Ministry - Personal Archives - Rest Ministries - Chronic Illness and Pain Support

How A God Rapper Encourages Those Depressed

May 15, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

Dominic wouldn't necessarily call himself a "God rapper" but he certainly knows how to reach those who need the Lord. By Debbie Farmer Recently I read a letter from a young man named Dominic Cook (also known as "Dooch") who uses his pain to encourage others with his music. His testimony was such a blessing to me and I am going to share this interview with you now and hope that you too can also receive a blessing today. Dominic Cook (AKA: "Dooch") Please tell us about yourself and how you got into the music industry--became of God rapper. Where to start, where to start. . . Well, I’m a 27-year-old, husband, married, and going on 8 years. I have been a Christian going on 7 years now and a father of 5. My youngest Joshua, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Depression, Fear, Loneliness, Ministry - Personal, Music, Profiles, Spiritually Struggling, Suicidal Thoughts, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: attitude about illness, dooch, God, God of All Comfort (Pure Gold Classics), god rapper, hope boy, how to beat depression and loneliness, how to cope with depression and loneliness, rap god, testimony

When a “Fire” Hits Your Life, Do You Know How You Will Respond?

May 10, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

By Shelby Boughman Some of you may know the codes for using the fire extinguishers in the event of a fire. The acronym PASS means "Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Spray." Doing so will help you use the fire extinguisher properly so that you may fight whatever flames may be around you. Yesterday, the Lord gave me a new idea for this. Have you ever thought about other ways we can use this code? In Ephesians 6:16, Paul talks about a vital piece to the Armor of God by saying, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” The enemy is constantly trying to throw fiery darts and battles at us Christians, but we must stand tall and strong, fighting back at Him with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Coping Skills, Loneliness, Ministry - Personal, Spiritually Struggling, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: God, Gospel of Matthew, Jesu, Lord, Lord's Prayer, Prayer

Bring a Meal and Make is Special With Free Printable Labels

May 7, 2012 By admin 21 Comments

When one is chronically ill, and a friend wishes to help her, the first thing that comes to mind is to bring a meal. In fact, since the most popular gift to bring is a meal, I wrote the book, Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend to get people to think beyond food. Sometimes all we can think of is to bring a meal! Why is that? Well, a meal is a gift of comfort. And even though we --who are chronically ill--may be physically able to cook, it takes a burden off of us so that we can use the energy we would have spent cooking doing something else. I have discovered that many people who cook for the chronically ill and offer to bring a meal to them, are actually ill themselves. Though it is easy to understand new … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Beyond Casseroles, Caregiver, Cooking, Free Printables, Friend Has Illness, Invisible Illnesses, Ministry - Personal, Need to Know, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: Chronic, Chronic Illness, Conditions and Diseases, deacons, free labels for meals, Health, meal delivery, meals for family, meals for recovery, organize meals, organize meals for sick friend, printables, Rest Ministries, take a meal

What Do You Want Your Faith-Legacy To Be? Donna Has an Idea with Scrapbooking!

May 1, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

Scrapbooking Your Faith By Debbi Farmer One of my favorite hobbies is scrapbooking. I have so many memories that I want to keepsake for others to enjoy down the years. I am often looking for new resources to add to my scrapbooking technique. Perhaps that is why I found this book and web-site to be so fascinating and wanted to share it with you. Scrapbook Your Christian Faith: The Beginners Guide to Scrapbooking Your Spiritual Legacy by Donna Riner Weber is just one of those many treasures that you have to share with all of your friends. I recently interviewed Donna Riner Weber about her book and website and discovered for myself how to scrapbook my Christian faith. What is Donna's story? One crisp, cool Friday afternoon in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Hobbies-Crafts, Joy, Loneliness, Ministry - Personal, Profiles, Reflection, Statistics, What's New? Tagged With: chronic illness. scrapbooker, faith-based scrapbooking, faithbook, keepsake, memories, purpose in illness, scrapbook legacy, Scrapbook Your Christian Faith: The Beginners Guide to Scrapbooking Your Spiritual Legacy, scrapbooking christian faith, Scrapbooking Your Faith: Layouts That Celebrate Your Spiritual Beliefs

New Book In Store: Stronger Still: A Woman’s Guide to Turning Your Hurt into Healing for Others

April 18, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

This book, Stronger Still: A Woman's Guide to Turning Your Hurt into Healing for Others (Deeper Still), by Edna Ellison is an amazing workbook to hold in your hand and work your way through if you are trying to figure out how to use the pain in your life to encourage other people. We have it available now at the Rest Ministries shop. I am happy to be able to call Edna a friend through a Christian women writers organization, but even I didn't know all that she had experienced in her life until I read this book. This woman has every right to write about her journey with suffering and how to use it for God's plans. This is an interactive 6-week Bible study that helps guide the reader through her pain and to a point where she can see how … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Books, Caregiver, Church Leader, Coping Skills, HopeKeepers Resources, Links, Ministry - Personal, Need to Know, Person w/ Illness, Reflection, RM Volunteer, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: bible study, book, Christian, Chronic, chronic pain support group, God, Healing, Health, illness support group, lead a group, Leadership, Ministry, Pain, personal, Religion and Spirituality, Rest Ministries, small group leader, start a small group, support group resources, women's ministry, women's ministry resources, workbook

From Illness Comes Unique Card Ministry

January 17, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

By Debbi Farmer This was a rough week for me. One of my close friends lost her battle with cancer. Shortly after this, I lost my beloved family pet after having her in my life for fourteen years. My business has been almost non-existent the past few weeks because of the bad economy, and my health has taken a serious turn for the worse lately. I had so much I needed to say to the family of my friend. I had so much I needed to say to my family for losing their sweet pet. I needed to do more in my business, but my health would not allow it. I felt absolutely lost even knowing in my heart that the Lord was holding me and carrying me through. When you find yourself needing to convey a message to a friend or family, but you need help … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Caregiver, Links, Ministry - Personal, Person w/ Illness, Support Group Leader, What's New?, Working Tagged With: Christ, Christian, Christianity, God, Healing, is having a ministry working, is ministry a job, Jesu, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord, Pennsylvania, Sunday School

Making a Difference in the Lives of Soldiers With Illness, Disability, and More

August 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Debbi Farmer One of the privileges of writing articles to share with the members of Rest Ministries who are looking for resources to help with their particular kind of pain is finding a "hidden jewel" that can out-shine many others. "Healing our Heroes Network" is just that jewel! "Once a Hero always a Hero," however our military heroes today are only human and can suffer many kinds of wounds too complex sometimes to treat, too personal to share, and too deep to heal without help. That is where this wonderful program comes into play. The "Soldiers for Bibles Ministry" a part of Heart of God International Ministries has seen the need to bring together resources to help our heroes in one convenient location. "Healing Our Heroes … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advocacy, Links, Marriage, Mental Illness, Ministry - Personal, What's New? Tagged With: bibles for soldiers, invisible illness, Military, military chaplains, Ministry, outreach, ptsd, soldier, USA

Ways to Find the Fruit in Our Affliction of Illness and Pain

May 23, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

Excerpted from "What I Learned Lying Down - Hope for the Chronically Ill" Angela Dugi Can our affliction be the source of the fruit God produces in our life and not just an obstacle to it? "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis 41:52) "Spring has arrived once again and with it comes the reminder that it's pruning time. I love to tend to plants, flowers and for that matter, anything that grows. As my body allows, I've been making rounds to each of the bushes around our house trimming, cutting and shaping. Getting rid of the old growth to make way for the new is something I enjoy. This past winter, however, I made a fatal mistake with my pruning shears. I used to have a beautiful pink antique rose bush that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Books, Coping Skills, Loneliness, Ministry - Personal, Person w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: Christianity, Chronic (medicine), chronic illness book, God, Holy Spirit, illness christian faith, Jesus, Religion and Spirituality, What I Learned Lying Down - Hope for the Chronically Ill

The Story Behind The Prayer Dove

May 11, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

I love to see how God uses people with chronic illness to bring Him glory and bring those around the people comfort, even in the worst of circumstances. Kathy Nave is one of those people. She wrote to me last year and send along a beautiful prayer dove that was hand-carved. Gorgeous. . . and practical too! I asked her to share her story with the readers here at Rest Ministries. I hope it makes you wonder what God could have in store for you! The Prayer Dove is available in the Rest Ministries Shop! Lisa The Story Behind The Prayer Dove When I found out that I had MS I felt that part of me was gone for ever! Being a person who always did for myself, never asking for help of any kind, feeling that even God had forgotten me. . . … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Ministry - Personal, Profiles, RM Shop E-flyers, What's New? Tagged With: Christ, Christianity, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer, Religion & Spirituality, Rest Ministries

A Different Kind of Mom: Making a Difference at Home and in the World for Christ

March 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

I remember sitting at my first MOPS meeting for Mother's with Preschoolers. After years of waiting to have a child, my husband and I had been blessed with a newborn through adoption. The irony is, all of the moms at the table had new babies. We needed support way before our children reached preschool age! Our of about 10 of us however, I found is disheartening to hear all but myself and another mom say, "Don't you just hate being a parent some days?" Gasp! And these were Christian women. "All I feel like is the maid and the cook" they shared. Looking back, now I realize that I was still in some of the "bliss" of motherhood." Yet, ironically, the only two of us who were content at the moment were both working at home--in the middle of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adoption, Advocacy, Articles, Founder's Blog, Hobbies-Crafts, Ministry - Personal, Parenting, Reflection, What's New? Tagged With: Child, Christ, Christian, christian faith, Family, God, lisa copen, Ministry, mission, moms on a mission, moms with missions, moms with purpose, MOPS, Mother, mothers of preschoolers, Parenting, Rest Ministries