Have you ever watched the show "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition"? It's very similar to "The Biggest Loser" except that you see one person's full year journey in each episode. Last night's episode really struck a chord with me.
It was a young father/husband (in his late twenties) who weighed 490 pounds. He struggled with extreme food addiction. And he was NOT a success story. Rather than finishing the hour seeing this amazing transformation...we finished the hour seeing him (still weighing over 400 pounds) checking himself into rehab.
My heart broke for him. I felt his shame. I felt his condemnation. I felt his fear.
No, I have never weighed over 400 pounds (nor anywhere close to that, praise the Lord). But I have struggled with food addiction. I have struggled with self-hatred and shame. I have struggled with the fear that I would forever be stuck inside a fat exterior.
But then: God introduced me to Lysa TerKeurst and brought me smack dab into the middle of her study "Made to Crave." Oh praise the Lord that He did!
You see, when I watched that show last night and saw that man's failed attempt at weight loss success...I was thrown right back to all my past failed attempts. All that emotional baggage that kept weighing me down farther than any physical weight could push me. The host of the show last night even said it. When we look at overweight people, we see the physical weight that is bogging them down. What we don't see is the emotional baggage that is weighing them down even worse.
I know that is true. And my heart breaks for every person out there struggling with this issue.
Eleven months after I heard the "Made to Crave" information, I am here to tell everyone struggling in this area that freedom IS possible. Oh how my heart rejoices when I think about the chains God has broken in my life.
Part of why my heart was so troubled watching that show last night was that I wanted that man to know what I know. There is something out there that will help him in a way no therapist or physical trainer ever can. He needs to know that in order to break through the chains of food addiction and emotional baggage...he needs God. He needs to know that we ARE made to crave: God, and not food.
Oh how I wanted to share this good news with him! There IS freedom!
I am so thankful for this journey and all that God has taught me. I know that somehow, somewhere He will allow me to use what I've learned to help someone else. Oh, and I'm not done yet by any means. I'm about halfway done on the weight loss journey...but I'm SO much farther along in the journey to freedom. I honestly can't tell you how good it feels to be free. Satan does NOT have a hold on me in this area any longer. God has opened my eyes and I pray they will never be blinded again by the schemes of the enemy. At least not where it comes to food & cravings.
Oh, and one more thing: on Lysa TerKeurst's blog today (see my link to the right) she is talking about how to know when you're traveling down the slippery slope of addiction. The first way to know is that you're doing things in secret. So true, isn't it? If we're trying to hide something, we know that's our conscience trying to clue us into the "naughtiness" of it all. Let me encourage you today: if you're doing anything in secret...share it with a friend. Get it out in the open. Give it over to God. Don't let the enemy sucker you into falling for his schemes. He's nothing but a liar. I pray we all recognize him for what he is and stop allowing ourselves to be duped.
Thanks for stopping by and hearing what's on my heart. Until next time...
It was a young father/husband (in his late twenties) who weighed 490 pounds. He struggled with extreme food addiction. And he was NOT a success story. Rather than finishing the hour seeing this amazing transformation...we finished the hour seeing him (still weighing over 400 pounds) checking himself into rehab.
My heart broke for him. I felt his shame. I felt his condemnation. I felt his fear.
No, I have never weighed over 400 pounds (nor anywhere close to that, praise the Lord). But I have struggled with food addiction. I have struggled with self-hatred and shame. I have struggled with the fear that I would forever be stuck inside a fat exterior.
But then: God introduced me to Lysa TerKeurst and brought me smack dab into the middle of her study "Made to Crave." Oh praise the Lord that He did!
You see, when I watched that show last night and saw that man's failed attempt at weight loss success...I was thrown right back to all my past failed attempts. All that emotional baggage that kept weighing me down farther than any physical weight could push me. The host of the show last night even said it. When we look at overweight people, we see the physical weight that is bogging them down. What we don't see is the emotional baggage that is weighing them down even worse.
I know that is true. And my heart breaks for every person out there struggling with this issue.
Eleven months after I heard the "Made to Crave" information, I am here to tell everyone struggling in this area that freedom IS possible. Oh how my heart rejoices when I think about the chains God has broken in my life.
Part of why my heart was so troubled watching that show last night was that I wanted that man to know what I know. There is something out there that will help him in a way no therapist or physical trainer ever can. He needs to know that in order to break through the chains of food addiction and emotional baggage...he needs God. He needs to know that we ARE made to crave: God, and not food.
Oh how I wanted to share this good news with him! There IS freedom!
I am so thankful for this journey and all that God has taught me. I know that somehow, somewhere He will allow me to use what I've learned to help someone else. Oh, and I'm not done yet by any means. I'm about halfway done on the weight loss journey...but I'm SO much farther along in the journey to freedom. I honestly can't tell you how good it feels to be free. Satan does NOT have a hold on me in this area any longer. God has opened my eyes and I pray they will never be blinded again by the schemes of the enemy. At least not where it comes to food & cravings.
Oh, and one more thing: on Lysa TerKeurst's blog today (see my link to the right) she is talking about how to know when you're traveling down the slippery slope of addiction. The first way to know is that you're doing things in secret. So true, isn't it? If we're trying to hide something, we know that's our conscience trying to clue us into the "naughtiness" of it all. Let me encourage you today: if you're doing anything in secret...share it with a friend. Get it out in the open. Give it over to God. Don't let the enemy sucker you into falling for his schemes. He's nothing but a liar. I pray we all recognize him for what he is and stop allowing ourselves to be duped.
Thanks for stopping by and hearing what's on my heart. Until next time...
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