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Cute Frame With Dry Erase Marker Can Encourage You (Or Your Child!)

March 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
frame

My son, 9, doesn't like compliments. He says, "yeah, yeah, whatever," and yet he still needs to know I do notice them. Lately, his attitude and actions have left my husband and I throwing up our arms in desperation wondering what to try next to get through to this growing strong-willed blessing. Here is one thing I am trying: positive reinforcement! I bought a little 4x6 frame at the thrift store and painted it aqua blue to match our coastal cottage bathroom. Then I found a clipart-style beach background and some sunglasses clipart that I added to the right bottom corner. I put the words, "YOU ARE A COOL KID" on it in a fun font at the top and printed it out and framed it with the glass. Did know dry erase markers write easily on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Founder's Blog, Hobbies-Crafts, Parent of Ill or Disabled Child, Parenting, What's New? Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Devotion: We All Need Someone To Take Our Hand Through the Pain

March 19, 2012 By 2 Comments
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"God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.'" (genesis 21:17,18) My son had had a rough day. Nothing extreme had happened, but if you are nine, it doesn't need to be extreme for it to hurt. He laid down on the couch with lots of tears. I raised him up and held him. He clung to me with gasps. I held his hand for a minute, got him a cold drink, and a cool washcloth to wipe away the tears. So little has changed through the years. I have often read the story of Hagar and her journey raising Ishmael, the son of … [Read more...]

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Devotion: Surviving The Storms of Illness By Becoming Saturated with God’s Presence

March 12, 2012 By 1 Comment
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"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13) I love this quote from the well known daily devotional book: "Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence. Then move on to your next duty with the awareness of the freshness and energy of Christ." Dr. Pardington (Streams in the Desert, January 30) How I long to overflow with hope! How much I wish I could sit on my couch with a cozy blanket and read my Bible and saturate myself with His words, His presence, with scripture and studying it. Although i wouldn't trade my college experience for anything, I wonder what it must be like for those who get to earn credits by … [Read more...]

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

Clever Idea! Make a Pill Box Out of a Crafty Bead Box

March 7, 2012 By 2 Comments
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Are your medications and vitamins overwhelming you? I have 4 pillbox holders that I fill up 2 weeks at a time for morning and evening. But all the other bottles have been disorganized. And as much as I try to stay up on getting refills, some are last minute or I even miss a day. None of them seem to run out at the same time. We have a "drug drawer" in the kitchen with a lock. But as the rest of the family has added vitamins and medication over the years, my medications have suddenly become mixed in with everyone elses. So every time I spent 5 minutes going through 15 bottles looking for a particular one I think, "There has got to be a better way!" And. . . There is! Check this out! Can you guess what it is? It is a bead … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles - Read, Founder's Blog, Hobbies-Crafts, Organizing, Overwhelmed, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Devotion: How Quickly Friends Can Turn On Us When We Are Ill

March 7, 2012 By 4 Comments
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"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him off the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way." (Luke 4:28-30) My son recently made a new friend. We took him places, he came for a sleepover, he came to my son's birthday party, they played after school nearly every day for a month. But last week the friend disrupted my son while taking a test (so the story goes...) and he got in trouble for it. So he told my son, "I am not going to be your friend anymore!". and that was that. He has told my son this more than once, and likes to see the threat of taking away his … [Read more...]

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

Hold My Hand, Mommy

March 5, 2012 By 3 Comments
hold-hand

By Lisa Copen "Here, Mom, hold my hand and I will help you," my son says. We have just left his Tae Kwon Do studio and we're parked nearby in the disabled parking spot. When I stood up from the chair my knee went out. . . again. The eighteen years of rheumatoid arthritis have caused my knees to be filled with brittle pieces of bone that have broken off, calcium deposits, and calcified blood clots. As we walked out the door, I held the door frame, trying to get out of the way of the swarm of sweating students. A piece of something in my knee is stuck in a bad place and I can barely put weight on my leg. My leg will not unbend all the way. I was stricken with intense pain but trying to not show it, as I didn't want his friends to … [Read more...]

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Devotion: Are You Tearing Patches From Your Life Before Illness?

March 1, 2012 By 1 Comment
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"He told them this parable: 'No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.'" (Luke 5:36) Soon I will hit the nineteen-year mark for living with rheumatoid arthritis. In some ways I can hardly believe that I have lived with daily, life-changing chronic pain for nearly two decades. On the other hand, I remember my days before pain as my childhood, and my days with pain as my adulthood. So if I can barely remember doing tasks such as picking up the house or doing laundry without pain, why is it so easy to slip into moments of frustration? Of. . .. "If only my hand would work! if only every step wasn't so painful!" One would … [Read more...]

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Devotion: Are We Really Meant to Fear God?

January 21, 2012 By 5 Comments
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"The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them" (Psalm 25:14) "Why does God want us to be afraid of Him?" asked my sweet son recently. We were reading a scripture and it mentioned how we should fear the Lord. This is a question that most of us have asked at one time or another, and one we don't always get a satisfactory answer. I mean, God tells us He is our Father, our Abba, our friend, our protector. . . and then on the other hand He wants us to be afraid of Him? What kind of friend does that? When we live with a chronic illness we are up against all sorts of things that we can fear. We fear going to the doctor, we fear not going to the doctor. We fear taking the medications and dealing with side … [Read more...]

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

From Lisa – Resting in the New Year

January 9, 2012 By 21 Comments
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It is the second week in January. According to the world, it is time to "get busy." But I feel like molasses is a world of energy drinks. I still have much I want to give, but it is not bubbling just below the surface like it usually does. Despite all the hype about doing, I am just concentrating on being. Well, the word "concentrating" is over-stating the reality. Honestly, I am just wandering around, resting in not having a to-do list of items that "must be done today or else," and yet, still feeling like I am wasting time by just resting. There is a long list of things I should be doing for this ministry. I feel my presence has not been what protocol dictates. Yet, I don't like to fake it. I want to be real with you. I want to be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Founder's Blog, This is Me, What's New?

Devotion: God Always Remembers Us, Especially When We Are Hurting

December 10, 2011 By 1 Comment
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"And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant. . . . and the Lord remembered her." (1 Samuel 1:11a, 19b) One of the first times I had a table at a health conference to exhibit to encourage attendance they had bus transportation for many women from an assisted living center. There were over 50 booths and many women walked around with their canes or zoomed around on their carts. As they would come to my table, I would explain to each of them about Rest Ministries and they'd say, "Now, sweetie, I think this is just lovely." They'd take a brochure and walk on. About thirty minutes later they would come back by again and say, "Oh, now what … [Read more...]

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Devotion: Never Let Your Youth (or Years!) Discourage You

December 1, 2011 By 6 Comments
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"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. . . Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you." (1 Timothy 4:12,14) When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis I was just 24 years old and when I began Rest Ministries I was 26. I could not easily find young adults who lived with chronic illness each day, but I also was unable to find a ministry that was specifically for those with chronic illness. Wow, how the Internet has changed so many things! Now the idea of an "invisible illness" is not something unusual to hear of, but a popular "keyword" in search … [Read more...]

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

Devotion: When You Can’t See Your Options, God Can Cast Out Fear

November 20, 2011 By 3 Comments
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"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) As I am learning more about ADHD, a diagnosis my son received earlier this year, I am beginning to see why he reacts the way he does to certain situations. One noticeable response is when something is different than his typical routine he emotionally freezes up. I recently heard a a wonderful explanation of why it may be hard for him to see another option as being viable, despite our best attempt to present him with multiple choices. For example, if you always drive to the grocery store a certain route, and one day there is construction, the average person may instinctively just drive … [Read more...]

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