Tiny Mouth, Tiny Feet

God. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child. Conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep well.

Sleep well. Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds. Sleep well, for the heat of anger simmers nearby. Enjoy the silence of the crib, for the noise of confusion rumbles in your future. Savor the sweet safety of my arms, for a day is soon coming when I cannot protect you.

Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious:
to touch a leper’s open wound,
to wipe a widow’s weary tear,
to claw the ground of Gethsemane.

Your hands, so tiny, so tender, so white—clutched tonight in an infant’s fist. They aren’t destined to hold a scepter nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that will staple them to a Roman cross.

Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you will see the mess we have made of your world.

O eyes that will see hell’s darkest pit and witness her ugly prince … sleep, please sleep; sleep while you can.

Lay still, tiny mouth. Lay still mouth from which eternity will speak.

Tiny tongue that will soon summon the dead,
that will define grace,
that will silence our foolishness.

Rosebud lips—upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness to those who believe you, and of death to those who deny you—lay still.

And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest. For many difficult steps lie ahead for you.

Rest, tiny feet. Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power. Rest. For millions will follow in your steps.

And little heart … holy heart … pumping the blood of life through the universe: How many times will we break you?

You’ll be torn by the thorns of our accusations.
You’ll be ravaged by the cancer of our sin.
You’ll be crushed under the weight of your own sorrow.
And you’ll be pierced by the spear of our rejection.

Yet in that piercing, in that ultimate ripping of muscle and membrane, in that final rush of blood and water, you will find rest. Your hands will be freed, your eyes will see justice, your lips will smile, and your feet will carry you home.

And there you’ll rest again—this time in the embrace of your Father.

Personalized Fibromyalgia Care

by Kristin Thorson, Editor, Fibromyalgia Network

Posted: November 30, 2011

Although you have widespread achiness, your fibromyalgia symptoms consist of so much more. Wouldn’t it be nice if your doctor could personalize your treatment to address specific symptoms instead of viewing you in the same light as all people with this disease? This is the focus of a recent medical journal report written by pain management specialist Vibor Milunovic, M.D., and his colleagues in Croatia and Chicago, IL

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When You Are Tempted to Speed Up the Trip to Heaven

  By Lisa Copen

Heaven. The pain will subside. The joy will abound. We will know the presence of God’s glory unlike we can even imagine. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Even the apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”(Philippians 1:21). He too was eager to see an end to his suffering here on earth and spend eternity with God. The topic that I am confronting here, however, is not the blessed event of entering His gates at His moment of appointment, but the word that Christian leaders are hesitant to confront–suicide.

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More frequently than I would like I hear from a people who are seriously questioning why God would want them to remain here on earth one more day. And for each person that contacts me, I wonder how many others are suffering silently. What good could possibly come of constant pain? How can God expect us to continue to endure a future that seems to hold nothing but disappointments, sorrow, and physical pain?

October 31, 2011 By Lisa Copen  Leave a Comment

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

As millions of people celebrate Halloween today, many of us will be quick to look away. We don’t like the monsters and we don’t want to “celebrate” death or evil.

However, today is a good day to remember just how aware we need to be of the many “monsters” around us, not just today–but every day. Satan is alive and thriving and attempting to conquer each of us.

It’s not a pretty story, but it is true. This evil force, described as a serpent, a dragon, (Revelation 12:7-9) is in our presence.

Job 1:7 tells us, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’

He is attempting to discourage each of us; he wants us to feel the pain of our illness and curse God for it; his desire is to claim us as his own.

I want to point something out to you. The pain that we experience in our bodies each day from our illness, could potentially be one of the greatest tools that Satan can use to try to turn us against God.

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 2:4), Satan said to Jesus.

Satan was sure that even though Job did not curse God after suffering some of the greatest losses of a man’s life (like his children), that if he took away his health and covered his body with sores, that would make Job turn away from God.

Job did not curse God but he was quite discouraged. Have you ever felt this way?

“For sighing comes to me instead of food;
my groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (Job 3:24-26)

Our sufferings for Christ can be one of the most amazing blessings we will receive when we see how God uses it in our lives. But that makes us susceptible to also having it be used as one of Satan’s greatest temptations to turn us away from God.

Stay in the Word. Surrender over your plans and dreams to God each day. Don’t allow your hear to harden or you will be even more at risk to this monster that prowls around looking for a way into your life.

Prayer: Lord, I don’t like reading or hearing about satan. I want to give all my thoughts to You. Yet, you know that he is very real and I must be alert and self-disciplined enough to read the Word and talk with You. I cannot live with daily pain and rely on my own strength or I will quickly become one of us victims.

About the Author:
Lisa Copen is an author, speaker, and the founder of Rest Ministries which serves the chronically ill. She lives in San Diego with her husband and 8-year-old son. She is currently writing a book for Christian moms who live with chronic illness. If you are interested in sharing your stories, feedback and confessions for the book, visit her Facebook page at http://MomWithIllness.com .

by Janis Leibold, Assistant Editor, Fibromyalgia Network
Posted: October 28, 2011

While many researchers are studying blood and urine of fibromyalgia patients to determine if mineral abnormalities exist, one team from Korea are taking a novel approach by going directly the root of the problem.* Their study of trace elements in hair samples show fibromyalgia patients have lower levels of important minerals compared to healthy adults.

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This article made me sit up and think! Not that we have to be clean-nicks… but awareness certainly make sense. What do you think?

Come join us… if you have a webcam all the better. We can have face-to-face conversations and discussions. Starts at 1:00 p.m. for those of us who really can’t do mornings.

The book we will be using is Choices: Managing Chronic Pain. It will only cost $12 and I will absorbe the shipping and tax costs. If you click on the book to your right, you will find out more about the book we’ll be using. Please pay for the book through PayPal. You do not have to have an account there, just pay to: Jonnie Wright email: jonnie@jonniewright.com

 If you know someone who lives with chronic pain or if you are a caretaker, this study will be encouraging support as one’s painful condition keeps changing your life-style choices.

Please email me at jonnie@jonniewright.com subject line: on-line Choices.

You may want to visit my other sites: www.jonniewright.com and http://jwright.vpweb.com.

We don’t grow by doing a Bible study, we grow as we go through it.

Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain LIFE is the NFMCPA’s new bi-monthly digital publication for, by and about the fibromyalgia & related chronic pain communities. Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain LIFE digital magazine launched earlier this month. The digital version is free to subscribers of this newsletter. The printed version may be ordered on MagCloud.com

If you’re interested in writing for the magazine, click here to view guidelines for submitting “My Fibro Story.”

by Janis Leibold, Assistant Editor, Fibromyalgia Network
Posted: September 30, 2011

Researchers and physicians frequently tout the benefits of exercise, saying it can help restore physical function, improve muscle blood flow, and reduce pain. Yet finding the right level of activity is a serious hurdle, because overdoing it can easily lead to an exacerbation of your fibromyalgia pain.

Low-intensity exercise is often recommended to people with fibromyalgia to help maintain mobility. But the thought of starting an activity, overdoing it, stopping, and starting all over again is a frustrating and discouraging cycle.

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