2011 Rest Ministries Ornament and Book – Free with $20 Donation
November 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Fall Bible Study Begins October 19th
October 12, 2011 By 2 Comments
We are so excited that over 20 people have already signed up for our Fall Bible Study! We will be conquering the topics of: I Can’t Do it Alone – Discover how to feel more comfortable accepting help from others. I Feel So Guilty - Learn how to overcome feelings of guilt, moving towards acceptance of God’s grace. Everything Is So Out of Control – Find out how to surrender over to God your attempts to control your life. My Body Image Is Hurting – Chronic illness often affects one’s body image. Recognize how to base your self-image on how God sees you. How Do I Cope With This Depression? – Understand why even Christians become depressed and how to move on to feeling better. Sue Ellen, who led the Summer … [Read more...]
New Fall Bible Study Starts 10/19
October 5, 2011 By 15 Comments
We are excited to be offering a Fall Bible Study here at Rest Ministries. Our first study happened this summer and over 50 people signed up. Many of them attended the weekly conference call and grew to become good friends with other participants as well as dive into the Word. The calls will take place each Wednesday on our conference calling line at 11 AM pacific, 1 PM Central, 2 PM Eastern, USA. They will be recorded and available to listen to later if you cannot make it (for members of the study only). This Fall's study will be "Learning to Live with Chronic Illness," a five lesson (8 week) study on topics of: I Can't Do it Alone - Discover how to feel more comfortable accepting help from others. I Feel So Guilty - Learn … [Read more...]
Goodie Bag Winner #7, Revealing One’s Heart
July 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
Many of you related to the devotional, "Choosing When and How to Reveal My Heart" by Daphne Tarango. Daphne writes, "Yes, I struggle. Chronic illness makes me feel angry, confused, disgusted, fearful, helpless, and flat out sad. But by being willing to speak those words to others, they, too, become willing to shatter their masquerade and invite me into their real world. The result? Relationship. Closeness. Intimacy." Miriam shares. . . "Thanks for writing this. I’ve been thinking about about this exact thing recently. For the last 6 years of being sick I have been hiding the pain & difficulties from my friends. I don’t see them often, but when I do I put on a brave face & deflect any inquiries with superficial chat. There … [Read more...]
Goodie Bag Winner #6,
July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
"I'll Fly Away" devotional by Linda Elmore Teeple reminds us, "God instilled in each of us the ability to create ways to deal with overwhelming pain. If you dissociate, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you. It means that you are experiencing overwhelming pain and are creating distance to protect yourself." This seemed to resonate with many of you! Beth shares. . . As I thought of the reference to the dove I remembered what a friend told me just recently. She said that she had seen something few of us have the privilege of seeing in nature. An eagle was taking its fledgling for a flying lesson. She carried it on her back as she flew up high, away from the nest, and then, at a certain point, flipped over, letting the … [Read more...]
Goodie Bag Winner #5, Looking Toward Heaven
July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Author Deborah Farmer shares about The Glory to Come in her devotional and it touched many of you. Linda, our selected recipient of the goodie bag, shares. . . I find comfort in these devotions, particularly when I am in a great deal of pain or am just worn down after being in terrible pain for a few days. Today was a good example of that and for me another explanation of the beauty of this verse. . . .I woke feeling weak, tired and fully worn out however, I really wanted to go to church this morning. In my prayer time this morning before I actually got out of bed, I asked--no, 'begged' is a better word--God to help me get to church today. He did and I was so grateful to be in His house and with brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise … [Read more...]
Goodie Bag Winner #4, We All Need Time To Withdrawl
July 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The devotional "Why Withdrawing Can Be a Healthy Step When Coping With Illness" by Lisa Copen hit a spot with many of you. Lisa writes, "And what if we feel guilty about withdrawing in order to grow close to God? That is Satan telling us lies: 'Real Christians should be able to connect with God anywhere, any time,' he says. 'You are being selfish asking for that time to yourself. Your family needs you. You already spent time today ‘resting’ and now you need time to be with God. A good parent wouldn’t put her kids last.'" Teresa shares. . . "I have that little voice too-and it’s SO hard to not believe what it tells you. I don’t know why, but with all the people out there that call us lazy and crazy, I think we are actually … [Read more...]
Goodie Bag Winner #3, Have You Given a Stranger a Hug?
July 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Where does the time go? I figured sending out a little goodie bag to our awesome "commenters" on the devotionals would be a quick task, but the chaos of life still put it on the lower half of my "must be done today or else" list. I am happy to announce 5 winners over the next few days for the 5 weeks! Those chosen have been notified by me via email, so if your name is mentioned and you recognize your quote, be sure to check your email so you can send me your postal address. June 13-19 - Lisa B. June 20-26 - Vicky June 27-July 3 - Linda July 4-10 - Teresa July 11-17 - Miriam Each day for the next 4 days, I will share a bit about some of the much-loved devotions and people's amazing reflections. I love reading all of the comments … [Read more...]
Invisible Illness Week News to Know
July 15, 2011 By 3 Comments
National Invisible Illness Awareness Week will be held this year September 12-18, 2011. This annual event is sponsored by Rest Ministries and Lisa Copen began it in the year 2002. Here are things to know: [1] Spiritual Warfare is Happenin'! In less than a week Lisa has received more mean-spirited e-mails and comments did in past years combined. There is a lot of spiritual warfare going on even among those who live with illness. Many of them want National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week to specifically serve those who are atheists (and proud of it) as well as those who live with "alternative lifestyles." Despite the fact that most all illness support online is for a secular audience, people want to stir up controversy for the … [Read more...]
Invisible Illness Theme Announced!
June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It's that time! We've announced our theme for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week 2011: "Deep Breath, Start Fresh." Founder Lisa Copen shares how to get involved in this video. If you are unable to view the video in an email or RSS feed see it here: About 2011 Invisible Illness Awareness Week. After much thought and prayer, Lisa has decided to not have a virtual conference this year. "To be honest, the conference takes a lot of time, my energy and money. It is an exhausting 3 months of preparation, follow through, and recovery for me," Lisa shares. "At this time, I'd love to focus more on better meeting the needs of those here at Rest Ministries, such as the Summer Study, finishing up some Bible studies, and … [Read more...]
Announcement Of This Week’s Goodie Bag Winner
June 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
"That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each others face," (Romans 1:12). I have thoroughly enjoyed the comments that many of you are leaving for all of us here at Rest Ministries following the devotionals and other articles and such. As Romans 1:12 states, we here at Rest Ministries are all mutually encouraged by your faith. And here, among friends and people who understand, there are times we are even encouraged when you're not feeling cheerful. Why? Because even when you are pouring out your heartache, you entrust us to be gentle with your emotions and we know that we are not alone in our dark and isolated evenings when everyone else is asleep and seemingly comforted. This week I randomly chosen Margaret S. to … [Read more...]
Thanks For Your Comments! Goodie Bag #1 ‘Winner’ Announced
June 6, 2011 By 1 Comment
Thanks so much to all our wonderful commenters last week at our web site and over at the Chronic Illness Devotions site! We are excited to announce our goodie bag winner for our first week. Our random winner is Ada A.. Ada wrote: When we have to deal with a chronic illness, it’s not something that will go away just by thinking on something positive like some tell us to do. The illness remains with us no matter what. Chronic is just that … it remains. Therefore, we must learn to cope, and that means that we must learn to ‘lean on a stronger source’, and thankfully as Christians we have a source higher than us, and that is Jesus. He is there for us 24/7, and just a whisper away. I find for myself that whenever … [Read more...]
