Hope and Help for Chronic Illness Study Guide

Below is a free resource I wrote for personal and group use. This six week study will help you walk through the Hope and Help for Chronic Illness booklet with a friend or small group. Geared towards those suffering, this study guide provides discussion questions, truths to focus on throughout the week, simple homework, and practical application.

Free to download, so spread the word!

Hope and Help for Chronic Illness Study Guide

One Year Anniversary of Hope and Help for Chronic Illness!

This month marks the one year anniversary of Hope and Help for Chronic Illness! This was my first published writing endeavor, so it is a sweet memory for me.

I'm still in awe of how God orchestrated the writing and publishing of that booklet (read more of the story here).

You see, I too was given the hard blessing of chronic illness. But through the most difficult years, I have experienced God’s sustaining grace in deeper ways than ever before. And so I am thankful.

If you are facing chronic illness, my heart goes out to you. It is not an easy road. You may wonder if you will make it another day, or another week. But the hands that are holding you are strong, and will not fail you. There is hope in the pain.

If you or someone you know battles chronic illness, could I encourage you to look into Hope and Help for Chronic Illness?

You can purchase from Amazon, Focus Publishing, or Christianbook.com.

Also, check out the recent booklet review on the Biblical Counseling Coalition.

Where to Purchase Hope and Help for Chronic Illness

If you are interested in purchasing the booklet Hope and Help for Chronic Illness for your church's counseling ministry, for yourself, or for a friend, here are the places you can find it:

• Focus Publishing
• Amazon
• Christianbook.com
• Books a Million

The last few years have been the most difficult I’ve experienced thus far, mostly because of my own battle with chronic illness. But I have seen God’s sustaining grace in deeper ways than ever before.  Somehow, in the deepest pain and hardships, He creates something beautiful.

If you are facing chronic illness, my heart goes out to you. It is not an easy road. You may wonder if you will make it another day, or another week. But the hands that are holding you are strong, and will not fail you. There is hope in the pain.

That's why we wrote this booklet. Because I saw the desperate need for my own heart to hold onto hope. And I long for others to experience that same hope.

I'm praying that this resource will be a source of encouragement to those battling chronic illness and those who are seeking to help a friend with chronic illness.

Hope and Help for Chronic Illness booklet GIVEAWAY!

I’m hosting a giveaway of my NEW booklet, Hope and Help for Chronic Illness, co-authored with Dr. Mark Shaw (and endorsed by Joni Eareckson Tada)!

This resource flowed from my deepest struggles in chronic illness and was written with a wise biblical counselor and author. Whether or not you also personally battle chronic illness, you probably know someone who does, so we believe everyone will benefit from this booklet. The issues surrounding chronic illness are very complex—but there is hope, no matter how difficult the circumstance.

Please join the giveaway and share with everyone you know!

TO ENTER:

1. FOLLOW me on one or more of my social media accounts and "like" my giveaway post.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

2. TAG a friend in a comment on one of the "giveaway" social media posts! (For an extra entry!)

3. SHARE this blog post or one of the giveaway posts on social media. (One extra entry - be sure to tag me so I know to count it!)

Winner will be randomly chosen on Saturday September 1, 2018 and announced on my social media accounts. Entries in the USA only.

The Booklet is HERE!

It's finally here! You can purchase your copy of Hope and Help for Chronic Illness at Focus Publishing, co-authored with Dr. Mark Shaw. And it's endorsed by Joni Eareckson Tada!

The Story:

This booklet idea was birthed out of my battle with chronic illness. It flowed from the deepest struggles I’ve ever faced, as well as my longings for healing. It was very much written in the depths chronic illness, not on the other side of making it through. Many, many tears flowed in the process of writing.

I served in a one-year internship at Vision of Hope, a residential facility for women. There I met Dr. Mark Shaw, and as I physically struggled to make through my internship, I expressed to him that I felt like there wasn’t much written for chronic illness sufferers.

So he suggested we should write something together. And that’s how it all began…

I personally know the deep difficulty of chronic illness, and I wrestled with how I could be one to write and provide hope of any form for others. I felt like I was barely clinging to hope myself. In my experience, just as when you help someone grieving the loss of a loved one, you have to approach chronic illness sufferers very gently. There is a lot going on. I’ve never felt so intimidated by a project and inadequate to write, and yet so reassured that it was God's timing.

Thanks to Dr. Shaw's prompting, we wrote a resource to help those battling chronic illness. It is by no means comprehensive. But we hope it will provide encouragement and hope for those who are struggling.

If you are battling chronic illness, would you be willing to read it? And if you know someone, would you share this resource with them? We want to get it into the hands of as many people as possible, praying that it would offer compassionate care and hope to those who are suffering.

Go get your booklet! :)

Coming Soon...

I’ve always loved writing. It’s been a great way for me to process and apply truth to my heart over the years, as well as an opportunity to share what I’m learning and hopefully encourage others. So I’ve had various ideas and writing projects that I’ve worked on, but for reasons beyond my control, none ever came to fruition.

In battling chronic illness, writing suddenly became tremendously difficult, and I gave up the dream of anything ever panning out from a book or resource perspective. I also doubted my ability to write at all, because I found it to be so challenging. I stopped writing and even journaling for about a year and a half.

Then, an unexpected opportunity came to help write a biblical counseling booklet for chronic illness sufferers. Battling chronic illness personally opened my eyes to the lack of resources on this topic and the importance of a compassionate and hopeful approach to those who are suffering. So you can imagine my excitement and timidity when Dr. Mark Shaw said that we should write a booklet together!

Despite hardly writing a word for months on end, the words flowed seamlessly, and I knew exactly what I wanted to share. I can only attribute this to God's grace in how He's worked in my heart and the timing of this resource. I would have never chosen to write on this topic had I not walked through it and without someone else encouraging me to do it. Thanks to the help of a wise biblical counselor and author, the last year+ of work is finally nearing the end!

Hope and Help for Chronic Illness, co-authored with Dr. Mark Shaw, will be published this year! Honestly, I'm still in shock most days that it's actually happening. Our desire is that this booklet will be an encouraging, hopeful, compassionate resource for those battling chronic illness or walking with someone through its challenges.

Stay tuned for more of the story and for booklet updates… :)