Explaining Illness Archives - Rest Ministries - Chronic Illness and Pain Support

Responding With Grace To Those Who Offer New Cures

July 19, 2012 By admin 6 Comments

When someone with good intentions presents the latest new cures for your illness, how do you respond with grace and not resentment? Michele shares. “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:20-21) Almost daily I receive messages from someone who suggests I try something that has helped them. Knowing they are well meaning, I appreciate all the suggestions; although I feel that they do not understand my chronic illnesses; for what may help one, does not mean it will help me too. Even when I’ve tried the latest “fad” or treatment, months later my body becomes immune to the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Alternative Treatments, Devotionals, Explaining Illness, Friend Has Illness, Healing, Hurt Feelings, Invisible Illnesses, What's New? Tagged With: new cures

Awareness Week Preparations Begin For Those with Invisible Illnesses

July 17, 2012 By admin 4 Comments

We have started our summer preparations for Invisible Illness Awareness Week! Hi, Friends! I am excited to be kicking off our summer prep for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week! Did you know Rest Ministries is behind this awareness week? Rest Ministries began National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week (NICIAW "for short" -- I know it's a mouth full!) in 2002 and so we are celebrating 10 years this year! When we first began the awareness week, we had a chatroom for our virtual conference and the term "invisible illness" was rarely even seen online. Through the years, the support of many of you have made this awareness week one of the coolest events online, as thousands join in for the virtual conference (where … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advocacy, Announcements, Attitude, Coping Skills, Events, Explaining Illness, HopeKeepers Resources, Illnesses, Invisible Illnesses, Person w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: awareness week, invisible illness awareness week

Accepting Help From Others When Weak From Illness

July 3, 2012 By admin 5 Comments

“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—” (Jude 1:24) Living with multiple sclerosis is an adventure. Just when I get used to specific symptoms, new challenges emerge, like weaker arms. These motivate me to find strategies that will help. But accepting help from others when weak from illness is something that can be difficult to do. At the food store, I asserted myself. “Please pack the items so the bags are light.” The checker loaded each bag with fewer items. But even several cans and a gallon of water feel like a ton of bricks to me. Granted, I don’t look like a weakling. It’s hard for others to understand. So, nowadays I place my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Explaining Illness, Overwhelmed, What's New? Tagged With: Amalekite, Amen., God, Jesus, Joshua, Moses, Vicki

‘Why Won’t God Heal You?’ I Am Asked. Here is My Answer

June 25, 2012 By admin 6 Comments

"Why won't God heal you?" These words can sting because they feel like judgement, but I have learned how to answer with bold faith. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) Many times I'm asked, "Why doesn't God heal you?" or "Why does God allow you to be in such pain?" What happened today, is a good example that. . . Let me tell you one answer to the question, "Why doesn't God heal you?" I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles today. I waited two hours for them to complete the transaction in about eight minutes (I ordered a disability license plate). I was very thankful that I was done in time to make it to my chiropractor … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Devotionals, Explaining Illness, Healing, What's New? Tagged With: Chronic pain, Failed back syndrome, God, god heal me, god heal you, Lord, Lord's Cricket Ground, Pain, Prayer

“You Are Too Young to Be That Sick!”

June 14, 2012 By admin 16 Comments

"You are too young to be that ill! Oh, you are too young to be dealing with that kind of pain." Why do simple, even well-intentioned words hurt so much? By Lisa Copen At the age of twenty-four, a thousand miles away from my family and living in a new city, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Over a period of four weeks and about eight doctor’s visits, I finally found a physician of internal medicine who listened to me explain my symptoms; in less than two days I had a diagnosis. Despite the terms “chronic” and “forever” I felt relieved to know the label that described my chronic pain. Few of my friends, however, shared my enthusiasm for a diagnosis. The managers at my office were more concerned about the fact that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Articles - Read, Coping Skills, Depression, Explaining Illness, Friend Has Illness, Friendships, Invisible Illnesses, Need to Know, Person w/ Illness, What's New? Tagged With: Arthritis, Chronic, Conditions and Diseases, Fibromyalgia, Health, hidden disabilities, Illness, invisible disabilities, invisible illness, Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties, lisa copen, Pain, Rest Ministries, Rheumatoid arthritis, San Diego, you are too young, you dont look sick, you look fine

52 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend

May 2, 2012 By admin 5 Comments

If you are looking for ways to encourage a friend who is living with a chronic illness, dealing with a lot of pain, or even fighting cancer, this article is a great starting point to think creatively! Get the "Beyond Casseroles" book for 505 ways! By Lisa Copen Excerpt from Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend - Please do not reprint without permission or reword a few of the ideas and post as your own article. We've seen quite a few out there and appreciate you linking back to the source here. Thanks! "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 … [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 The Pastor About Living with Illness

April 13, 2012 By admin 14 Comments

If you had the opportunity to sit down and really share about your pain, what would you tell the pastor of your church about your chronic illness and daily pain? Lisa Copen 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 … [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 3 Comments

Resentment does not give us any benefits, yet many of us still hold onto it. Even if we may not want to feel resentful, we aren't sure how to get rid of it. Leslie explains. 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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anger, Articles, Articles - Read, Explaining Illness, Featured, 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 9 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?