Hi Friends,

Okay, first of all, thank you for laughing with me and not at me! I received a few emails about my last (rushed) issue of hopenotes and my inability to use the SpellCheck feature correctly. Here is one:

"I noticed that Lisa Copen was writing about when she would be leaving for Orlando, Flouride (Florida), when I burst out laughing. Not to make fun of the mistake, but it was what I needed to laugh and the Lord knew it, and he sent me to your newsletter to give me a laugh, and to remind me that I don't have to be perfect to be used by God. Thank you, Lisa, for a chuckle that God used to cheer me up. Have a good trip. My prayers are with your wonderful ministry. -S."

So... my trip to Florida was a wonderful time, packed full. I spent a few days attending meetings with other women writers, and had the chance to meet so many amazing people. Know this: depsite the glossy covers on all the books and the poised author photos on the back covers, these women are just ordinary women who have felt God's call on their heart to write. And most of the writing has come from some sort of thorn God has placed in their life--from time in prison, to a prodigal child, a divorce, or cancer; most of them never would have imagined that God could use them.

So stay encouraged. God can and will use what you are going through too! Nothing He does is wasted.

Around here life has been a bit chaotic as usual, but that's something of "normal." My husband hopes to be able to stop working nights in a couple of weeks, but that is just about the time Josh will start to Kindergarten (I know... my baby is growing up!) We're packing our days with fun, water, school shopping, and play time. I am falling in bed as soon as I get Josh in bed, reading an hour and then getting up to try to get some work done.

God has opened so many doors. I don't want to see any of them swing shut because of my not following up. And yet He knows my limits, right?

I have another ezine all ready to go by tomorrow or so, so we can catch up a bit more on stuff we got behind on since I've not gotten you a hopenotes out for a bit.

Thanks for all your prayers,

Lisa Copen
Rest Ministries Director and Founder

PS: If some of this looks familiar it's because I got it to the blog for our ezine on time and then not out to our mailing list. Hold tight! A new issue is coming in a day or 2!

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

National Invisible Chronic Illness
Awareness Week Theme Announced

September 8-14, 2008 is this year's week to bring awareness about invisible illness. Our theme is "Hope can grow from the soil of illness." We have a wide selection of goodies available for purchase now (tote bags, t-shirts, jewelry and more). We found a great company that will "drop ship it." So the day you order an item, we will order it from the company directly, and they will ship it to you to arrive in 8 days or less. So, you have the choice of lots of different items, but we aren't investing money up front for most of them. We hope it will work out best for you to get what you'd like and us to be able to be a good steward of our funds.

Brochures/rack cards and stickers are coming soon, but check out the rest today at the Invisible Illness web site.

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 Pastors Need to Know About Using Facebook
This free ebook, "Facebook for Pastors" is 31 pages packed full of all the reasons pastors should be using Facebook and how it really can be worth their time. Do your pastor a favor and email him this information avaiable at our web site page for pastors at http://www.restministries.org/professions/prof-pastors.htm#9 Either he will thank you for the info and dive right in, or he will at least be able to figure out what this "facebook" thing is all about and choose what to do with the information. This great resource is written (and donated!) by Chris Forbes, the founder of Ministry Marketing Coach. He speaks and writes on the subjects of ministry marketing, faith-based nonprofit marketing, social marketing, and Guerrilla Marketing for nonprofits.

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Have you visited the new Rest Ministries web site yet?

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

A Dream Prepares Lynn for the Reality

I was diagnosed with MS in the summer of 1985, although I had already experienced some daunting symptoms in the years previous. My balance proved to be faltering during a Frances Schaeffer Christian School Conference in the early 80's. When we were asked to bow our heads and pray, I commenced to fall.

Then in that summer of '85 my legs started to feel like they had weights tied around them as I would ascend my three flights of stairs in our home in Placentia, CA. My husband and I were called to minister at Forest Home Family Camp that summer. He as the camp doctor and me as the special music. At this point, symptoms had subsided slightly, but the neurologist still gave me a tentative diagnosis of MS. Aside from memory block a few times that week I was feeling quite well.

One afternoon I climbed up my favorite rock to pray, but midway through the prayer I fell asleep. In my dream I was in a wheelchair, singing, with my hands raised in praise to God. When I awoke, I was at first troubled that I was in a wheelchair, then dumbfounded that I could be singing praises to God. Before long I was enveloped in a deep peace of mind as I felt God's presence saying, "In whatever condition you are, I will use you." Those words would prove to be extremely comforting in the years to come.

Twenty- three years later, I am in a wheelchair most of the time and I have found that Christ's strength is sufficient to see me through any situation He has challenged me with. (II Cor. 12:9). I co-produced one CD and performed on another. I was asked to be the special music and speaker for CASA Senior Conference in Murrieta Springs the fall of 2004 and I now ...

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"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees."

Hebrews 12:11-12

A Prayer for Those With Cancer
We're sorry we missed it but Sunday, June 1 was National Cancer Survivors Day. On that day and throughout the month of June Cancer Recovery Foundation people all over the nation were called to pray for all those who have been affected by cancer. Put it on your calendar for next year, when the Cancer Recovery Foundation calls for everyone to join in an effort to share a common hope for God's grace and healing to be evident in the lives of everyone living with this disease. People are still encouraged to visit www.cancerrecovery.org to share their prayers. Read the prayer for those with cancer on Rest Ministries Cancer Resource Web Page.

House Calls from the Mayo Clinic
Okay, they don't actually show up at your house with a little black doctor's bag and a tub of mayo. But they do have a wide variety of helpful resources in their newsletter called "House Calls." Blogs, "Ask a Specialist" and Healthy Recipes round out this ezine that is worth subscribing too, even if just to search for later. You can't find health info from a more reputable place.

Keep Your Kids Safe This Summer
None of us like to think about the people who are out there who would want to take advantage our our children's innocence. But protect yourself and your family with knowledge of who your neighbors are or if you are moving, check out the neighborhood before buying that house.. Lisa just received an email that a sexual predator moved near her and she thought you may also want to know about this web site to be able to get email alerts. The web site is Family Watch Dog. Be safe!

Ever Have Odd Little Symptoms?
You may wonder if it's one more side effect of your medications or even your illness. Or it this a brand new condition and you want to check out the possibilities fast without wading through dozens of Google results where some of them are for canines. Visit this web site that has a fast Symptom Checker. Granted, when it comes to your illness, you may know more specifics than this database of information but it could still come in handy for those off the wall medical events, like when your husband gets bit by a squirrel (don't ask!)

> 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!

This newsletter is so close to the next one that we are going to wait for more answers/ideas from you before publishing it! Will you do us the favor or participating?

Take the Poll - you could win a prize! We'll announce the weekly winners here too.
	We recently received this question and think many of you can relate! "My husband and I have a terrible time coming up with things to do together. We are pretty much homebodies by choice. I have so many physical limitations with pain and chemical sensitivities it is hard. Plus even when I was healthy my husband didn't want to go do much. I have lots of food problems and can't even eat out. We watch movies together, cable T.V., cook together, cook for the kids when they have time (they are grown), and go to church together.( Although I have been unable to attend church for the last year and a half due to a new building and can now only go 30 minutes a couple of times a month). I don't want to bore you with more details but I am sure others have similar troubles. We are fresh out of ideas. We need fun things to do for couples where one person has lots of limitations and limited money for entertainment. I can't take long rides in the car anymore and I walk every day but my husband is on his feet a lot at work so he really doesn't want to do that. So we are out of new ideas. Thanks for listening and maybe something or some suggestions will come out of this question that would help lots of other couples too. Got to keep these marriages strong. Thank you for all you do and God Bless You! Regards, Sarah" So, what do YOU and your spouse do together just for fun? List a few ideas (we have categories: free, under $25, and $25-$50) Tell us! > Answer
Take a Past Survey
You can still answer our past surveys! It helps us a lot as we use your comments, suggestions, etc to write articles, educate churches, etc. > View Past Surveys Our last winner of a free book was Christine at irvinew@... Take the poll today to be our next winner!

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!