Hi Friends,

Just a few days ago it was over 100 degrees; today it's in the sixties and we're expecting thunderstorms. This has resulted in two things: one, I am flaring badly with fluid building up in all my joints, making things like unbending my legs difficult; two, my son has decided this would be a great day to watch the movie Polar Express, the Christmas train movie. Why not? If the rain is going to ruin playing outside, we may as well embrace it and watch a winter film. Don't you love how easily kids can adapt?

My deepest appreciation goes out to all of you who lifted me up in prayer on Monday while we filmed for American Bible Society Presents. They three guys were very fun to work with and put me at ease. After an hour of set up the camera was finally on. The first line I said "uhhhh" and then "let me start over." Just as I was on a roll, a fly buzzed by my face. We all laughed and started again. And then a wreath fell off my wall--one they had moved and put back. With nerves past, we got down to business and I was able to explain my passion for this ministry, the amazing volunteers who make it what it is, and how I hope to see illness ministry to be more widely accepted--in our culture, churches, and publishing houses.

They wanted some "family shots" and so my son had a blast hitting his baseballs from the new Fisher-Price® ESPN Better Batter™ Baseball he got this weekend. He also had a chance to zoom around in his NASCAR Power Wheels, so as you can imagine, he was pretty excited. And smiled at the neighbor kid (who is older and wouldn't play with him on Saturday because Josh is just 5) walked by and stood in the street for five minutes. He watched Josh hitting the balls with two guys trying to catch them and the third with the television camera. The mom side of me thought, "Maybe next time you'll be a bit nicer to my kid." (I know, not the most "Christian" thought, but I'm sure you can relate, right?)

Then we headed over to the hopekeepers group. We had 13 people there and a wonderful conversation led by Monte, the leader, about how God can make illness even a blessing in our lives. I came home exhausted but also very much at peace with the entire day. It should air sometime in August. I will keep you posted. It will also be on our web site as soon as it's available.

Lastly, Our deepest sympathies go out to Gospel recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. One of his children, a 5-year-old little girl adopted from China, was killed this week when her teenage brother accidentally backed up with the SUV. Please keep this family and the difficult days they will have ahead of them, in your prayers. As an adoptive mom myself, I've always admired the glorious light the Chapmans have shined on adoption and I can only imagine the detestation they must feel as they also comfort their son.

May God provide comfort this week,

Lisa Copen
Rest Ministries Director and Founder

ABSPresents Interviews Lisa
Here is a photo my husband took. I caked on loads of makeup (and concealer) and I guess I did something right because it didn't melt off. It was nearly 100 degrees that day and we had to turn off the air conditioning to make sure the room was as quiet as possible.

Volunteer Featured in Her Local Paper
Mary Ann Redondo, a Rest Ministries volunteer, was recently featured in an article, Denville Woman Inspires Awareness of Rare Illness, in New Jersey. Way to go Mary Ann! The paper says,

Mayor Ted Hussa hosted a gathering at the municipal building aimed at promoting understanding about the little-understood condition. He proclaimed Tuesday NF awareness day, and about 30 people attended. Hussa organized the event after being approached by Mary Ann Redondo, 54, who cited years of teasing and insensitive comments by people unfamiliar with the disorder...Redondo has NF-Type 1, which affects one in 2,500 people and encompasses other potential complications such as bone deformities, nodules on the iris of the eyes and cancer. NF-Type 2, which affects one in 30,000 births, can result in hearing impairments and cataracts as well as skin tumors.

Are You a Mom with a Chronic Illness?
Lisa is going to start putting the pedal to the medal and gathering information for her book she's been working on for awhile. If you would like to be involved (as someone to answer some questions, share examples, frustrations, whatever!) email her here with a brief description of your illness, age, number of kids, ages of kids, if you are married or single, etc.

Lisa's future NASCAR driver

Did you know our web site has hundreds of pages of information? Lisa is nearly done with a complete overhaul of the web site and we'll use this place to let you know about pages, articles and other resources you may not even know exist on our web site!

What Have You Found at Our Web Site Lately?
Jonnie Wright, author of The Silver Bullet says, "Your new website is a dandy! Easy organization for those of us who can't handle too much visual stimulation and who can't think of the name of the topic they want--fibro fog in action! Love the color scheme too... it's easy on the eyes! Very professional!"

Some of the great new resources you'll find at our web site:

• Our favorite chronic pain sites
• Our favorite health web sites
• Our favorite illness web sites
• Our favorite illness ministries
• Our favorite health ministries

What's your favorite find? Tell us what you like (or don't like) about the new site and you'll be entered to win some lotion from Bath and Body Works! And start browsing so you become familiar with it! Next week we'll announce a treasure hunt. Be the first one to find it and we'll give away an awesome prize!

Be sure to visit our Sunroom to join in for some excellent discussions!

How Does God Use Your Illness? Ann Shares

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...

> read more here

> Click here to submit your own story

"But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish."

Psalm 9:18

Fun Little Facts to Amaze Your Friends
(Well, okay... at least your kids) Think you have more than enough information on how your body works from all your doctors appointments and watching Grey's Anatomy? Well, did you know that women blink twice as many times as men do? Or how about the fact that you use 200 muscles to take one step? (No wonder our feet hurt!) Have ya had a candy bar lately? One human hair can support 3.5 ounces --which is about the weight of two full size candy bars. Hop on over to this web site to find more of these 100 Weird Facts About the Human Body.

How to Pay Those Impossible Medical Bills
This is an excellent article by Penny McCracken featured on the National Fibromyalgia Awareness web site that we thought provided some steps and insight into what she did to lower some of her bills. And while you're there be sure to check out this article too: Stay on Top of Your Finances... Even When You're Lost in Fibrofog . Regardless of your illness there is something to learn!

Longing for Someone to Say... "I'm Proud of You?"
When was the last time you heard these words? A touching book that Lisa recently read and gives 5 stars is I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by reporter Tim Madigan. And if you really do have a hankering to hear someone say those words, drop by Mister Roger's web site where he will sing "I'm Proud of You" as well as other classics like "You are Special" and "I'm Still Myself Inside." And we thought this Presbyterian minister was ministering just to kids! Here at Rest Ministries we think most of us can relate with his messages.

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. - Matthew 17:20

> Have something silly to share?

People are always asking, "How can I help Rest Ministries?" With the internet, it's easy to help spread the word. With just a few of us working together to write a review someone or "Stumble Upon" an article, Rest Ministries can gain tons of exposure without having to spend a dime! We'll share a suggestion here each week, where if you can take a minute it will help us reach more people!

If you've visited our new site chances are you've seen this little toolbar on every page.

Does anything look familiar? These are the most popular bookmarking tools out there and if you use any of them, be sure to bookmark our page. "StumbleUpon" is one of our favorites so if you don't have an account yet, you may want to check that one out. What happens is you can share your favorite bookmarks with other people very easily and so that also helps Rest Ministries grow exponentially.

Or... if you'd rather just send a friend to a particular page, you can do it the old-fashioned way and click on the "tell a friend" button. You'll find it in the top left corner right under the bookmark button on every page.

Thanks so much for sharing us with others! It's the only way Rest Ministries has ever gone from 10 visitors to over 3,000 per day at our web site.

You can still answer all our surveys! It helps us a lot as we use your comments, suggestions, etc to write articles, educate churches, etc.

> View Past Surveys

Take the Poll - you could win a prize! We'll announce the weekly winners here too.
	A new survey of 1,144 doctors, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine asked doctors about their own religious beliefs. 54 percent said they think God sometimes intervenes to help patients, 28 percent do not and 18 percent are agnostic. Do you know your doctor's beliefs? If yes, how? We want to hear from you! >Click here to take the 30-second survey

Did you know we really need your prayers? In the last few months we've had volunteers who have suffered heart attacks, lost their home, lost a loved one, had additional illnesses diagnosed and more.

Our ministry is blessed, but at the same time we have computer crashes, administrative issues and all kinds of things that just remind us that though God is in control, the enemy desperately wants to slow us down! We have a great list of things you can pray for us about for 2008. Print it out here and stick it in your Bible or on your fridge, and remember us, okay? It's very appreciated!