New ning community!

We now have a networking community on ning.com. This is a place where you can

• post your favorite pictures & let us see what you look like, if you want
• add friends and exchange messages with them
• read and post on a forum
  
• have a blog of your own and read other blogs
  
• leave comments in response to blog postings
  
• leave messages on walls of other members (the wall is a place for messages on their ning page)
  
• post videos and music (but be careful of copyright laws)
  
• reach out to others in other ning communities

Ning is similar to myspace or facebook, but it's classier and focused on networks. You don't need to give your real name when you sign up; just an email address. People visiting our site will only see your user name. To join, login our room and click the link there, or go to the community page and click "sign up" on the right.

Let me know what you think. I haven't turned on all the features. I haven't set up groups since I don't think we're big enough yet to bother with that. We might well turn those on in the future.

If the chat room is empty.,...

We are working on and praying about growing our chat room community, as many of you know. Still, there are times when you'll come in and find the room is empty. If that happens, here are some ideas for how you can still participate:

• Login the room and click on "Options", "Sound on Enter", and "on" (you can also pick a sound; I use chirp). Then you can minimize the window or let it get buried, but you'll still know if someone else comes in.
• If you go in the room and someone's there, but not responding, you can send sounds and may get their attention that way.
• Check the history in the room (click "Action" and "Recent Room History"). Pray in response or leave a message or prayer request for others to see.
  
• If you're new to the room, read our blog and learn about us!
• Check out what's happening in our community on ning.
• If you have an emergency prayer request you want to post to the blog, drop in the room and send the wolf sound to get our attention. If that doesn't work, email me or leave a message in the room, and say that you want us to post the request to the blog.
• Check our chat schedule so you know when someone will be in the room.
• Come back in the evening when there's usually a few folks hanging out here.
  

STEVE"S WHITE COUT IS 2.2 THIS AM!!!!!!

PRAISE GOD!

Update on Steve

Hopefully good news!!! Steve's white blood count was 0.6 this am ... and it's been 0 so we are hoping the transplant "took". Thanks so much for your prayers! Also - my dad is back home. The problem was and has been gout instead of peripheral neuropathy and he's off all pain meds and feeling much better ... again ... thanks for prayers!!!

Statement of Faith

The leadership of the Peace in Chronic Illness chat and blog are Christians; what we believe is below. You do not have to be a Christian or agree with this in order to chat with us, though we will not allow anyone to preach anything that contradicts this.

• There is one God who created us and is both loving and holy, and exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is the Trinity.
• The Bible (the Old and New Testaments) is God's word and teaches us about God, Jesus, ourselves, and our faith.
• Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity. He was born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly man. He came to walk among us to teach us about God and to die for us and pay the price for our sins, so we can be reconciled to God. He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven; He is our Lord and High Priest, and He will come again to take us home.
• The Holy Spirit is the Comforter Jesus promised He would send and the Third Person of the Trinity. He convicts us of sin and then regenerates and sanctifies us so we can become all God wants us to be.
• We were created in the image of God, but we sin and mar that image, and hurt each other. God could have kept us from sinning, but He gave us free will.
• Jesus' death on the cross is the only way we can be forgiven for our sins, saved, and reconciled to God.
• Those of us who have accepted the gift of salvation are reconciled to God so we can know Him now and so one day we will stand whole in every way before Him in heaven.
• The church is made up of all who have received the gift of salvation and are trusting in Jesus as Lord of their lives. We aren't intended to live as Christians alone but in fellowship with one another as well as with God.
• Jesus does heal today but not always. We pray and ask for help and for healing and we get to know Him better, but while He does answer and He is here for us, He does not often heal us here and now. One day, we will be healed in every way; meanwhile, He helps us thru these times and uses our illnesses and hurts to teach us to know Him better.

If you have questions of feedback about this, email me or one of the other admins -- or leave a comment. Thanks!

Friendship

Lord, its been awfully foggy today; I can't see anything out on the ocean tonight.

Wait; stop and listen for the sounds ships make.

"Tell your friends to stop making noise and listen to Me only."

All sound ceases then the sound of the friendship begins.

As the Lord looks around, He smiles and sighs, and He asks,

"Where is the good ship fellowship been off to lately? We need him around, too."

- by rrdave

New chat times, more pics

Deni's Tuesday and Thursday night chats will now be at 10 pm eastern (9 pm central, 7pm Pacific); my last announcement was in error; her chat tonight will be at 10 pm eastern.

Crafting is also moving her prayer meets a half hour later; now at 4:30 pm eastern (3:30 pm central, 1:30 pm Pacific).


I also wanted to mention that Apple has more pictures of her baby cousin up; see Curtis pictures.

Prayers for QuietSoul's hubby

Steve has a temp of 102 and his white count is about zero. While we were told to expect an infection, I'd appreciate prayers for him. My dad may have a blood clot in his leg but still no confirmed diagnosis. Again, if you choose to pray it would be appreciated! Thanks to all who keep us in prayer.

Chat changes

The time for Deni's chat has changed; starting Thursday, it will be one hour earlier -- 8 pm eastern instead of 9 pm.

We will also just have fellowship times now. We will have an idea for a topic, if folks are not talkative, but no long lessons or anything for now. We will probably have more formal talks in the future -- but will set up a separate room for those.

See you in the room!

Update of the QuietSoul saga

Have a few prayer requests for you all. First my dad is back in the hospital. Congestive heart failure, cellulitis in both feet, heart enzymes are up, which could indicate a heart attack. He was on Lyrica and I think it precipitated the crisis.

Steve is having problems with swallowing. He is entirely on liquids and having problems with those. His white count is down to .1, which is what is expected. We will know in the next day or so if the transplant "took".

I really appreciate my chat room family keeping us in prayer.

Hugs and love in Christ,

deni

Go out onto the Internet!

I was reading this month's letter from Joni & Friends by Joni Eareckson Tada. For those of you who don't know Joni, she became a quadriplegic after a diving accident when she was just in high school. Like virtually all of us, she asked, "How can this be God's will?" When she was first home from the hospital, Steve Estes, took the initiative to come and befriend Joni, and they studied the Bible together. Joni says her in her letter:

As Steve and I talked bout my suffering in the context of Jesus' suffering, I stated to see that while God wasn't happy about my suffering, it was part of His plan. He had something to give me through this wheelchair that was so much more important than walking -- the gift of a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

"Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." - Luke 14:21b, NLT

I know you've heard that verse from me before. I love it because it's so active. Go! it says. Not, "Sit around and wait for someone in need to come to you," or, "If you happen to run into someone in need..."

That's exactly what Steve did for me.

What a wonderful gift!

As I read this, I began to think that while we cannot do a lot of going out "into the streets and alleys" because of our illnesses, we can go out into the Internet. There are a lot of hurting people out there who are chronically ill and struggling with depression because they think God must have rejected them or they wouldn't be hurting like that. God has helped us find help with these issues thru out chat room, and I believe He would have us reach out to others and offer our support. But not many folks know we're around.

So, let's think and pray about how we can go out and find hurting people. We brainstormed the other night:

• If you hang out on a social networking site (facebook.com, myspace.com, etc), put a mention of our site there. On facebook, join our group.
  
• If you participate in discussion groups on the net, especially ones about specific chronic illnesses, add a mention of our site to your signature.
• Sign up for stumbleupon.com or diggit.com and give us a thumbs up.
• If you meet people at the doctor's office or at your church who are lonely or homebound -- or both, let them know about us, too.
• Anyone want to try Second Life? I've heard there is a health area of some kind there -- see the ICI blog for more info. I understand there is porn in that world, though, so be cautious.
  

Then, we need to have courage when someone new comes to the room -- welcome them as a part of our community. Just be wise about what personal information you share because we will, no doubt, get some who just want to make trouble. God willing, they will be few and far between. Trust God in this, too.

Prayer request for Kizmit's cats

Kizmit's cats, MC and Kizmit (where Kiz got her username) both have health problems. Kizmit, who is lying on a chair in the first picture, has a strange problem with her eyes which will be checked on Thursday; please pray that the problem is not serious. MC (for Miracle Cat) is in the second picture and has ongoing health problems. She will be going for blood work on Thursday. Please pray that her blood work is normal or better than previous.

Thanks!

Update on Steve

Steve needed a blood transfusion today, but we were assured that is not terribly unusual. For many reasons, these are a rough few days for the whole family. A huge praise though, my eldest son is getting married and is quitting his job to take care of the family here. His new wife fully supports him in doing this. I'm hopefully attaching a picture Steve took of Lake Michigan a few years back. It's one of my favorite photos. God IS in control.

deni

A Fresh New Look!

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Deuteronomy 11:7 - But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done. (NIV)

On a recent family vacation to the Grand Canyon, we flew into the Phoenix Airport. Wow! As you descend from the clouds above, you begin to see an amazing terrain below. A landscape filled with countless mountains raised high above the valleys, presenting a canvas of true majesty and magnificence. What a sight to behold!

Shamelessly, I have to admit that I had seen it all before as I had lived in Phoenix many years ago. But, I now realized, I never really saw it. For my eyes were not opened to the work of the Creator back then. The Creator, who blueprinted the perfection and splendor that had been carved out by His mighty hand. Oh, how did I not see it before?

Sadly, before we trust in Jesus, we are blinded to the most amazing, yet simplest truths of life. Truth of how much He loves and delights in us. How He is all sufficient for our needs and how He calls each of us to come and know Him personally. But, thankfully, by His grace, when our eyes are open, we can see all things with a brand new view!

Like the mountains that surrounded me that day, God's grace and mercy were always present. They were reminiscent of clouds overflowing with light, hovering over the darkness that filled my life. How much He wanted to draw me to Him and bring me to His place of peace and rest. But, like many, I was stubborn, satisfied and content with a life with my own "creator," me.

The day our hearts change and God reveals the fullness of His grace, we begin to see everything with a with a fresh new look. As God clears the clutter of sin in our hearts, it is replaced with a new ability to love more, to be filled with great compassion and to extend forgiveness to those that hurt us. Words cannot express the gratitude we have for God's plan for our lives. We just accept, embrace and receive it.

So, today, as we begin a brand new year, ask God for a new perspective on things that seem ordinary or random. Allow Him to open your eyes and see the brilliance of an early sunrise. Or, to look at the fabric of the terrain that surrounds you each day and gaze at its beauty. Enjoy the puddles that form when rain falls or the first glimpse of a snowflake appearing from the sky. Cuddle underneath the stars that create our heavenly canopy at night or lay in the timeless beauty of a flowering meadow.

Or, simply ask God for forgiveness and know that your sins are remembered no more.

I pray that God opens our eyes to see more than what's in front of us, so we may welcome a new year with a fresh new and exciting look!

Contributed by Diane Check: calvarycheck@comcast.net Diane has enjoyed writing short morning "thoughts for the day" for associates at her insurance company for the past few years. She lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with her husband and son. Visit Diane's Web site.

Lazy man’s cabbage rolls

• 1 lb of hamburger
• 1 or 2 cans tomato soup (depends on how lean your hamburger is)
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 1 onion (size according to family like)
• 1 cabbage (size according to family like)
• 1 cup of rice
• Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or wok or slow cooker brown hamburger sprinkle some salt and pepper on and dice onion then throw onion in pot when hamburger is almost browned.

Add mustard and ketchup

Pour in cans of tomato soup and fill cans with water

Using a spoon gently swirl the water to get the last of the soup out and pour into pot. You may need to add more water if only using 1 can of soup

Put rice into pot and make sure heat is on simmer or low setting

Chop up cabbage and put in pot

This can sit and simmer for a few hours but check occasionally to add water as needed.

Serve with buns and a side salad

Can be reheated just add a bit more water and ketchup if needed.

Recipe can be doubled and portions frozen for later use.

Prayer Update

Steve finished his chemo and transplant.  Chemo was harder than expected ... transplant was easier.  I talked to him a bit ago and he is groggy but feels fairly well.  It will take 10 to 12 days to know if the transplant takes.  I appreciate the prayers sent up for him and for our family and ask that they continue if you've a mind to!  Thanks again .....  deni

New pics from Lukla

Lukla's new MSN pic & two more pics from Everest. Again, if you click, it will take you to big versions of the two Everest pictures.

Prayer Request for Steve and our family

Hey all, it's QuietSoul51 (deni). Steve has the chemo for his bone marrow transplant Monday and the actual transplant Tuesday. I will not be able to be with him due to my own health issues. The next month or so are critical for Steve. He has progressed from a stage 1B myeloma to a 3A (there are only 3 stages for this type of cancer) so a I am concerned. Pray for wisdom for the docs, peace for Steve and myself (actually the whole family) and that God's will be done in this situation. I thank you for all the support you guys have given me (us) since the first day I was prayed into the room. (Thanks craft!) (hugs) to everyone. deni

New Veggi Tales movie coming Monday to a theatre near you.

I admit I borrowed this from the veggie tales creators blog but I had to. I love veggie tales and I admit to sitting through them many millions of times with my grandsons. I wish they would have had these kinds of movies when my girls were growing up. So if you get a chance go to the movies have a relaxing good time and its clean and fun and take a kid with you so you have an excuse it works just as my mom she's been doing it since my oldest daughter was baby with disney movies hehe.

Yo Ho - Here we go!
In case you've been hiding under a rock, well… first of all, get out from under that rock! It's dirty and buggy under there! Okay, now that you're out - the new VeggieTales movie comes out this Friday! In theaters! Everywhere! You're going to see it, right? Because opening weekends are kind of important nowadays… so go see it! Friday! Or Saturday! Twice, if you like it! Or maybe three times!

If you haven't noticed, Universal is really doing a lot to get the word out. I've heard reports that Pirate movie ads are all over downtown Chicago and Manhattan on cabs and bus stops. My friend Paul at Pixar says he passes a Pirates billboard every day driving to work. Here's a shot someone sent me of a big Pirates billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood! (You can even see the Hollywood sign in the corner…)

Not bad, eh? I'm not entirely sure how many conservative Christian families live in downtown Chicago, Manhattan, San Francisco or Hollywood, but heck, you gotta give 'em an 'A' for effort! And there are TV spots, too! I walked into a pizza restaurant yesterday and there was a Pirate spot playing on their TV, which was tuned to Nickeolodeon. So a lot of people are going to know about the new VeggieTales movie. The real question is, of course, how many will go see it? Ask me that question next Monday.

I'll be in Nashville Wednesday for the premier and a bunch of press interviews… I'll be on Janet Parshall's radio show on Wednesday, and Michael Medved's show on Friday. We should start to see reviews popping up in the next few days. That's always fun…

In semi-related news, here's a good, fairly philosophical interview with me about the whole Big Idea adventure on a website called "The High Calling." Check it out if you're feeling thoughtful. Oh… and stop seeing that Chipmunk movie! $176mm for talking chipmunks is ridiculous! Save your money for talking vegetables this Friday!

Gotta get back to work…

Publisher: pvischer posted at Monday, 07 January 2008 11:36:35

Registration now required

You will now need to register your username before entering the room. I'm sorry the registration process is kind of a pain; I wish you could give a password right at the beginning instead of having to go back and change the password afterwards. On the up side, the email is sent out very quickly, so the process doesn't take too long... I will be email'ing ParaChat about this -- they wrote the software for the chat room.

On a lighter note, RRDave wanted me to post his pic, so here it is.

Register your username!

You must now register a username to enter the chat room; this shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

Usernames may only contain letters, numbers, underscores (_), dashes (-), and periods (.). A lot of us use our first name with some addition to them, like year of birth or something more creative or obscure. A lot of first names are available without any additions.

To register, click the register link above (the link is also given about the enter button) and fill in the form with the username (or member name) you want, your real name, and your email address. Then click the grey "register me" button at the bottom.

You will then almost immediately get an email with a link to click on to confirm your email address. You will then get a second email, almost immediately, with a random password. You can then enter the room by clicking the blue enter button in the right column and using that name and password.

If you don't want to have to type that random password all the time, you can change it by clicking on the same link you used to register and then clicking "log in to change settings".

Please email me if you have any questions or problems with registration.

Thanks & God bless!

[ I'm updating this occasionally to clarify this process. -Liz ]

Prayer requests from Momof6 & RRdave

Momof6 just asked me to pass along a prayer request. She has a nerve conduction test on Monday and her renaulds is out of control. The doctors think this might be a prelude to lupus. Please pray that it is not lupus and for help for her and the doctors about it all.

RRdave is also asking for prayer for his mom who is on chemo because she has chronic leukemia -- along with himself and his dad as they all seem to be struggling with health problems. Dave has sinusitis and bronchitis.


Thanks!

Chats scheduled!

We now chats scheduled Monday - Friday at 9 pm US eastern / 8 pm central / 7 pm mountain / 6 pm pacific. Deni is leading the Tuesday and Thursday evening chats; I'm leading the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday chats.

Next week, Crafting will also be leading chats Monday - Friday at 4 pm US eastern / 3 pm central / 2 pm mountain / 1 pm pacific. She's not sure if she will continue 5 days a week as that's quite a lot. We'll let you know the permanent schedule later.

You can also check the schedule by clicking the link near the blue button in the right hand column.

In the chats, we talk about our struggles and how God is helping us, and we pray. And God shows us His love thru each other and in prayer.

Peace in Chronic Illness blog

Peace in Chronic Illness is a Christian chat room and blog for all with chronic illness. The room is our primary focus. There we support each other, share what God's doing, pray for each other, and joke around.

To enter the room, click on the blue button in the right hand column of the blog. You will go into the same room you get to from my home page, liz4cps.com. I never intended the new chat room to be mine -- I put it on my page because that was the quickest and easiest way we could a room going and because many of you knew to go to my home page to reconnect after the Rest Ministries chat room was closed.

We will use the blog as a way to communicate with all who come to the room. If you have something you want posted to the blog, the easiest thing to do is drop in the room and let one of the admins know. If we're not there (we're not there 24 hours a day!), leave a message for us in the room and ask us to post to the blog or email me or someone else who can post to the blog; see the list of contributors at the bottom right on this page.

Things we might have in the blog:

• Prayer requests, answers to prayer, and testimonies.
  
• Notes by hosts about chats -- either before or after a chat.
  
• Verses and thoughts about them -- reflections on what we are learning in the chat room.
• Announcements about the room or schedule -- special speakers in chats and changes in the normal schedule.
  
• Links to blogs or photo sites, if you have them.
  
• Special photos, like a photo of yourself or your pet, can be posted here from time to time.
• Any other ideas?
  

We will post as needed, but I don't expect to post more than once or twice a day normally. We probably won't post every day either. If you drop in the room regularly, you will see any updates to the blog just before you enter the room. You can also subscribe to the feed for the blog to see updates (if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out google reader or another rss reader).

Note that we won't post prayer requests or answers without permission, so what prayer requests you do want posted.

Feed back is welcome.

Take care & God bless!

Father God,
Be with us as we begin a new year and a new room.
I pray the room and the blog bring glory to Your Name.
Thank You for Your help in our chat room!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen