The program will be live with Mary Beth Chapman (author and wife of Grammy award winner, Steven Curtis Chapman) who recently had their young daughter pass away.

They will also be talking with Jeromy Diebler, the lead singer for the popular Christian group FFH who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007.

The program should be a real comfort for anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, the loss of a dream or any other loss (those of us with chronic illness have had a few, haven’t we?).

The program is actually set up so that viewers can call or email in questions to guests and actually get advice about how to handle their situations LIVE. I have to admit, I’ve not yet had a chance to watch one of these interactive shows, so am eager to check it out.

And if you miss it? You can watch the show live at www.yourfamilylive.com (where the archive will also be posted). According to Focus on the Family the program will also re-air on Sky Angel and other cable TV channels.

Below is a short video promo about the show.

“My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.” (Psalm 119:50)

When we live with daily chronic pain (the aches, the pain, the relentlessness!) people can look at us suffering and ask, “Why on earth do you still believe in a God that allows you to suffer so much? You are such a good person. If He healed you, you would be so grateful! You could do even more for Him than you are now!”

Sometimes we may even ask ourselves that. . .  right? We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t have questions and doubts about it sometimes.

But here is a beautiful poem that you may have seen before, that describes some of the reasons, despite the pain and suffering, we still believe in Jesus.

You Ask Me Why I Follow Jesus

You ask why I follow this Jesus?
Why I love Him the way I do?
When the world’s turned away from His teachings
And the people who serve Him are few.

It’s not the rewards I’m after
Or gifts that I hope to receive
It’s the Presence that calls for commitment
It’s the Spirit I trust and believe.

The Lord doesn’t shelter His faithful
Or spare them all suffering and pain,
Like everyone else I have burdens,
And walk through my share of rain.

Yet He gives me a plan and a purpose,
And that joy only Christians have known,
I never know what comes tomorrow,
But I do know I’m never alone.

It’s the love always there when you need it;
It’s the words that redeem and inspire,
It’s the longing to ever be with Him
That burns in my heart like a fire.

So you ask why I love my Lord Jesus?
Well, friend, that’s so easy to see,
But the one thing that fills me with wonder is
Why Jesus loves someone like me.

– Author Unknown

About the Author:
Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and lives with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and an enduring hope to see people in pain find Jesus!

Hi, My name is Heather and I came to Rest Ministries web site in hope of finding support from others dealing with similar things.

Right out of high school, I became very ill and we found out it was Mono and CMV. It was such a horrible time of my life for several reasons. I was a very active person, I wanted to move out soon, and I hurt so badly that I was in bed literally for a year. Then I still wasn’t getting better so I went to 9 different doctors, some who laughed at me, and was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue.

I have always struggled with depression, but it got very very bad around this time! It was years before they could find the right “cocktail” of medications to make me feel more NORMAL. I don’t even know what that is! But I finally was able to function okay.

I was so angry because of all of this and then at 23, I was date raped which caused much more anger which I bottled up. Then I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and realized that I wouldn’t get any better laying around so I went back to college. I didn’t finish, only because I changed my major to photography and the rest of the program was about studio photography and I wanted to do on-location photography.

I began having a lot of problems with my knee and finally went to an orthopedic surgeon who found something in an MRI and did surgery. He found very strange stuff behind my knee which come to find out later, it was psoriatic arthritis. By this time, I was not letting my illness define me and I was doing well by the Grace of God. But I still had a lot of anger and undealt issues from the past. Just this last year, a minister at our church about my age, took me through INTENSE counseling because he could see me going no where in my life, in my relationships, in my relationship with God until we got to the root of the problems and BOY DID WE!

It was the most difficult 4 months of my life but we got way down deep and delt with the many layers of issues, hurt and anger. Since then, I have been able to live a grounded Life in Christ and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I always knew He was there but I wasn’t able to trust Him until I delt with things!

I don’t like to be labeled religious because I am not. I am just a girl who is a sinner and lives in God’s Amazing Grace day by day. On Face ook not to long ago, a lady wrote me and we began talking and she has a radio ministry and she is the coolest, most real person! Very soon after we began talking, I was telling her how much I struggle to read the Bible by itself without any other studies. Her ministry is to teach people how to read the Bible without anything else so there it began a wonderful mentor/friendship between the two of us even though she is in another state.

I have learned that the Word is God’s heart and I want to learn and know God’s heart so badly. I am doing good right now besides going through a bout of depression. They have just added on a new antidepressant last week and I truly can already feel it helping. I have been in such a place where I do all of my photography editing on my bed. I watch TV in my bedroom, I read in my bedroom, I do everything in there.

I don’t want to clean or do laundry. I don’t want to take a shower. This is where I am at right now and with me being a photographer and working at home, makes it worse.

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

That is my story in a nutshell. Sorry it was so long but I appreciate you letting me share it! Blessings, Heather

Heather describers herself as “A fun loving 31-year-old girl who lives for God. I may have illnesses but I do not let them define me. I couldn’t live like this without God holding my hand all the way!” Visit her photography web site at http://hdstokesphotography.com . Both her photography site and her blog are cheerful and upbeat. You will see her sparkle!

By Daphne Eilein Landers

I hadn’t seen her for several weeks. So I led a group of women to visit with Nuri, an elderly homebound woman from our church. After hugging and kissing her, I fixed Nuri and her husband dinner. Another woman pulled weeds from the garden. Another ironed her husband’s clothes, while others tidied the common areas. Others chatted with her. As day turned to night, I flip-flopped in my mind between two Biblical passages to end the evening. I wanted something appropriate for the situation, something sensitive to her feelings and needs.

I decided on Psalm 136. I read the first line of each verse, while all the women – in unison – repeated the last line in each of the 26 verses: “For His mercy endures forever.” Verse by verse, the Psalmist David recalled instances of God’s mercy in the lives of the Israelites. From the little things to the big things.

But each time, things that reminded them they were never alone and that God cared for them. “To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:13). “To Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:16). “Who remembered us in our low state, for His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:23).

As I read the chapter, I watched Nuri, her hazelnut skin and salt-and-copper hair hunched in the sofa. With her frail voice, she joined the group, “His mercy endures forever.” Again, “His mercy endures forever.” At times, I couldn’t hear her, but her lips mouthed the words. She gazed past us all and nodded slightly with each verse. I watched her the entire time, and as I read the last verse, “Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, for His mercy endures forever,” I knew she wholeheartedly agreed.

Today – two years later, I remembered Nuri and Psalm 136. I myself have lived with chronic pain and depression the past year-and-a-half. And in the past two months, I experienced a traumatic event that intensified my symptoms and left me temporarily unable to work. Instead, I’ve been undergoing treatment for multiple symptoms and suffering the side effects and complications of various medications.

I know his mercy endures forever, even on days when it seems I’m alone, no one understands, and God himself has forgotten me. I’m choosing to recall his enduring mercies, even when I don’t feel it. Expressing thanks doesn’t minimize my difficulties. Neither does it discount that life can be difficult with physical, emotional, and mental challenges.

Instead, as I practice remembering His mercies, I overflow with physical, emotional, and mental benefits, all by choosing a grateful heart.

I am not alone. Daily, I see God’s enduring mercy in my friends and family members who live with chronic conditions. And I experience it myself with each passing moment:

To him who cradles me through my sleepless nights.
His mercy endures forever.
And wakes me up every morning.
His mercy endures forever.

To him who protects me through my dizzy spells.
His mercy endures forever.
And lifts my head from isolating shame.
His mercy endures forever.

To Him who sends messengers of encouragement.
His mercy endures forever.
And lifts my spirit with a well-timed card.
His mercy endures forever.

To Him who entertains me with my dog’s antics.
His mercy endures forever.
And delights me with little things.
His mercy endures forever.

To Him who gives me strength to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
His mercy endures forever.
And helps me to join fellow believers at church.
His mercy endures forever.

To Him who daily collects every tear.
His mercy endures forever.
And teaches me to be patient with others and myself.
His mercy endures forever.

To Him who has slowed me down from the busyness of life.
His mercy endures forever.
And paces me to live only in today.
His. Mercy. Endures. Forever.

Today I join the Psalmist David, Nuri, my friends and family members, and millions worldwide. Whatever our circumstance, we choose to recall God’s enduring mercies – and enjoy the overflow of benefits.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His mercy endures forever.

Daphne Landers is a Freelance Writer from Lakeland, FL and will soon have a web site at DaphneWrites.

by Denise Robinson

I thought as God’s child I’d have some kind of exemption.
Life would be better for me because of this redemption.
I thought He’d clear the rocks, fill the holes and let me see.
I thought for sure You’d do that, Lord–why? Because You love me.

‘Yes, I love you’, I can hear Him say–
‘Enough to not always do things your way.
I love you enough to see you cry.
And I love you enough to not tell you why.’

“What kind of parent is that?” I cry out in my pain.
“This doesn’t make sense. This is insane.
I wouldn’t treat my child that way.”
And I can sense God ask, ‘What’s that you say?’

Did you take your sick baby to see that physician?
Did your baby’s cries alter your decision?
Did you willingly bring her to that place of pain?
And if need be, would you bring her back there again?

Did you tell the doctor, “No, don’t give him that shot!”?
Or did your arms hold baby down, whether he screamed out or not?
Did you say to your infant: “Now, this is a vaccination”
Or did you just let it happen without explanation?

Oh, Perfect Parent, you do know what’s best.
You know when, what kind and how long for the test.
Though my childish eyes at times cannot see,
You’ll never stop Fatherly loving me.

Mrs. Denise Robinson

It started when I began to have seizures in 1999 and was misdiagnosed at this lousy local hospital where I was a counselor 25 years. The third time I was taken up north to Texas, and a nueorsurgeon found out that I was being hit with this rare disease call Encephalitis (or the left Temporal lobe), affecting memory and energy. After 2 years of doing 8 pills a day of 2 drugs, this same guy put me on the Dilantin without testing me first.

After a month of using it, I began to die, since it was killing all of my organs, putting me back at that same hospital (this time by jet and helicopter) for 38 days, 22 unconscious.

My constant Bible quote is “I do all things through Him who strengthens me.” I am unable to attend church very often, yet I read my Bible each night, as well as devotionals and so on.

Greg was born in California in 1954, and moved to New Jersey in ‘60. He was in the Scouts and Civil Air Patrol after completing 2 years of college to join the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He ended up in Oklahoma where he was saved at First Baptist in Altus and then met his wife 3 months later.