Hi Friends,

If you told me it would be over two weeks that my computer would be unable to send email for two weeks I would have laughed, and then gasped! At last email is working once again and I am in the processing of answering them. An email problem led to a computer problem, which sent it to my "computer doctor." However, upon getting the computer back, I'd gotten into a bad "spam loop" with a company sending me about 30 emails per minute. So, with over 30,000 emails on my server, I could no longer log onto it. My ISP was quite slow to see the importance of helping me fix the problem.

As much as I see these as spiritual attacks, I also saw Lord fulfilling the scripture Proverbs 16:4: "The Lord works out everything for his own ends..."

Without the ability to communicate, I was able to let go of some of the stress and also begin working on my "mom book" which has been in my heart for awhile. I'd not been ready to write it, had the time, nor the experience. With my son entering Kindergarten in the fall, I was hopeful I could do the topic justice if many of you who are much more experienced helped me out.

And when God wants me to work on a book, it's because it's a place in my life He wants to work on me. Researching, writing and praying on the topic usually impact my heart and spiritual walk unlike anything else. So, we'll see what happens! (If you are interested in being involved, keep reading!.)

Yesterday was my son's last day of preschool. A potluck, photos, and celebrations. A playdate with a friend wasn't able to happen, but we had the neighbor's little boy come over and they swam in the kiddie pool and then played trains. They were playing and he came over and just gave me a BIG hug like "thank you!" (Pretty cool). When dad came home we had dinner and Josh got to use the special "Shining Star" plate, opened a present and then we watched the video of the graduation.

I have to run and pick him up from daycamp now and then we head on over to Little Gym. I'm feeling awful. I slept well, but woke up feeling like a truck had parked on me all night. I am aware of every bit of tissue in my back - it just aches. It's the fibromyalgia part. And I am trying to figure out when I can have hand surgery since I ruptured a tendon and my left hand is now pretty deformed.

If this is all overwhelming, next time just slide on down to the next section of the newsletter, but I wanted to catch you up to date on life's happenings. You can also get snippets of anything on my "Twitter" in the Sunroom (scroll down to the Twitter box on the right) When my email wasn't working, this was how I kept in touch with what the newest update was.

Next Tuesday Josh and I fly up for a week in Oregon with my family. My husband will join us a for a few days during the weekend, but can't get away from work for long. I will try to get this ezine out from Oregon if all of technology agrees with me!

Thanks for all your prayers,

Lisa Copen
Rest Ministries Director and Founder

PS: These are the kind of emails that got my through the TV interview... Thanks, Friends! I still have not seen the footage but will try to keep this in mind :)

"Good luck on your TV interview. Remember, we are hurting and it will more then likely bless others to see that you are in the same boat...like you said not some model who had been sick for a day or two. I don't want anyone to be in pain, but it is so helpful when I can see someone who looks like me, not someone who is made up to look healthy. Don't try to cover up who you are, that is what makes rest ministries the great help it is! Thanks for all you do! Susie E."

Beyond Casseroles Debuts New Look!
Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend is at the printer with a new cover! We are hoping to make it appear brighter and more fun and be used more in OUTREACH to people who don't know the Lord. We received some wonderful endorsements that are included, and will also make it available for nonprofits or churches in bulk (100+ copies) to be ordered with their own logo, leader's message, etc.

We are currently low in stock, so if you order, be aware that it may be 2 weeks before it is shipped. If you want to make sure you get the new cover . . . wait for an announcement here and you will also see the new cover on the order page.

Invisible Illness Week Being Planned
In case you are wondering... we are starting to update the web site and pull some things together for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. We will be having our "chat seminars" this year as telephone seminars, where you can call in and listen and participate. Lisa will be ordering updated brochures and other items in the next few weeks.

With everyone trying to save money, we want to be good stewards and not purchase a bunch of stuff no one is interested in, so watch for an upcoming survey to tell us what you would be interested in purchasing. We want to have items available that you want (brochures, pins, bumper stickers)!

Lisa is Working on Moms with Illness Book
If you are a mom with an illness and would like to participate, fill out our form here (choose "other") and tell us a bit about yourself, kids, ages, etc. Lisa is in the process of writing the basic outline of the book and then will send out all the moms who have an expressed an interest a questionnaire. Moms can choose a few topics and send us answers. As Lisa works on it you can send a few more answers as things come to mind. She plans to have it published sometime in 2009.

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!

Have you visited the new Rest Ministries web site yet?

Ya'll have been quiet about our new web site so we're wondering... is it okay? Are you finding some cool new tools to live with illness?

In honor of all the dads out there who live with illness, visit our page for dads with illness. And... are you a dad with a chronic illness? If so, Lisa is looking for a few men to interview for her (ironically) "moms with illness" book-- She'll be including a chapter on "Dads have illness too!" So go to our contact us page and choose "other" and tell us a bit about yourself and Lisa will be contacting you in the next few months.

Happy Father's Day!

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

A New Friend Shares How Rest Ministries
Helped Her Follow Her Own Dreams

Have you ever felt this way? Kimberly shares in her blog...

Go back with me to about four years ago when I had a Pain Management Counselor who suggested I should check out Life Coaching. Her reason? Because, "You would be so good encouraging people with chronic pain, Kimberly...
yada yada yada!" I'm so ashamed to tell you my response. But I'm going to tell you as it really was. What I recall doing and saying in response to her "suggestion" was to cross my eyes at her and saying the last thing I want to do was to "talk to whiny, chronically sick people all day long!"

How did a surprise issue of hopekeepers Magazine change her attitude and willingness to follow the Lord's lead?

> read more here

> Click here to submit your own story

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints..."

Ephesians 1:18

Are You a Big Reader With a Desire to Save?
Looking for an inexpensive way to read more books? Check out PaperbackSwap. You list the books you want to get rid of and then when someone requests it you ship it out (about $2.15). Then you get a credit! And can use it for any book. Our founder, Lisa, has been using it for six months and loves it!

New Radio Program by Chronic Pain Sufferer
Don Piper, author of the best-seller, 90 Minutes in Heaven Ministries, has recently started a weekly radio program, "Here's Hope with Don Piper." It airs weekly on KKHT, "The Word," 100.7 FM, at 9:00AM every Sunday morning, but anyone can here it live or archived at www.kkht.com . Don lives with severe daily chronic pain following a car accident that literally killed him. It's an amazing book and encouraging for anyone with illness to read. We highly recommend it! (Read more)

Live in the USA? Get Ready for the Election
We now know the presidential race is on between Obama and McCain. Lisa's deep knowledge of either candidate is limited at this time, though she found it sad that the McCain campaign seemed to have rebuffed Billy Graham's invitation to meet with him. Wherever you stand, don't forget voting is a privilege and your vote counts. People with disabilities are about 20 percent less likely than those without disabilities to vote, and 10 percent less likely to be registered to vote (source). Make sure you are registered to vote and sign up for an absentee ballot. You can always take it down to the voting place on Nov. 7th if you'd prefer, but if you have recently moved and don't know the layout of the location, be aware it may be difficult to access. Read more about voting when you have disabilities on the The Center for an Accessible Society web site.

> 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!

Did you know it's EASY to refer a
friend to Rest Ministries?

Since our site when LIVE with the new updates 3 weeks ago we have had only 5 people use our new referral service. Since we're paying a few bucks a month to have a quality service (no ads, no spam, etc.) we want to make sure you know about it!

Look for the button (see below) on nearly every page and click it to have a pop up message appear where you can enter in as many friend's names and emails as you'd like. You'll find it in the top left corner right under the bookmark button on every page.

And just so you know... we have no idea who you invite. All we get is a statistic that shows which pages on our site were "sent to friends" and how many times, so your privacy is complete!

Thank you!

Last week we asked you..."Do you know your doctor's beliefs? If yes, how?"

20 of you who responded

17 of you answered that you did believe that your doctor was a Christian.

When we asked "how did you know?"

• 7 of you said your doctor "flat out told you." (Wow!)
• 6 doctors "hinted at it."
• 3 had "items in the waiting room or office make me think so"
• 8 said, "someone else told me"
• 2 reported "I've seen him/her speak at religious events"
• 2 knew the church membership of the physician
• 2 asked
  

Here are some of your responses...

Don shares, "Having a doctor who is a believer is critical to me. A chronic illness is difficult enough and I need to get vital counsel from someone who aligns with my faith rather than maligns it. There were times when he recognized his limitations, but together we trusted the Lord."

Lisa says, "I have a now 8-year-old who was born with spina bifida. We found out when I was 7 months pregnant. Even though the actual OB was going to do the C-section, my midwife (who doctored me through that whole pregnancy and the subsequent one) came to the hospital on her day off anyway. She prayed with my husband and I before I went in to surgery, staying with me during surgery, and continued to pray for Emily that day. I will never forget it because my family and my pastor had to leave at the door, but she could go with us all the way to surgery and was with me and prayed with us right before my surgery started a whole series of nerve-wracking events that day. Emily was born without incident and doing much better than the doctors ever dreamed and had her own surgery that day. Non-medical care sometimes does as much for the soul as medical care does for the body. We are so grateful..."

Kimberly says, "I am so blessed to have a Christian primary care doctor. And even more blessed that he has a nurse practitioner who is a beautiful Christian woman. I see her most of the time now. On more than one occasion both my doctor and his nurse have laid hands on me and prayed. Once before a surgery. Another time when I went into the office emotionally distraught. It is so good to know that they now that they are not God."

You can still answer our survey! And all the past surveys too! 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.
	Take a past survey today! We will have another new one soon, but right now, any survey you participate in helps us write up some awesome press releases and spread the word about the awareness of chronic illness and how it's much more than just the latest medical news. Coming again next week! > Answer

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!