Founder’s Blog

52 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend

May 2, 2012 By admin 3 Comments

By Lisa Copen Excerpt from Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend Please do not reprint without permission "A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." ~Lois Wyse Ask, "What events in your life are changing and how are you coping with the changes?" Understand that she lives in a constant state of making decisions for which there is no guarantee that she is making the right choice. Put meals in disposable containers and attach a note saying "This doesn't need to be returned." Add stickers to envelopes for a cheerful touch. Arrange for your friend's kids to have a night with your children. Don't make a person into a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Beyond Casseroles, Books, Caregiver, Coping Skills, Explaining Illness, Founder's Blog, Friend Has Illness, Friendships, Need to Know, Overwhelmed, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: 50 ways to encourage a chronicall ill friend, 52 ways to help an ill friend, beyond casseroles, Catherine Marshall, Christian, Chronic, God, Health, how to help a sick friend, how to help an ill friend, Illness, lisa copen, ministering to a seriously ill friend, Rest Ministries

Devotion: When God Passes You a Note of His Love, It Weakens Illness in Our Life

April 30, 2012 By admin 6 Comments

"You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Corinthians 3:3) Do you remember passing notes in school? Us girls always seemed to have a need to put the most basic of thoughts or questions down on paper, fold them up in little shapes and maybe write the recipient's name on it; it likely even included a few doodled stars or hearts. Occasionally, we even passed a note along to a boy. Like the country song George Strait sings, "Yes or No", we would write "Do you wanna be my friend? / Check yes or no" and include the little boxes beside the yes or no. A yes. . . or a no. . . could determine … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, Scriptures, Spiritually Struggling, Suicidal Thoughts, What's New? Tagged With: Christ, God, Jeremiah, Jesus, John, love letter from god, Matthew, Psalm, Rest Ministries

Devotion: Allow God To Lead You Out of the Desert When Illness Makes You Want to Give Up

April 27, 2012 By admin 5 Comments

"But He brought His people out like a flock; He led them like sheep through the desert." (Psalm 78:52) I have made a number of drives over to Phoenix, from San Diego. It is dry and hot, yet before you reach the desert you go over mountains. I always think about the settlers who came through these difficult paths to reach San Diego and eventually settle there. How many horses were injured? How many wheels on covered wagon broken? How many people buried those they loved along that trail? But even more interesting to me is the question, did those who built a homestead out in the desert ever regret that they stopped? "Why didn't you keep going?" I want to ask. "Did you send out a scout and he never returned? Did you begin to believe the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, Loneliness, Spiritually Struggling, What's New? Tagged With: God, Jesu, Kindle, lisa copen, Lord, Pacific Ocean, Rest Ministries, San Diego

Craft Therapy: How to Make a Burlap Coastal Wreath DIY Tutorial

April 21, 2012 By admin 3 Comments

By Lisa Copen So what is a crafty tutorial doing on the Rest Ministries web site? Well, I have been redecorating my home since the new year, hitting the thrift stores, "shopping my house" and re-purposing items in a new way. I went through a month of being a Pinterest addict, now would describe myself more as a loyal fan. I have gotten pretty creative in the things I have used to make new things (coming soon in another post) and I have become a frequent thrifter. For example, I now know when Salvation Army has their 50% off days. I have always had a home that I tried to decorate in "cottage" style with a lot of nautical theme, but I decided I needed a calmer home and so have moved out a lot of the red and replaced it with creams, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles - Read, Founder's Blog, What's New? Tagged With: burlap coastal wreath, burlap seaside wreath, craft, craft decor, diy, Hessian (cloth), Hot-melt adhesive, how to make a burlap wreath, how to make a coastal cottage wreath, Michael, Pablo Picasso, Pinterest, Salvation Army, tutorial burlap wreath, Wire, Wreath

Devotion: Your Illness May Be a Season of Dormancy in Your Good Tree

April 20, 2012 By admin 4 Comments

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers." (Luke 6:43-44) The motivations of the beginning of the year, the good intentions of New Years's resolutions have now passed. We are nearly into May of our calendar year. What kind of fruit is your life producing? I continue to feel as though I am swaying back and forth between being fruitful and wasting away. So much of the time of one who lives with any illness is spent on managing the illness. today, as I left the rheumatologist 's office I scheduled 5 more appointments; 2 four-hour infusions, 3 more for knee injections and more office visits. And this is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, What's New? Tagged With: bear their fruit in alternate years, Fruit, God, good intentions of New Years's resolutions, Jesus, managing the illness, New Year, Pruning, Rest Ministries, San Diego, Tree

Thinking About Suicide Website Offers Hope Through Depression

April 14, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

I recently have had the honor of joining a group of Christian women who are writing for a blog ThinkingAboutSuidicide.com. Started by Christian author and speaker, Linda Evans Shepherd, this blog features a daily post on topics related to people who may be thinking about suicide. It is for anyone, those who have recently lost a job, a loved one, health, whatever and offers hope through depression. I recently wrote about this new blog on 3/30/12, New Thinking About Suicide Blog Offers Eternal Hope. Some of you, however, missed this post and then wondered why I was "liking" a page on Facebook that is called "Thinking About Suicide". Don't worry! I am just supporting the efforts to help spread the word. Below is a short video message to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Church Leader, Founder's Blog, Need to Know, Person w/ Illness, Spiritually Struggling, Suicidal Thoughts, Support Group Leader, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: Christian, Facebook, hope through depression, is life worth living, Linda Evans Shepherd, lisa copen, Rest Ministries, San Diego, Suicide, thinking about suicide

Devotion: The Weeds in Our Life When We Are Coping with Illness

April 10, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food (Genesis 3:17-19) When we moved into our home twelve years ago, I imagined gardens of flowers, vegetables growing, blooms that made people who were walking their dog stop and take notice. I painfully sat on my little wagon-like "Lawn Buddy" and inched along the flower bed, planting, then weeding, then weeding again. . . and again. It was not fun. The physical pain that lasted for the next few days was not worth the price I paid for days. Now I know what to plant that requires very little … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, What's New?

Devotion: The Words of My Heart When Coping With Pain

March 31, 2012 By admin 2 Comments

"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:45) "You are being so selfish! Can you think of someone other than yourself?" "Why doesn't anyone else seem to care that our house is trashed? If everyone would just pick up their own stuff I wouldn't be so tired all the time!" "Stop making that screeching sounds! and turn down the video game! And pick up your dishes and take them to the kitchen." Uh. . . Yeah. Those are my words. Not very polite, are they? I said them politely the first five times, but then I started to seethe and said nothing, and then, as I couldn't walk through my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, What's New? Tagged With: Christ, Chronic Illness, God, Lego, lisa copen, losing our temper, Luke, mad mom, moods and medications, prednisone and temper, Rest Ministries, San Diego, side effects of prednisone, Word

New Thinking About Suicide Blog Offers Eternal Hope

March 30, 2012 By admin 4 Comments

A few months ago a friend of mine, Linda Evans Shepherd, announced to our group of Christian women writers that she was starting a blog specifically to reach out to those who were considering suicide. I have to say that anything Linda touches is done well and with complete passion and heart behind it. Her most recent web site, Finding God Daily, has a wonderful collection of articles about all the places we can find God! But would I be able to make a commitment to write an article or two a month about suicide? What do I know that may encourage someone else? And I just have a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, while many of the writers are professional counselors. But then I got an email from someone at Rest Ministries pouring her heart … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Caregiver, Church Leader, Depression, Fear, Founder's Blog, Links, Medical Professional, Need to Know, Person w/ Illness, Spiritually Struggling, Suicidal Thoughts, Support Group Leader, Teen w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: Assisted suicide, Christian, chronic pain and suicide, considering suicide, do you go to heave if you commit suicide, end my life, God, how to commit suicide, lisa copen, Mental Illness, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Psych, Rest Ministries, San Diego, stop the pain, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, suicide statistics, taking my life, thinking about suicide, wednesdays and suicides

Video Message From Lisa, Founder of Rest Ministries

March 29, 2012 By admin 19 Comments

After months of technical difficulties I have my webcam back up and working and wanted to say hello and offer a bit of encouragement after these longs months of winter. Lisa Related articles From Lisa - Resting in the New Year(chronicillnesspaindevotionals.wordpress.com) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Founder's Blog, Videos, What's New?

Devotion: Have You Put Out Your Net When Coping With Your Illness?

March 27, 2012 By admin 4 Comments

"When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." (Luke 5:4-6) Last year I had a falling out with my rheumatologist of over ten years. She was ready to retire, out of options or ideas for my rheumatoid arthritis, and basically decided to try yelling at me to see if that would motivate me to decrease the prednisone I had been trying to get off of for years. I went through a few days of tears, frustration, anger, and mixed emotions. I knew God had … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Founder's Blog, What's New? Tagged With: God, lisa copen, Lord, Medicine, Physician, Rest Ministries, Rheumatology, San Diego

Oh, The Emotions You Can Find in a Walk-In Closet

March 22, 2012 By admin 5 Comments

By Lisa Copen A walk in closet I have not walked into for . . . years. My husband uses most of it, but my clothes--in about 10 different sizes--sit on the bars. The wire baskets hold old t-shirts. An Old Navy shirt, size small, mocks me with the year 2004 on it. The day previously I started throwing them into bags. I have become sick of the clutter all over my house and have been purging for months. But this closet has overwhelmed me. I had no plans to take care of the closet this weekend. . . and I have discovered that this works best for me. This way, any effort is a step in the right direction, but I don't have to use up all my energy on it. I can pace myself. But Saturday morning I started bagging items up, and in less than two … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Depression, Fashion, Founder's Blog, This is Me, What's New? Tagged With: Closet, Clothing, Foot, Footwear, Old Navy, San Diego, Shoe, Shopping