Person w/ lll Spouse

God’s Surprising Timing: A Story From a Military Spouse

May 4, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

In honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, today, May 4th, we offer you this inspirational article from a military wife. Thank you to all the families who serve our country daily--including the spouses and children of the men and women who are soldiers. In honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day remember to say thank you, not just to a solider, but to his or her spouse too! Lynn Burchfield I’m currently enduring a very challenging deployment, but I want to tell you about the amazing gifts from God that have not only helped me through, but brought my family back on a path to Him. Our son was born in April 2009 and I could not imagine being any happier. Unfortunately, an upcoming deployment was looming and I couldn’t help but … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Fear, Loneliness, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, What's New? Tagged With: Baseguide.com, deployment, faithdeployed, miliatry spouse, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, military wives, US soldier, wife

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

What I’d Like to Tell My Pastor About Living with Illness

April 13, 2012 By admin 10 Comments

Living with chronic illness is lonely. Everyone around us seems to be enjoying health, happiness, and the ability to at least pursue their dreams. But many of us feel lonely, scared, and disappointed. We are faced with so many insecurities and we are living with an illness that we have not been able to pray away, cry away, or confess away. So we turn to our church for guidance, for acceptance, for unconditional support during the most difficult time in our life. But churches are made up of people—all of us imperfect. And our church does not always give us what we need; in fact, sometimes, the people say things that hurt us even more. "Everything will work out fine. Just keep praying." "If you just came to Bible study I am sure … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Caregiver, Church Leader, Depression, Explaining Illness, Friend Has Illness, HopeKeepers Resources, Hurt Feelings, Loneliness, Medical Professional, Need to Know, Parent of Ill or Disabled Child, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Share Your Story, Spiritually Struggling, Support Group Leader, Teen w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: care pastor, Christianity, Chronic, Chronic pain, Church, church disabilities ministry, Conditions and Diseases, Congregational, congregational care, Denominations, disability ministry, Disabled, disabled ministry, disablity, God, Health, Illness, Jesus, Joni Eareckson Tada, joni erickson tada, joni tada, Lord, Online Communities, parish, parish nurse, pastor, pastoral care, pastors, Prayer, Religion and Spirituality, Rest Ministries, small groups, Stephen Ministries, stephen ministry

What To Do For Those Who Are Hurting When You Don’t Know What To Do

November 17, 2011 By admin 3 Comments

As the holidays approach more people than usual are looking for ways to reach out to help a hurting friend. Sadly, this shouldn't be a seasonal event, but something we do all year round. But most people just don't know how to do that reaching out! Well, thanks to a wonderful book we don't have that excuse any longer! One of my all-time favorite books is The Art of Helping: What to Say and Do When Someone is Hurting by Lauren Littauer Briggs. In fact, I am very honored to have a section in it for those with chronic illness. But the whole book is helpful for those of us who, well, care. And it is one of the few books I believe should be on the desk of every pastor and church secretary! So much so that when it was first published we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Books, Caregiver, Caregiving, Church Leader, Friend Has Illness, Holidays, Medical Professional, Need to Know, Person w/ lll Spouse, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: cae-giver, Caregiver, depressed about loss of pet, Family, how to help a firend, reaching out, when a friend is hurting, when a friend is ill

In Response to Pat Robertsons Statment on Alzheimer’s and Divorce

September 16, 2011 By admin 17 Comments

I was shocked to hear such a bold statement from Mr. Pat Robertson, 700 club host, who, on Tuesday's broadcast, justified that a person should not be held accountable for leaving his spouse and seeking divorce if his spouse has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. In this scenario Mr. Robertson has shown the world that one's personal comfort, especially in the case of having a spouse with a chronic illness, is more important than the marriage vows of "for better or for worse, until death do us part." The religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) told his "700 Club" viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's is justifiable because the disease is "a kind of death." During … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caregiver, Caregiving, Church Leader, Founder's Blog, Marriage, Person w/ lll Spouse, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: 700 Club, Alzheimer's disease, Christian Broadcasting Network, Joel Hunter, Joni Eareckson Tada, Pat Robertson, Rest Ministries, Terry Meeuwsen

How a Husband Can Encourage a Chronically Ill Wife – The Spiritual and Emotional Stuff

May 31, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Matt Horne This is part 2 of a 2 part article. Part 1 is here: Carrying Super Rachel - The Logistics of When Your Wife Is Chronically Ill It's tough to live your life with a chronic illness. Even with the best attitude and support system, you have bad days where you think futile thoughts. "I should be able to do this. . . anybody my age should!" When you can't walk yourself across the room, it's easy to become depressed. Here are some of the ways I help my wife combat this mentality: I reinforce that she's definitely worth something--in face, everything--to me. We both are an active part of our support group, the Texas Association for Dysautonomia Awareness. I encourage her to participate in things she can find joy in and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Coping Skills, Marriage, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, What's New? Tagged With: auto-immune, Caregiver, Chronic (medicine), Chronic Illness, chronic illness and marriage, Dysautonomia, Health, husband, ill, iPod, Jesus, marriage and cronic illness, marriage and crronic illness, marriage and illness, Matt Horne, Patient, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, vows marriage, wife

Carrying Super Rachel – The Logistics of When Your Wife Is Chronically Ill

May 30, 2011 By admin 3 Comments

By Matt Horne Caring for a chronically ill wife is not what I had envisioned when I was working up the nerve to ask out "that hot girl" who would later become my wife. We were in college and she was on the cross country team. She let me know very early on in the relationship that she had a chronic illness. Nowadays, it's just part of life. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know what to do with myself if she were well. There's a reason I call her "Super Rachel." On her good days, she can run circles around me--cleaning, getting things checked off her to-do list, and having tons of fun. She's amazing. On top of that, she has the greatest attitude and rarely lets her condition get her down. As her dad says, she's an "overcomer." Instead … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Cooking, Coping Skills, Love, Marriage, Organizing, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Share Your Story Tagged With: Chronic (medicine), chronically ill spouse, Dysautonomia, Exercise Physiology, Health, husband care-giver, husband caregiver, ill wife, in sickness and in health, marriage and illness, Once A Month Cooking, Person w/ lll Spouse, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

We Really Need to Talk: Authors of “Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired” Have New Book on Communication

March 21, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

By: Paul J. Donoghue, PhD and Mary E. Siegel, PhD We all need to talk to relieve tension within us and to connect with people who matter to us. But those of us who are ill really need to talk. Illness threatens our well being, evokes strong emotions, heightens our needs, and makes us more dependent on others. To cope well with all these factors we need to talk. Yet illness often leads us to isolate, to retreat into out own world of pain, fatigue, vulnerability, and fear. When we emerge from our silence, we frequently drive away those we need by blurting our thoughts formed by fear. Blame: You don't care! You don't understand! You only think of yourself. Hopeless remarks: Why don't you just leave me? I can't take it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church Leader, Friend Has Illness, Hurt Feelings, Invisible Illnesses, Marriage, Parents of Adult Children, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, What's New? Tagged With: Bipolar Disorder, Desmond Tutu, fear, Health, Illness, Learning, Mary E. Siegel, Mental Health, Paul J. Donoghue, PhD, sick and tired of being sick and tired, Talk radio, We Really Need to Talk: Steps to Better Communication

Don Piper Ministries Has “Hope Summit” in Texas in May

April 30, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

We love HOPE around here at Rest Ministries & we also love Don Piper, so we wanted to pass along this information in case you live in the Pasadena, Texas area. Don Piper Ministries is holding it's first ever "Hope Summit," May 21-22, 2010 at First Baptist Church Pasadena, Texas. Many have asked if there would ever be an event held where they could come, bring family & friends, & hear Don's messages of hope & healing in person. Don & Eva Piper, Nash 3, Anita Onarecker Wood, Pray Guillory & Nicole Flenniken! You'll receive tremendous encouragement for eternity & for this present life. Register or find additional information at the web site. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caregiver, Church Leader, Events, Friend Has Illness, Links, Medical Professional, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: Christianity, Denominations, Jacob, Men, Passion, Religion and Spirituality, Seed, Website

Illness & Marriage – Please Don’t Kiss Me!

April 18, 2010 By admin 3 Comments

"I'm not going to kiss you..." Who would ever think that hearing these words from your spouse would be considered a sign of his deep love? As my husband and I celebrated our 14th anniversary recently at a nice hotel on the Oregon Coast, we walked on the beach hand in hand, and finally, after 3 days I said, "Just kiss me!" so he did. He'd been in the state of "getting sick" for the last week on and off. The 1000-mile drive (and all the caffeine I kept handing him on the way to stay awake) had not exactly helped him fight it off. Yep, that kiss was really stepping out of a safety zone. I'm glad to say I didn't get sick. Some of you may laugh. If you don't have a chronic illness, you may think this all sounds a bit odd. I mean, who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Caregiver, Founder's Blog, Love, Marriage, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Podcasts, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: care-giver, Caregiving, Chronic, Chronic Illness, Conditions and Diseases, Health, ill wife, Illness, in sickness and in health, lisa copen, Marriage, marriage and illness, Relationships, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis, romance ill wife

Love & Marriage . . . & Illness

April 18, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

"I'm not going to kiss you." Who would ever think that hearing these words from your spouse would be considered a sign of his deep love? As my husb& & I celebrated our 14th anniversary recently at a nice hotel on the Oregon Coast, we walked on the beach h& in h&, & finally, after 3 days I said, "Just kiss me!" so he did. He'd been in the state of "getting sick" for the last week on & off. The 1000-mile drive (& all the caffeine I kept h&ing him on the way to stay awake) had not exactly helped him fight it off. Yep, that kiss was really stepping out of a safety zone. I'm glad to say I didn't get sick. Some of you may laugh. If you don't have a chronic illness, you may think this all sounds a bit odd. I mean, who is going to get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Caregiving, Founder's Blog, Love, Marriage, Person w/ Illness, Person w/ lll Spouse, Podcasts, What's New? Tagged With: add, adhd, asperger's, care-giver, Caregiving, Chronic, Chronic Illness, Conditions and Diseases, CureTogether, entetainment, finding strength in weakness, god's strength in our weakness, god's ways are not our ways, hard to be weak, Health, Illness, in sickness and in health, lisa copen, Marriage, marriage and cronic illness, marriage and illness, movies, Relationships, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis, sensory integration disorders, Sphygmomanometer, theater, Wii, Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit

Television Show w/ Lisa Airs this Week

April 15, 2010 By admin 3 Comments

In February I had the honor of meeting Maureen Pratt, author of Peace in the Storm, & getting to be a guest on her new television program, also called Peace in the Storm. It airs this week April 18-April 24th, & if you don't happen to get the channel (I don't either!) you can watch it online live when it airs. And even better news? It's on at least one time a day each week! Even if you do not live in North America, you can still watch too "streaming" as they call it LIVE at www.llbn.tv A little bit about the program: The first episodes of 'Peace in the Storm' began airing on LLBN TV Sunday, February 7. On Sunday of each week, a new episode airs & then re-airs Monday-Friday at a different time each day. The following is further … [Read more...]

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