Explaining Illness

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

4 Steps to Take to Get Rid of Resentment You May Hold Against Others

April 11, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

By Leslie Vernick When someone hurts us, is foolish, or sins against us, the consequences of their behaviors often impact us more than the other person. Anger, bitterness and resentment can be the result. Even when someone hasn't intentionally inflicted harm, these negative emotions creep into our spirits and are hard to get rid of. Here are 4 things you can do if you find yourself stuck in resentment. 1. Ask yourself what purpose do these negative emotions serve? Is it payback? Is it an attitude of I get to be right? Or, is it that you haven't been able or willing to forgive Or, perhaps it is an indicator that you're angry and need to have a conversation with someone who has sinned against you in order to bring healing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anger, Articles, Articles - Read, Explaining Illness, Hurt Feelings, Loneliness, What's New? Tagged With: Anger, Apostle Paul, Emotion, God, leslie vernick, Paul, relationship, Resentment

Am I a Hypochondriac If…

February 23, 2012 By admin 1 Comment

By Lisa Copen We laugh as people say, "I think I may be a hypochondriac!" but is it really a funny matter? Not so much. Am I a hypochondriac if... I get up at 2:30 AM to google a symptom I am experiencing and I start imagining all the things it could be? It is unlikely. In today's age of having immediate information at our fingertips, it is much easier to just get out of bed and start searching than to wait until morning when the doctor's office is open and then we must decide to call him or not. In the days of our parents raising their children, rather than looking for search engine results in the middle of the night, they sat at the kitchen table with the Dr. Spock book attempting to figure out the cause of certain symptoms and if … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Explaining Illness, Fear, Mental Illness, Person w/ Illness, What's New?, Worry Tagged With: am i a hypochondriac, Chronic (medicine), Conditions and Diseases, Cyberchondria, Disease, Health, Hypochondriasis, Magnetic resonance imaging, Rest Ministries, worry

Devotion: Explaining Illness to Children

December 4, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35, 37) When I first learned I had multiple sclerosis (MS) I was teaching second graders. The relapse I was having made me lethargic. Too weak to teach. I knew I couldn’t tell my students I would be absent because I was too tired. The challenge was explaining my illness in a way they could understand without scaring them. First, I involved them in a role-paying activity. Several students were selected to be parts of the central nervous system. They pretended they were ‘sending’ messages received from the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Explaining Illness, Parenting, What's New? Tagged With: ADHD In Teenagers, Christ, chronically ill parent, explaing illness to kids, explaining illness to children, God, God the Father, ill dad, ill mom, Immune system, Jesus, mom in chronic pain, mom is sick, Multiple sclerosis, Schizoaffective disorder

Q & A: If I Go to this Holiday Party, Should I Explain About My Chronic Pain?

November 29, 2011 By admin 6 Comments

My best friend is having a holiday party and I would really like to go. On the other hand, I am kind of dreading it. All those people dressed up to the nines, carefree, without any problems in their lives. My daily pain, food allergies, broken down feet, all make a simple party rather dreary. I always feel like I need to explain why I am not real social. My friend says just to come and not worry about it, but I am not sure. Should I go? I understand it is not an easy decision to make. There are benefits to getting out and meeting new people, even when we don't feel all that great. But that doesn't mean we should sit around at the party and explain to people how hard it is to have some fun. Would we want to make the effort to have a night … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Explaining Illness, Help! Q/A, Loneliness, Person w/ Illness, What's New?

Eflyer: Are You Ready For Those Family Gatherings?

November 18, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

PRODUCT LINKS: Why Can't I Make People Understand? | But You LOOK Good! | How to Deal With Annoying People | Coupons for the Family … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Explaining Illness, RM Shop E-flyers, What's New? Tagged With: Explaining Illness, invisible disabilities, invisible illness

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

August 8, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

I give him a hug. It's been nearly 3 years since I've seen this man, my cousin, who is like a brother to me. He used to give me rides on his motorcycle, back when we were young and carefree. Nothing in the world could hurt us. We were in our twenties. Long conversations. Time. Before spouses, kids, illness. We were poor. Philosophical conversations were cheap. . . yet rich. Now I stop by his family's new clothing store while I am in Oregon. I've not even arrived, and I am disappointed. I have few expectations. His life is busy now. He's distracted. He is rushed. Always stressed. No time for talk. Oh, how I'd like to just go for a walk. Ask, "How are you really?" and have you answer honestly. Regardless of your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Explaining Illness, Founder's Blog, This is Me, What's New? Tagged With: Arthritis, God, Illness, Lord, oregon, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis, San Diego, Scar

Invisible Illness Theme Announced!

June 16, 2011 By admin 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...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Articles, Events, Explaining Illness, Founder's Blog, Invisible Illnesses, Person w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: Arthritis, God, Health, Invisible Illness Week, Lord, oregon, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis

Q & A: I Don’t Seem To Fit In To Online Support Groups!

June 13, 2011 By admin 9 Comments

Sometimes I feel very left out in the online support groups. I live with an incredible amount of daily pain and I just need someone who cares. It seems like everyone else in the group have people who support them and write them back. But when I share something from my heart all I get is a bunch of well-meaning advice. I don't need advice! Or . . . no one responds at all. What I need is someone who will listen and try to understand. -Sandy Hi, Sandy, I can hear the pain in your words. I am going to assume since you wrote to me you are asking for some kind of advice, so here is my best 2-cents. Ask yourself, "What would the perfect response to my post be?" When we say we want people to "listen" and yet we are typing our posts out … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Explaining Illness, Help! Q/A, Hurt Feelings, Person w/ Illness, Sunroom, Support Group Leader, What's New? Tagged With: Conditions and Diseases, DVD, God, Health, Lord, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis, Support group

New DVD From RM Helps Communicate Our Needs to Churches

May 23, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

"I just wish there was a way I could help my pastor understand what it's like to live with a chronic illness." If you've ever felt this way, we have a new and fabulous tool we think you will love! I have been working on this since late 2010 and am excited it's all ready! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beyond Casseroles, Church Leader, Explaining Illness, HopeKeepers Resources, Person w/ Illness, RM Shop E-flyers, Support Group Leader, Videos, What's New? Tagged With: Business, Chronic (medicine), Chronic Illness, Conditions and Diseases, Health, Medicine, Patient, Physician, Rest Ministries

Q&A: What Do I Do About My Friend Who Keeps Bringing Me Down?

May 19, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

I have a friend who I've known for years. We used to go out partying before my diagnosis, but now I've really become grounded in my faith, because God is the only thing that has gotten me through. She keeps saying she "knows the real me" and I cannot possibly be satisfied with this life I have now. Whenever I share something I've learned while living with illness or about anything good in my life, she has something negative to say about how much I am missing out on in life because of my illness. I care about her, but I just don't know if I can continue to be around her right now if she keeps this up. - Kelly Hi, Kelly, Do you know someone who is the same now as they were 30 or even 40 years ago? They love to complain and stir up … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Explaining Illness, Friend Has Illness, Help! Q/A, Person w/ Illness, Teen w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: Christ, Christian, Christianity, Evangelism, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Religion & Spirituality, Religion and Spirituality