helping a friend with chronic illness

It is easy to become discouraged sometimes, at at those times it is so very important to stop and count the many blessings God has given me. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by many understanding friends. When my daughter expressed a desire to try gymnastics, a friend used her birthday as an oppoturnity to give R a gift certificate for 3 trial lessons and then went the extra step in offering to pick her up and take her to the classes with her own daughter for those three weeks. Our son has joined other homeschooling families on their nature hikes since hiking isn't an option for me. And on more than one occasion I've had friends show up at my door with a crock pot or bag of fast food I hadn't been counting on, yet God has sent it just when I've been overwhelmed with the idea of cooking.

One of these same friends has called a few times to check on my laundry status and either come over to help me hang and fold 2 weeks worth of clean laundry for a family of 5, or even gone so far as to scoop up the same amount of dirty laundry into a train of laundry baskets and take it all home, returned within 48 hours, folded or on hangers and ready to be put away! Talk about going the extra mile for a friend; these ladies are such an amazing blessing!!!

If you know someone living with a chronic illness, seen or unseen, here's a great article filled with simple, practicle, every-day suggestions on helping her cope:
How to Encourage Moms with Chronic Illness