HopeNotes #57 – 2.25.09 – Letter From Lisa

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Hi, Friends,

It’s hard to believe another week has passed already. Some weeks seem to drag by and some seem to go quickly, don’t they? I’ve been getting used to my “new kind of normal.” That means my feet have been swollen and I sprain my ankle a few times a day. I’ve been sore all week as a storm has been “wanting to arrive” but hasn’t. I’ve used emotional energy fighting over bills that I don’t think are correct. And yet, being able to do ministry stuff has been keeping all of these other things in their correct place right now — as just parts of life, like the rest of yours.

The podcasts twice a week have been an encouragement to me, as I’ve had the chance to get to know our guests even better. I’ve also been working on HopeKeepers Magazine and reading through so amazing testimonies and stories of people who are still turning to God, even during their most trying times.

Joshn 3:16 says, “”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” I’ve heard this verse many times, but the other day I heard it in a new way. God says, “I have overcome the world…” Not, “I will overcome the world.” God already knows what the stock market will do next week What medications that may not be approved by our insurance; what infection we may fight; what our families may have to cope with. But he has already overcome it.

So although it is a trial and a trouble we have in this world, we have to cling to the fact that God has already overcome it. By giving his Son to save us and the ability for the Holy Spirit to touch our lives each day, we can feel the assurance that it’s all been taken care of.

As much as I believe this, a part of me fears that I am talking the talk and God will want to “create more character” by making me “walk the walk.” I hope when I am tested I can withstand the test.

God bless you and thank you for your daily encouragement!

Lisa Copen
Rest Ministries Director and Founder

Yes! I can make a donation to help Rest Ministries continue their outreach!

This week at Rest Ministries…

• Lisa is working on HopeKeepers Magazine. It will be digital and available around mid-March (Lord-willing!)
• We have a volunteer, Naomi, who is helping us get our Facebook and MySpace pages updated and organized.
• We updated our Squidoo pages and added a few more to help us reach people through that web site too. Pages are included below and all the links can be found on Lisa’s blog here.:
  - Rest Ministries
  - National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week
  - Invisible Illness
  - Invisible Disabilities
  - Moms with Illness
  - You are Too Young to Be That Sick
• Lisa did the Hope Endures radio podcasts. Have you listented yet? Don’t forget they are always available as an archive.
• Lisa wrote the article A Checklist of 36 Steps to Start a Support Group – a must-read for anyone thinking of starting a group!
• Lisa found an easy way to update Twitter, Facebook, etc all at one time using Ping.fm – Yay! A timesaver! It’s been fun connecting with some of you via Facebook since she’s gradually figuring that out a bit.
• We designed a “Flaire” button that says, “My Hope Endures” for Facebook users.
• We actually got this email newsletter out on time! And Lisa is blogging! Be sure to sign up to get her blogs via email.

A Checklist of 36 Step to Start a Support Group

REPRINT LISA’S ARTICLES FOR FREE! (or other RM stuff)

Lisa’s Latest Article

A Checklist of 36 Step
to Start a Support Group

LAST WEEK’S ARTICLE

You’re Too Young to Be That Ill!

Resources – Comforting Music, Ministering to Ill, Nursing Home Resources for Ministry

New Playlist of Comforting Songs at Rest Ministries

We found out that there is a new single by Christian artist Natalie Grant called “Our Hope Endures.” We added it to our new playlist of comforting songs at our Hope Endures web site here. These our some of our favorites that you can listen to while you are browsing around the internet.

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Minister to the Chronically Ill: 20 Ways in 20 Minutes

Read this great article by Lisa Copen that people from Rest Ministries put together when they participated in a survey in 2007. Over 800 respondents listed ways churches could improve their outreach to the chronically ill. Here are 20 ways that don’t have to have huge budgets or even a large chunk of time so… kindly let your church know… no excuses!

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Do You Minister in Nursing Homes?

We have a Nursing Home web page here at Rest Ministries just for you, packed full of resources, other nursing home ministries, and some articles including:

• Starting a Nursing Home Ministry
• What to Expect in a Nursing Home Atmosphere
• What Works Best in a Variety of Situations in Nursing Homes

My Story

I am fifty-two years old, married with a grown son who lives at home, and a very neurotic nine-year-old cat. I have struggled with anxiety and depression since my early teens years, going years without medication, trying to prove I didn’t need it. Finally, a family doctor prescribed Paxil back in the nineties for me. I developed asthma in 1997, becoming very ill.

This was the beginning of my re-evaluation of my relationship with the Lord. Lying flat on my back in my bed, I wondered “Why Lord?” The answer was very clear: “Because this is the only way I can get you to submit to Me.”

Despite this set back in my health, I enjoyed my career as a corrections counselor. I am intensely interested in other people and what makes them tick. My job was the perfect vehicle for witnessing to hurting people. If a client opened the door, I walked through it.

In late 2002, I began to experience some balance, memory, and fatigue problems, which in turn, worsened my anxiety. By the spring of 2003, the stress of trying to hold on to my job, had become too much.

One day I found myself looking at my computer screen, unable to understand the document I was viewing. The next eight months were spent trying to pin down a diagnosis. By January of 2004, I had one: multiple sclerosis.

With medication, my flare-ups were fairly well controlled, an I realized I was blessed to have the relapse-remitting type of MS. In the summer of 2006, I discovered Rest Ministries. Myself and several other people from my church where trying to start a support group for the chronically ill. I ordered some materials from Rest Ministries, and the group was off and running.

Another piece of the puzzle came together when in December of 2007 I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. The symptoms are now well controlled by medication. My illnesses and struggles have truly brought me closer to my Lord, and back to Rest Ministries.

I have found information on this site to be very helpful to me personally. I also have used this site as a resource shared among the members of the support group. The Lord has truly brought me through the fire, and when I read what others have written in the Sunroom forums, I know I’m in the right place.

May He use the knowledge I have gained to His Glory, and to bring other to the Living Water.

Ann

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We need your stories! We know many of you have shared them
with others in different areas of our web site. Please share
a bit about yourself, what illness is teaching you, your struggles,
whatever!

> Click here to submit your own story

In the Word – Fought the Good Fight

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”  2 Timothy 4:7

A Disability Resource Site of Interest

ThisAbled is an organization built on the concept that in order for people with disabilities to be free they have to be politically and economically empowered. They state in their philosophy, “We have been bombarded by how much the government, non-profits, and other similar services were going to do for us. We are victims who some how needed the salvation that only comes from ‘trained professionals.’”

While we don’t endorse them (and they are a secular organization) we do think they may have some resources of value that you may not find in your typical Google search.

Focus on the Family Has Illness Articles

Focus on the Family is one of the largest Christian ministries that offers services and resources to families. They have a wonderful series of articles on chronic illness (and Lisa was honored to be interviewed for them too!) Be sure to check them out here. They include:

• Adjusting to Life With Chronic Illness
• Remaining Positive When Facing a Chronic Illness
• When We Suffer: A Biblical Perspective on Chronic Pain and Illness
• Ministering Effectively to the Chronically Ill
• Story: A Journey Through Chronic Illness
• Next Steps / Related Information

Stuck Eating at the Hospital?

A nutritional analysis revealed that many entrées described as “healthful” by hospitals are actually very high in artery-clogging fat. Sixty-two percent of these “healthiest entrée” offerings derived more than 30 percent of calories from fat, and a few derived more than 50 percent of calories from fat. If you are “approved” to eat anything, be sure to try to still select the healthiest options. And have friends bring you in some food too! When Lisa was in the hospital she sent her husband to the store to get South Beach breakfast bars and she lived off these during the times she was awake (and starving) in the middle of the night

Do You Throw Food Away that Spoils?

If your veggies always go bad before you get a chance to use them you may want to check into the at theEggstraFresh web site. They claim this little “egg” product works on fruits and vegetables, but also with meats, fish, poultry, milk & dairy, cold cuts, cheese, condiments, beverages and leftovers. One in your pantry supposedly makes crackers and cereal last longer too. No, we haven’t tried it yet (but we’re curious, tempted and it was recommended us by a user!)