May is Arthritis Awareness Month. Please pray for someone with arthritis today.
Ribbons are often used by individuals or organizations to represent a particular cause. The color, or colors, of the ribbons show the meaning of the ribbon and the cause that is being represented. Some colors stand for more than one cause and some causes have multi-colored ribbons. There is one ribbon with a particularly wonderful meaning. The green ribbon stands for hope, courage, and faith. For many people with serious illnesses, there is little or no hope of a cure in this life. Yet, for all people there is a hope of a perfect life for all eternity. This hope is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:18-21 explains, “18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” This faith and this hope in God can give people the courage to face the difficulties that come into their lives. To me it was a lot of fun to look through all the different ribbons and see what they stand for and imagine how they would have been picked for their particular cause. To read more about ribbons and the causes they represent, check out this article at Wikipedia. Below are pictures of some ribbons that may stand for causes with which you are familiar. Perhaps one stands for the invisible illness that you have, or the illness that you know someone else is struggling with. Which ribbon or ribbons represent your cause? Is there an illness which you would like to make people more aware of? (I’m sorry if some of the colors don’t look quite right. I tried to make them look as close to the right color as possible.) Silver or White The first ribbon here represents invisible illnesses of any kind. The ribbon for this cause is usually silver or white. Zebra The second ribbon is as close to a zebra ribbon as I could get. :-) It represents rare diseases, carcinoid and neuroendocrine tumors, and Ehler’s-Danlos Syndrome. Blue A blue ribbon represents a variety of causes, including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, colon cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and arthritis. Orange An orange ribbon stands for multiple sclerosis. It can also stand for leukemia. Gray The gray ribbon represents asthma and brain cancer. It can also be used to represent diabetes, though this condition is more often represented by the blue circle, as assigned to it by the International Diabetes Foundation. Yellow A yellow ribbon is representative of bone cancer. It is also the color chosen for encouraging support for our troops. Thank God for those who fight for our freedoms and are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country. Yellow is a hopeful color as it is sometimes used to represent giving a prisoner a second chance at life. Jade Green Jade Green represents hepatitis B and liver cancer. Liver cancer can be a tenacious disease, hard to treat and often fatal. A little over a year ago, my cousin’s wife Linda began treatments for liver cancer. She was doing quite well and was to finish up chemo treatments the end of September. However, now they have found that this cancer has spread to her lungs. Please pray for Linda. You can learn more about her and how to pray for her by visiting her CaringBridge site. Burgundy Burgundy is the color chosen to raise awareness for adults with disabilities. It also represents brain aneurysms and migraines and other headache disorders. Purple Purple represents a number of different illnesses. Some of these include Lupus, fibromyalgia, Cystic Fibrosis, Alzheimers, and pancreatic cancer. Pink The pink ribbon is well known as the ribbon for breast cancer. White, clear, or pearl white A white, clear, or pearl white ribbon is used to promote awareness of lung cancer. Lavender Lavender was selected as the color for raising awareness for cancers of all kinds. The lavender ribbon also stands for epilepsy. There are many other ribbons and causes, but to cover them all would take more time and space than is available here. I hope this helps bring awareness of the wide variety of disease which affect our family, friends, and neighbors every day. If I did not represent your cause here, feel free to add a comment and let me know what your cause is and which ribbon is representative of it. Thank you for stopping by this National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Greetings to all on this lovely September day! Monday, September 12, will be the official beginning of Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness week. This blog post is dedicated to all those who deal with such an illness on a daily basis. A chronic invisible illness can be defined as any chronic illness, diagnosed or not yet diagnosed, which causes pain and suffering and interferes with daily life over a long period of time or a life time; often not noticed by others because the patient does not “look sick.” A chronic invisible illness may be hard to diagnose. Since tests often come back normal for a number of years, and it is hard to pinpoint the right test for the right diagnosis, some doctors may refuse to recognize the problem as a real illness and may say that it is self-induced or psychological. This adds to the suffering and uncertainty the individual faces because it makes it harder for that person to get proper medical care for his or her condition. Examples of chronic invisible illnesses include lupus, arthritis, gout, fibromyalgia, MS, diabetes, migraines and other headache disorders, and many more. So many people suffer from chronic invisible illnesses that there is even a ribbon to represent their cause and help develop awareness of these illnesses. The ribbon used is usually either a silver or white ribbon. A silver ribbon is also used as a general symbol for activism or awareness of a certain cause. There are many people in my life who suffer from invisible illnesses. These include children and adults. One little boy suffers terrible migraines. Another has a problem that requires him to get a shot every night. A lady I know has diabetes and a relative and a friend both have fibromyalgia. Allison has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It is not an entirely invisible illness, but it is hard to diagnose. Because of this syndrome, Allison often suffers severe pain, must make multiple trips to doctors, endure painful tests and procedures, and deal daily with the many inconveniences this illness brings. In spite of these things, Allison has allowed God to use this illness to make her a vessel through which He pours out His love and the gospel message to others. Why not visit her CaringBridge site now. You will be glad you did. If you suffer from a chronic invisible illness, and would like your link added to our “Links we follow” page, please contact us and let us know. I am not usually enthusiastic about following awareness days or awareness weeks, but I am blogging about this one because it holds a special interest to me. Many of my friends suffer from invisible illnesses, and I also have an invisible illness. In the process of trying to find information about my illness, I became a member of Arthritis Connect. It is amazing to realize that there at least 99,000 members on that site! There is so much pain in this world, and there are so many suffering people. The illnesses they have make it difficult for them to work, or to carry on a normal life, or, for some, even to get through a day. I pray that these posts will help raise awareness of how many people are hurting and in pain. May we, who know Christ, show His compassion to them and show them how great things the Lord has done for us and what great things the Lord can do for them. Those of us who know the Lord have the same struggles of pain, weakness, and fatigue as those who don’t know Jesus. But we have our hope in that one day God will change our vile body into one made like unto His glorious body. Our struggles will turn into victories, and our sorrows will turn into everlasting joy and delight. I Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Next week I will tell a little bit more about my invisible illness and include a list of things about my invisible illness that you may not know. Perhaps you would like to share some things about your own illness or just some interesting facts about yourself. :-) It would be fun to get to know some of our readers. Have a blessed day y’all! This ribbon represents hope, courage, and faith. Isaiah 41:10 gives us these comforting words, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." God is our hope, the source of our courage, and the object of our faith. |
Sour Sammy
Sour Sammy could not be good, no matter how he tried. One day his father had to discipline him for doing wrong, He asked his father why he could not be good, so his father got down the Bible and showed Sour Sammy how only Jesus could make him good. "Soon it was known all over town That Sour Sam had lost his frown -- Jesus had turned it upside down." Mom's e-book for children can be purchased by clicking on the "Buy Now" button below. Journey Into the Love of God by C. Young "This little book, written from the perspective of a young Christian lady, will take you on a fascinating journey deep into the heart of God." $3.75
God is Near Even when He Seems Far Away A short eBook with Reflections on Psalm 34. Written by C. Young $.99 Archives
October 2021
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well. Provided by Christ Notes Bible Search Looking for encouragement? Hop on over to our Encouragement blog for uplifitng Bible studies and more. Categories
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