replaced God in people’s lives, & people attempted to obey out of fear, not love of God.
Doctors, especially specialists, encounter a heavy workload, a lot of frustration – & way too much adulation, so they are already susceptible to “God complexes.” When patients submit to bullying, & put up with being ignored when they have vital questions about their health, this INFLATES their ego, & it puts them in a dangerous position with God. It does them no favors, so if they’re all in favor of “tough love,” they put themselves in a position where they’re liable to the same thing. I’ve watched so many of them in my life. I started caregiving when I was 9. I finally had to stop working as a bedside RN in 1997, & was too ill to continue working in 2008, but during those times, this is what I noticed: The doctors who were engaged in illicit affairs were the MOST likely to condemn anyone with even 5 lb of excess weight, using, quite often, health threats blown out of proportion, name calling, condemnation, belittling, & insults. Despite well-documented medication side effects of weight gain, they offer no substitute medications that don’t have those side effects, nor do they give any quarter based on those medication side effects.
Firing them is good for their spiritual health, especially if you calmly explain that you’re fed up with being bullied.
That’s ME, old, sick, beat up RN, being blunt. Real. Unfiltered.
YOUR WORTH AS A PERSON IS NOT MEASURED BY A NUMBER ON A SCALE OR A CLOTHING SIZE! Your chronic illness is causing the weight gain, NOT the other way around. You’re eating healthy, trying to stay active, control your symptoms, get adequate rest, & tend to your relationships with God, your family, & your friends.
Somehow, I can’t find anywhere in the Bible where it says, “Thou shalt never exceed a size 3.” That’s Hollywood. Madison Ave. People who never “got” it that “Twiggy” was put out as a model in the 60s as a social commentary on the trend towards forcing women to be ever smaller & younger in order to be considered models. Her youth & thinness were MAKING FUN of modeling trends, but the idiots in fashion & modeling opted for this as a new modeling standard instead – proving 2 things conclusively: 1. The fashion world has no sense of humor, hyperbole, or irony, & 2. The fashion world has the common sense of a rock (well, maybe I shouldn’t insult rocks like that).
The Bible tells us not to be gluttons. Now, when you see thin people who never exercise & eat tons of food & stay thin, do you think, “Oh, that’s a glutton & a sloth,” or do you just envy them? Don’t. I’ve seen those thin people who do either/both. They have health problems, too, from-tada!-eating wrong & not exercising! IMO, medical science should quit kvetching about fat people & spend their research money on something besides the endless re-hash of diet-and-exercise & weight loss surgery, & start doing what cardiac research did. Cardiac research saw lazy overeaters with normal cholesterol & asked, “Why aren’t their arteries plastered to nearly being closed from all that cholesterol, especially since they don’t exercise?” Of course, they ignored the weight part, but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. It’s time we got to that 3rd question: Why are there thin people who can eat, in some cases, 10,000 cal/day (a few competitive eaters put that much away for “training” & are normal sized to thin – & they train as religiously as any body-Nazi gym worker) & not gain weight, while some of us can gain on 1200 cal/day? THAT is where you find the world-benefiting answer to how 3rd world residents who scavenge in dumps for one meal a day have obesity problems as well as why some of us can diet & exercise to extremes & remain obese.
AND…since weight loss surgery results in a 60 – 80% loss of EXCESS weight, that means people who have it will, except rarely, will REMAIN 20-40% over ideal weight (100% of excess weight minus 60-80% lost= 20-40% overweight). In other words, they will STILL be OBESE after having their insides chopped up & re-routed, enduring sometimes up to a year of diarrhea &/or vomiting, risking malnutrition, osteoporosis – & after they stop monitoring them at 5 years, begin premature aging, causing the very diabetes & arthritis they thought was gone when they lost all the weight, plus osteoporosis, loss of skin elasticity, hardening of the arteries due to age, plus a tendency toward higher cholesterol & guess what else – increased loss of muscle, replaced by fat, which happens due to aging in ALL people of ANY size (which is why the longer you wait to lose weight, the more difficult it becomes).
Who wants to go through expensive, painful surgeries with the higher risk of things coming undone, or infection, malnutrition, dehydration, potentially fatal heart arrhythmias (bad rhythms) due to electrolyte imbalances (potassium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, etc.), & so much stress it can cause diabetes anyway? Way too many people IMO. And before some of you start commenting about WLS, if it worked for you, fine, but besides your glowing, leave-out-all-the-bad-stuff accounts, people need to hear that this is a dangerous, last resort surgery, a surgery with such a high morbidity (disease burden) & mortality (death) rate (minimum 2.5% when acceptable is <1%) that it would not be permitted on thin people unless they were hemorrhaging. Of course, all the doctors keep saying, when they're pushing it to the public, is that being fat IS as life-threatening as a hemorrhage, so the risk is justified. I doubt it would if they actually allowed post-5 year out research to stay on the web longer than a few hours (I've seen it, bookmarked it, come back to it, seen something totally different/404 File Not Found message/505 Bad Gateway message within hours to maybe 1-2 days).
Plus, lay people don't (unless God lets them "luck out" like He's done for me) hear what these guys say when they're NOT trying to sell enough WLS for another summer home in the Hamptons, Italian villa, 100 ft luxury yacht, etc. "Stupid lazy Americans, won't do the real work of weight loss," "Fat people are so easy to sucker, they worry about passing those psych evals, they don't know unless they're completely insane &likely to get dangerous, we're going to pass them," "This is the best money maker in ages! Hope we can keep the insurance companies fooled into thinking this will save them money in decreased healthcare costs." Hmmm. Doesn't sound much like, "Sometimes, the only way to 'kick start' your metabolism is to do something radical like this." "You'll avoid high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, & your arthritis will go away/you won't get it," "You'll be so healthy! You'll look & feel wonderful!" "The risk of side effects is minimal," "We believe in you, you can do this," etc.
So, there you have it. Long, not short, meant to drive home a point:
You're doing what God expects, eating healthy, not pigging out or on difficult days, trying to fight it, taking care of your relationship with God, loving your husband, mothering your son, trying to get enough rest & exercise, balancing work & recreation. GOD IS NOT ASKING MORE OF YOU. Don't let this rheumatologist – or any of her snotty, God-complex medical "cousins" – tell you otherwise or take His place.
Hugs!
hi, it seems like you said soo much that i also feel and go thru.
i know the agony of prednisone, and the weight gain, and everything that goes with it, the pain, embarressment, feeling alone, etc…
i wish you lived closer to me. i think we would be great pals:)
i have just recently found something that has helped me get my life back,
im not cured from crohns, and fibro and spinal stenosis and arthritis and other things,
but it has given me energy, helpd weight come off easy and i think i even feel like i am having more hope than i ever ever have,!!!
it is called VISALUS.+++
it is here on the web if youd like to check it out….. i have been on it now almost 3 months
and i have even been able to get off some medicines! !!!!
anyway dear one, i pray that the LORD will ontinue to hold you up,
for you truly ,truly are a blessing to so many of us.
someday we will get our new bodies and this will be but a dim memory.
that will be a wonderful day wont it?
plus i also look forward to meeting you in glory:) ….God bless…
Thanks so much for sharing with us! I know that it has been a long time since you made this video, but I want to let you know that I watched it at just the right time & God continues to use you. I spent 5 days in the hospital and had emergency back surgery removing the battery part of my neuro-stimulator that I had just had implanted 2 weeks earlier. The stimulator had been helping SO much with my pain, so now I am back to having so much more pain in my back, legs, & feet. It turned out to be a staph infection in my blood. I have been in so much pain (from the infection) that I couldn’t do anything except cry, so I really understand your tears. I came home with a PICC line for 10 days (I have 5 more to go) so I can give myself the antibiotic. The doctors don’t know whether or not the infection will flare up again after I am off the antibiotics, and if it does it will go to the leads from the neuro-stimulator which means they will have to remove them. Then I will not be able to have the implant put back. Please pray with me that this infection will be GONE! It will be at least 6 months before I can have the stimulator put back in, but at least that will be something to look forward to.
Lisa, you have been such an inspiration to me ever since I met & talked with you at FAME 2000. I really do appreciate your honesty when you share your feelings. I marvel at the things that you are able to accomplish through your ministry.
Love,
Coralu