Truth Cards 101

Truth Cards 101

One of the best tools for renewing our minds is Truth Cards! As you’ll see herein, there are many ways to do them, and no one right or best way! Thank you to all the ladies who allowed me to use their truth cards as samples to give you even more ideas than just mine!

 

I’m going to give you several options for styles of Truth Cards as well as how and where you can find content for them! You may, like me, want to do a combination of various styles, so be sure to read all of these to get ideas beyond what you might have thought of thus far!

To become more familiar with the concept, watch this video by Heidi Bylsma entitled “Truth Cards -Thin Within Support“! Have a note pad handy as she shares several of her own truth cards that you can use as ideas for making yours!

 

 

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5 CONTENT SOURCE IDEAS

 

 1) BIBLE VERSES

As you’re reading the Word, you might find a verse that, prior to now, didn’t seem like it would pertain to renewing your mind regarding food, but all of a sudden it takes on new meaning! You’ll also come across some really helpful verses in a Thin Within book, workbook, or a related resource, like Barb Raveling’s Freedom From Emotional Eating. For example:

“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

 

 2) EXCERPTS FROM BOOKS & VIDEOS

These can be from any reading you do, Thin Within or not. It can be anything that stands out to you as being TRUTH that you want to capture and go deeper in you. Or the quotes can be things you hear in a video, such as the ones Heidi and Christina provide.

“I really can choose to put to death the deeds of the flesh and say no to ________.  … I am free to offer my body to God for righteousness.” (from Thin Within, page 140)

 

 3) QUESTIONS FROM BOOKS

Barb Raveling’s books typically have many questions. These are to help us process the material for ourselves. Heidi has turned several of these into truth cards! For example:

“What will happen if you continue to reward yourself with food whenever you accomplish something?” (from “Reward Eating” in I Deserve a Donut by Barb Raveling)

 

 4) TRUTHS & TRUTH SAYINGS

These can be any truths or sayings you hear in passing, reading through posts in a Thin Within group or elsewhere on social media, or something God drops into your heart that you want to be sure to keep. It can be something profound, funny, or just helpful. For example, I found several in A Taste For Truth a 30-day study by Barb Raveling. I also turned something Heidi said into a photo truth card:

 

 

 5) YOUR OWN “BEFORE” PICTURE

Heidi wrote under hers: “Life without boundaries; do you really want to go there?” (So we aren’t out to disdain ourselves!) Here’s mine using her idea:

 

If you are on the Thin Within journey and are using even just one or two of their many resources, most of the above content opportunities are coming at ~ splashing on ~ you all the time! Grab ones you like and get them onto Truth Cards so that you’ll have these life-changing, heart-transforming, mind-renewing truths in a format you can refer back to and get imbedded in your mind and heart! They will actually become part of your spiritual DNA!

 

 

5 TRUTH CARD STYLES

 

There are several methods for making Truth Cards, and I enjoying using all of them! But if you want to stick with just one that you’re comfortable with, that’s totally fine!

Most start with a simple pack of spiral-bound index cards. The ones I got are 4X6″ and have lines on one side. I’m currently using the plain side to make mine. I’ll eventually hand-write on the lined side. Here’s the card pack I’m using:

There are other ways to do them (as you’ll see in a moment), but having them spiral-bound keeps them all in one place, making it easy to go through them.

In the Thin Within Discussion and Support group, people have posted lots of Truth Cards that they have made! (I’ll tell you at the end of this post how to easily find them!) I’m sharing a few of those truth cards herein so that you can see the variety of styles right here in one spot.

You can do them on your computer or totally free-hand; you can decorate them or just leave them plain! Here are several style options with samples of each.

 

 1) HAND-WRITTEN – PLAIN ‘N’ SIMPLE

You can write or print your cards freehand, in your own simple handwriting or fancy-schmancy calligraphy.

 

Judith Eastham made these two:

 

Jodi Ghere did her truth cards lengthwise:

(Start at the bottom and read upward! The word “grace” ends up covering you, with “the law” being under grace!)

 

 2) CREATE ON YOUR COMPUTER

For those who are computer-savvy, creating them this way is fun and handy! You’ll want to create a template, test it out, and adjust font sizes and margins to make sure your cards fit whatever cards you’ll be putting them onto. (I have a free printable for you further down!)

Here’s one I made using a photo I took and combining a verse with a truth:

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Barbi Oakley Curtis created these three Truth Cards on her computer:

 

 

Kathryn Felts printed and then cut out the verse, glued it on to a card…

…and then cut out pictures (nostalgically appealing to all of us paper doll lovers of yesteryear!) that go sweetly with the verse, and glued them on around the verse.

 

Here’s one I made; how I decorated it is in #4 in the “Scrapbookesque” section below.

 

 

 3) HAND-WRITTEN & DECORATED 

Those who enjoy doodling, crafting, and cut-and-pasting (literally, like with actual glue) can embellish their Truth Cards with papers, fancy fonts and/or pictures they get from magazines, newspapers, etc.

 

Amy Flink made this one:

 

This was made by Kathryn Felts:

 

Deanna Lewis hand-printed this and added a strip of designer paper on the left:

 

 4) SCRAPBOOKESQUE

I type up my truths on my computer, and then format them into the size that fits onto whatever page I want it to go in. (I only had to format once, after that I just enter my truth sayings, and then resize the font to fit into that template.) Then I print them from my computer, and create mini scrapbook-like pages with using scrapbooking supplies I have on hand.

 

I used corner punches, designer papers, and a die for the scallops.

(This one above is a different size/shape from the free printable that I’ll give you shortly.) 

 

Cynthia Sullivan gathered scriptures she found in magazines and that people gave her, cut them out, and glued them onto index cards:

 

Marge Purvis’ sister had these made for her, with her name inserted into the verses!

 

(If I got any truth card credits wrong, or missed you, pleeeease let me know!)

 

 5) FLIP CALENDAR ALTERING:

Christina Motley suggested getting a flip calendar (old or new) and choosing verses from it that would work as Truth Cards. I loooove Thomas Kinkade’s art, so here is the Thomas Kinkade flip calendar I got:

 

For example, here’s one of the inside pages…

 

To transform it into a Truth Card, rip it out of the calendar, trim it, and glue it to a card in your card pack. Fast and simple! And it fit perfectly on the 4″X6″ card!

 

[OCD WARNING!!!]  I didn’t like having the date on there, out of context, so I covered it with a little punched-out piece that I wrote a related mini prayer on:

(You could just as easily write on a rectangular piece.)

 

 

 MORE TRUTH CARD IDEAS!

 

First, here’s that FREE PRINTABLE! 24 Truth Cards that I created. 20 of them are just text, the last 4 are photos + text on the photos. Here are screenshots of them:

 

 

 

 

You are welcome to decorate them any way you like! Or just use these for ideas to hand-print your own! Here are the downloadable files:

 

24 Truth Cards (Word file / EDITABLE)

24 Truth Cards (PDF / NOT EDITABLE)

 

There are many ideas in the Thin Within Discussion & Support group!!! Amy Flink and Cathy Maher posted hundreds of pictures of their own Truth Cards! (Thank you, ladies!!!)

You will not necessarily print these out and use them (though you could), but this is a treasure trove of truth card statement ideas!!! Plus you can get ideas for how to decorate them, if that doesn’t come naturally to you! Here’s what they look like, once you get to that area:

 

 

HOW TO FIND THEM

Go to the Thin Within Discussion & Support group, click “join” if you aren’t a member, once you are (a member), click on “Photos” and scroll down to 2014. They’re easy to spot, as many of them are lumped together, as above!

Here’s how it looks on my computer. You can see “Photos” in the column on the left side.

 

Here’s the same page on my phone ~ “Photos” is circled in red. (File locations vary on different phones, but at least you have two ideas of where to look.)

 

Once you’re in Photos, scroll all the way down to the bottom, January 2014, and they’ll be nearby. Scrolling up…  and up…  and up…  you’ll find LOTS of Truth Card ideas!

 

 

 

I’d love to see any Truth Cards YOU create!

 

 

Change Your Thinking With Truth Cards

Image Source: iStockPhoto

Image Source: iStockPhoto

I hope this video is helpful for some of you who are wondering about how to set up your own truth cards.

How about you? Do you have plans to design your own Truth Cards? Do you already use Truth Cards? What are some of the TRUTHS that you have on your cards? Share here so others can get ideas! How do you use them?

Truth-Telling about Peppermint Mochas

Truth-Telling about Peppermint Mochas

I have become quite a fan of specialty coffee! Peppermint mochas, in particular. Iced or hot, both are at the very top of my list of “Ways to Pamper Myself.” Massages, manicures, facials, and pedicures are also on that list, too! I’m not sure which would be #1 – they are all favorites!

The Dutch Bros. barista had written “Happy Birthday” backwards with caramel syrup on the under side of the clear dome top!

(As you can see, I’m feeling pretty pampered!)

 

But as I look in the mirror – yes, lovingly and gently, yet honestly – and see my excess weight, my guess is that 20% of it has come from peppermint mochas.

(As an aside, I’d say another 20% has come from “just one more bite”!  …  Another 5% from Thanksgiving dinners. …  Another 3% from cookie dough.  …  Another 10% from “seconds”… and on and on…)

Not every peppermint mocha has been problematic – only ones I imbibed outside of my 0-5 boundaries. But that’s most of them because, for a long time, I somehow (foolishly) thought that, just because they were liquid, they didn’t count!

So the Lord has been speaking to me recently about my relationship with peppermint mochas. OK, He’s been trying to speak to me about this for a long time, but I have not wanted to listen.

Our youngest daughter, Carlianne, and I at Starbucks! (As you can see, I am an equal opportunity peppermint mocha lover!)


When Christina Motley shared in one of her porch chats what the Lord spoke to her about her mother’s Chocolate Chip Bundt cake and all things chocolate chip, I knew it was time to listen to Him on this matter.

In Fresh Wind Fresh Desire, author Heidi Bylsma-Epperson talks about “lies,”  “little-T truths,” and “big-T truths.” We all believe many lies and little-T truths that have completely messed up our thinking. Lies like “I’m doomed to be overweight forever because I simply cannot get control of my eating.”

This lie is actually interlaced with a “little-t truth” because this may very well be your experience thus far. However it’s a LIE that you are doomed to stay this way forever because God’s Big-T Truth is that “In Christ Jesus, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”  

Because our wrong thinking messes up our minds and keeps us bound to frustration, failure, and hopelessness, these lies and little-t truths must be exposed and recognized as being exactly what they are.

 

They cannot be allowed to stay locked into our belief system; no longer our “bottom line.” They must be replaced with God’s big-T truths! And this is what we call “renewing our mind.” We truly will be transformed by the renewing of our mind!

Heidi and Christina talk about making Truth Lists. In this article called Truth Lists for the Real-Life Journey I compiled several of the Truth Lists they have shared. And Christina’s truth list about chocolate chips is included in that article!

So I thought maybe I should do some serious truth journaling regarding my problematic peppermint mochas. Thinking there probably wasn’t really all that much to say about it, I decided to give it a try anyway. It’d just be a short but sweet exercise at best. But I was surprised at what poured out. (Pardon the pun!)

So let’s get going!

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas make me feel special and valuable.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  I am just as special and valuable without one.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas are a tasty way of pampering myself, and I looooove being pampered.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Yes, but frequent  pampering of myself does not need to be such a main goal of my life! As a follower of Christ, I am called to a life of self-denial. Not a life of continual pampering. I need to allow the Holy Spirit to comfort my spirit and nourish my soul so that I do not have such a great need to be pampered. I need to imbibe more in the Living Water: “The Lord lets me drink from His rivers of delight.”

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas make a plain, regular occasion – like driving somewhere – feel fun and special. They “spice it up.”

🤩 Big-T Truth:  They do do this, but not without me paying a high price:  like taking me outside of my 0-5 boundaries, which I believe the Lord has set for me, and which I need to follow whether I feel like it at the moment or not. I also believe that God has “made my boundaries to fall in pleasant places.” So I need to find fun and specialness INside my boundaries and OUTside of a peppermint mocha.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  Peppermint mochas taste delicious, feel good going down, and are a fluid form of entertainment that lasts a while.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  True, but I pay a high price for this “entertainment”; it is not a form of entertainment that blesses my body if I have one when I am not at a zero, and/or drink too much of it. (beyond 5) Just because they are delicious and feel good going down doesn’t mean I need to indulge myself in that way every time I want to do so. They are part of what has gotten me too close to becoming pre-diabetic. (Which I have actually crossed over into a couple of times, but come back out.)

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  If I am at a coffee shop getting gift cards for people, I feel like I deserve to get one of these to as a reward for myself for buying them for others!

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Unless I have planned to be – and am – at a zero and it’s a good time to have one, I need to just focus on getting a gift for others – not for myself.

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  When it’s hot outside, an iced peppermint mocha is a cool and refreshing way to cool off.

🤩 Big-T Truth:  Other beverages or treats are also cool and refreshing and without such a high caloric content – unless I am truly at a zero and only drink up to a 5 (max).

 


 

🤨 Little-t Truth:  When it’s cold outside, a hot peppermint mocha is warm, soothing, and cozy.   

🤩 Big-T Truth:  There are other drinks and activities that are warm, soothing, and cozy as well. Like spending time with the Lord! HE is the ultimate in warm (Jesus’ warm love), soothing (the Holy Spirit’s soothing presence), and cozy (“giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, relaxation and intimacy” – which is exactly what our Daddy-God longs to give us!

 

 


 

So does all this mean I don’t get to enjoy my favorite beverage anymore? Nope! It just means I need to be going to the Lord more regularly to get what I really need, what I’ve tried too often to get from my froo-froo drinks.

And then when I do have one, it needs to be within the parameters of my 0-5 eating boundaries. I have actually done this a few times now, and I have to tell you I enjoy my beverage sooooooo muuuuuch mooooore! Because it’s not only giving me enjoyment tastebud-wise, but, because I’m actually hungry, it tastes even better than normal.

Plus I’m staying true to myself and to my Lord ~ and nothing tastes better than that!!! As Heidi says:

 

“No food tastes as good as obedience feels!” 

Not even a peppermint mocha!

 

 


 

 

Truth Lists for the Real-Life Journey

Truth Lists for the Real-Life Journey

If you’ve been connected with Thin Within for longer than ten minutes, you’ve heard Heidi and Christina talk about Truth Lists.

These can help you get a breakthrough in an area of your life that is currently tripping you up, keeping you bound, or bringing you confusion or downright misery.

 

A Truth List is an excellent tool for renewing your mind. In fact, I’d call it “mind renewing on steroids”! Or a “fast-track to a sound mind” in an area you know you’re not sound in! It can really pack a punch to any wrong thinking that’s currently holding you captive, ineffective, or stymied in a certain area.

There is no one best or right way to do a Truth List. You just want it to include truths that will help you view a real-life situation the way God views it — which is the only right way, because God’s way is the only way that will bring healing and wholeness! Nothing else can or will free us from our wrong thinking — thinking that can derail us, spiral us downward into sadness or depression, or take us in a wrong direction. 

How to make one? Where to start? … Just with something anything that is currently bothering you, keeping you from walking in victory, joy, or freedom, or something that continually nags at you, robbing you of peace.

As you will see below, each Truth List is completely different. None of them followed any rules. Each has its own style and focus. Some are long, some are short.

Some were shared in our small coaching group, where I gathered them for this article, and one of them I transcribed from a porch chat by Christina.

I share these with you today in hopes that they will open up for you the wonderful world of creating a Truth List for a real-life aspect of your journey!

 

 


Truth List about My Weakened Physical Condition

by Heidi

 

What is true:  I am not my activity level. I am not my energy level.

However, God’s truth about this is that…

🌷 I am a child of the king no matter what my energy level.

🌷 I am a princess bride.*

🌷 No matter how I feel physically, I am part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a person who belongs to God.

🌷 No matter what condition my body is in, I have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light to declare his praises…

🌷 And that is who I am most fundamentally. No matter how I feel physically or what infection I may be fighting or what blood clot is in my body, if any, I have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ.

🌷 No matter what I look like or how emaciated my body may be, no matter how little muscle or how weak I am physically, I am the temple of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

*And, speaking of “princess bride,” I have a special treat for you!! Here is the beautiful Princess-Bride Heidi herself on her Wedding Day, with several of her Thin Within sisters! (From left to right:  Emily Felts (featured in the next section), me / Barb Shelton, Christina Motley, Heidi Bylsma Epperson, Judy Halliday (founder of Thin Within!), Jan Tabrizi, and Karon Ruiz)

 

And here are Heidi and her handsome Prince-Groom, Michael Epperson! (Wedding Day: June 29,2019)  Michael MADE the chocolate cake, which was amaaaazing!!!

 

 


Truth List about Restoration and Freedom

by Heidi, Emily, and Bridget

 

Heidi asked our small coaching group: “Please share the truths you have added (or could add) to your truth cards or truth list from Hunger Within chapter 2.”

The first ones with the pink flowers 🌸 are by Heidi; the next ones with the white flowers 🌼 are from Emily; and the last ones with the sunflowers 🌻 are from Bridget. Thank you, ladies, for sharing your contributions!

 

Heidi:

🌸 I CAN be healed and restored through God’s power.

🌸 I CAN be set free from disordered eating.

🌸 In my attempts to “manage” or “control” the impact food and eating has on me, I create entanglements that enslave me even more!

🌸 Fixed formulas of restraint and a constant fear of failing will never work.

🌸 Any formula that prevents failure also prevents freedom!

🌸 I need to develop new and appropriate coping techniques to replace the disordered behaviors of my past.

🌸 It is entirely possible that all of the changes that need to be made are so threatening to me that I will be tempted to back away from having my grave clothes unwrapped and keep the grave clothes bound around me. I may even want to flee back into the tomb and pull the stone over the entrance.

 

Emily Felts:

🌼 As I accept the challenge of freedom and resolve the pain hidden beneath my eating, I am free to enjoy a peaceful relationship with food and my body.

🌼 God’s gift to me is resurrection — restoration and recovery.

🌼 Recovery from disordered eating is not only possible; it is what God intends.

🌼 Today I present myself to Jesus, ready to have my grave clothes removed: to give voice to my hunger within, and — in His presence — to listen to myself, body, mind, and soul.

🌼 God is in control of this process and he will comfort and sustain me.  (from page 62)

🌼 My security and significance come from experiencing an intimate relationship with God.

🌼 An intimate relationship with God begins as I believe I can be restored and that God accepts me as I am, with all my flaws and frailties.

 

Bridget:

🌻 God’s restoration work is far more wonderful than the temporary relief of our weight problems.  (from page 47)

🌻 By eating low fat and living by rules, I’ve created entanglements that enslave me even more. Hunger within is still active and rules will not kill it. Rules will not bury it because it’s not dead. It is very much alive.

🌻 Food rules and restrictions will not set me free.

🌻 Losing weight will not change my life.

🌻 Diets promise freedom and deliverance but don’t deliver it.  (from page 46)

🌻 As He did for Lazarus, Jesus waited to help me:

  1. so that I’d be ready to hear and obey;
  2. because He knows that as sick and desperate as I am, this will not end in death; and 
  3. that HE will be glorified in this deliverance and restoration.

 

 

 


Truth/Gratefulness List about my Teenage Daughter

by Christina

 

Those of you who have, or have had, teenage daughters know that it can be extremely challenging at times to communicate with and deal with some of the issues,  communication challenges, and struggles that they have as they are growing up.

When I was having a particularly difficult season with her, I decided I needed to come up with a truth list, but I also needed to practice gratitude for her, so I incorporated gratitude into it. So whenever we were together and I was having a hard time, those thoughts of gratitude would came up in my mind and my heart and renew my mind about her.

I also want to invite God into the situation of parenting a teenager. So, for example, I might have a prayer time where I am focusing on just gratitude for her.

🌻 Lord, I am so thankful that she and I can get together and talk.

🌻 I am so thankful that she still opens up to me and tells me secret things, and confides in me.

🌻 I’m thankful that she confides in me about her friends and relationships.

🌻 Lord, I am so thankful for the times that she and I laugh together! We get silly and laugh and roll on the floor and giggle and have such a good time!

🌻 Lord, I am so thankful for my snuggle times with her! Even though, she sometimes pushes me away, as teenagers do, we still get on the couch and watch a favorite show together and snuggle.

🌻 Thank you so much that she and I go on coffee dates together. She loves that, and it draws her back to me. It’s a little something I can do for her.

🌻 Lord, thank you for my daughter. She is creative. She is smart. She is funny. She is passionate. She is a good friend to others. And I am grateful for all her good qualities right now.

 

 


Truth List Regarding Insecurity and Inadequacy

by Christina

 

This truth list is written in the form of a paragraph rather than a list, but it’s all the same truth. And I have been praying through it often lately! I am hoping that God will use it in some way with one of you!

I am really struggling with insecurity and inadequacy. I have just prayed through the insecurity questions in Barb Raveling’s book, I Deserve a Donut, and she is right. God’s view of me is so completely different than my view of myself! And what does the world see? “Oh… she has a lot going on but she can handle it.” And there is a part of me that fears that the people out there beyond my family are thinking “She doesn’t have time for me.  …  She doesn’t care about me.  …  I am not important to her.”

I have been trying so hard to take care of everything and everyone, and there is just not enough of me to go around. I am not strong enough, not healthy enough, not wise enough, and there is just not enough time to do it all. I have been giving myself no margin to just rest and be.

Even my rest times have been busy, taken quickly in the living room and working on things while laying down.

God hasn’t called me to be everything to everyone. God hasn’t called me to be perfect. God hasn’t called me to live and breathe in my own strength. God hasn’t called me to figure it all out or know all the answers…

God has called me to be His. To let Him. To submit to Him. To rest in Him. To trust Him. To surrender to Him. To let Him be my strength. To invite Him into everything, and I mean everything.

God has called me to lay down my weapons, to stop striving and to let Him lead me, even carry me at times. God has called me to give Him my heart. But there is peace in surrender. Sweet, pure, perfect and supernatural peace. And that is what I am desperately longing for.

 

 

 


Truth List about Having an Illness

by Christina

 

Here is the Truth List that Jesus and I put together a while back about one of my biggest challenges — my illness. You can easily change it up to fit your own needs. Hope this helps and encourages you in some way!

🌳 Jesus is my healer.

🌳 Jesus is healing me.

🌳 Jesus is in full control of the Lyme Disease treatment process.

🌳 Jesus knows and sees what I am going through… every symptom, its severity, its duration, and how I am limited because of it.

🌳 Jesus knows that the way I feel physically is very closely connected to the way I feel emotionally and spiritually.

🌳 Jesus sees and understands what I am grieving as a result of Lyme Disease. He grieves with me.

🌳 Jesus has not forgotten me.

🌳 Jesus is not confused or tired or absent or busy with other things.

🌳 Jesus hears and answers every prayer that is said for me by myself or someone else.

🌳 Jesus is in control of the timing of this journey and His timing is always perfect.

🌳 Jesus is using this trial for His own perfect plans and purposes in my life, and in my family and friends’ lives.

🌳 Jesus is strong in my weakness.

🌳 Jesus will provide what is needed for whatever He is asking of me.

🌳 Jesus is my Savior… not people, not food, not distraction, not what I can do or accomplish.

🌳 Jesus calls me to surrender to Him every moment of every day in the midst of this challenging journey.

🌳 Jesus calls me to love Him with my whole heart and to let Him order and arrange and prioritize my days.

🌳 Jesus will complete the work that He is doing in me.

🌳 Jesus is protecting me daily from much, much worse.

🌳 Jesus is doing a work in my heart.

🌳 Jesus will cause everything about this journey to work together for my good and the good of those I love.

🌳 Jesus is mine and I am His.

🌳 Jesus has chosen me to be His beloved girl, redeemed and washed clean and radiant in His sight.

🌳 Jesus does absolutely nothing outside of His boundless love and relentless grace for me.

🌳 Jesus will never fail me.

🌳 Jesus is with me.

🌳 Jesus has me.

 

 

 


Truth List about Eating with my Family:

by Christina

 

🍔 Eating with my family is a precious gift from God.

🍔 My family includes three fun, silly, interesting teenagers and I love the stories that are shared at the table!

🍔 In a few years we will have an empty nest and I will miss family dinners.

🍔 Truly celebrating and enjoying family dinners has nothing to do with eating too much food.

🍔 Eating God’s way at dinner honors God and the precious gift he has given me in my family.

🍔 Being the last one to take a first bite ensures that I am being a servant of my family.

🍔 When I take even smaller portions, eat at a ridiculously slow pace, choose water as a beverage and listen to my body I am surrendering to God’s way of eating and that feels GOOD.

🍔 True freedom is being able to say “That’s just enough.”

🍔 God’s way is always best for me!

 

 

 


Truth List about Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake & Anything Chocolate Chip:

by Christina

 

This has to do with emotional attachment to a food. There is a certain cake in our family that is very very important. Why? What’s the big deal?

Well, growing up, my mom was not a cook or a baker, and so she had just a couple of recipes that were very special. She needed some kind of go-to for potlucks, birthdays, and special events. She had one cake that she made my entire childhood – a Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake. It’s really easy to make, and it’s absolutely delicious!

That means every birthday, every gathering with others we loved and cared for, every church potluck, every time people came to visit, we had that cake! It was also special to me because my mom would involve my brother and I while she made it! And it would be a big deal… we would put in the eggs, and mix the batter, and make sure to alternate the flour and the sour cream…  it was like an art on how to make this ONE special cake! And then we got to lick the bowl – who gets the spoon and the beaters? So you can imagine how special this cake was in our family!

Several years ago, my mom wasn’t able to make it anymore because of the Alzheimer’s Disease. But still do! I can make it in my sleep. I can whip it up in 10 minutes and have it in the oven. I try to make it often, and not just for special occasions. I also make it for my parents because it’s special to them.

(Here’s Maddie — center — with one of these cakes for her birthday! That’s Christina’s mom, Silke, on the left, and Christina on the right!)

So you can imagine how emotionally attached I am to this cake! And how impossible it seems to eat 0-5 with it. When I make the batter, I just want to eat the whoooole thing!

For years I didn’t really understand why! I thought: What is the big deal?!?!? Why do I have NO self control whatsoever with this one food? It’s a go-to for me, if I’m feeling very sad, or very angry, or upset…  or celebratory!

And everything chocolate chip has become a go-to for me because of that cake: chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip granola bars and scones, chocolate chips in yogurt, ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate chip mint ice cream, and shakes…

One day the Lord and I sat down together and we did some journaling. Well, *I* did the writing, and I tried to listen while He talked. I asked:

“Lord, I want to understand! I don’t want this to master me! Will You help me? Show me what’s going on here? And show me what is true from Your perspective so that I can make and enjoy this cake! And not eat to an 8 every time I do, and then I feel awful!”

So first, He showed me why I have this very strong emotional attachment to anything chocolate chip. (All the above that I’ve shared.)

And here is my very short Truth List about Chocolate Chip Cake: Only three truths, but it’s enough; it’s power-packed and it’s enough to help me each time I’m getting ready to bake it or eat it, or anything chocolate chip…

🍪 Chocolate chips do not own me; they remind me of love and nurturing from my mom and Omama.

🍪 I am not mastered by anything chocolate chip. I’m not! It’s just food! I’m NOT!

🍪 Chocolate chip foods do not provide comfort, love, nurturing, energy, or healing. They don’t! They don’t provide ANY of that!

 

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

 

As a special treat (quite literally), I thought it would be fun to see Christina’s Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake recipe itself! And she graciously consented to allowing me to include it right here! She doesn’t need it herself as she has it memorized and can make it in her sleep! But she wrote this one for a friend and had her get a picture of it just for this blog post! (Yes, she is that wonderful!)

 

And it looks like it is well used! Hopefully the Truth Lists in this article will be, too!

(Be sure to use Christina’s last Truth List if you make this recipe or anything chocolate chip, if this is a challenge for you as well!)

 


 

Thank you, Christina and Heidi for your candid contributions to this blog post!

And blessings on you, our dear reader and fellow sojourner, and on your process of using any/all of the above Truth Lists, as well as coming up with your own! – which we would love to see! Please feel free to share in a comment!

 


 

 

The Exciting Truth! – My Body is God’s Temple – Lesson 2 TW Class 2014

The Exciting Truth! – My Body is God’s Temple – Lesson 2 TW Class 2014

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

God is doing a new thing! Yesterday’s wrap-up webinar on Lesson 1 is here as a downloadable audio file. Group study questions to follow. 🙂

The Thin Within app is available in the iTunes store! If you like it, please write a review. If you don’t like it…well…it’s FREE. 🙂 Please be kind.

Has your sense of this truth  been cultivated this past week–as never before? I hope so!

Are you renewing your mind with the truths gleaned from the class Facebook page, the lessons, the Sound Cloud or YouTube files available for you? The blog has boatloads of information for you, too.

Onward we go to plunge deeply into one of the most amazing truths that is found on the pages of Scripture–that you are God’s chosen dwelling place on this planet.

I share a bit about that in this video:

Video Questions:

1. Can you identify with the lie that I mention is common (00:43)? How so?

2.  What was the price that God paid for you to be his dwelling place?

3. What are three truths about you from this video that you can renew your mind with this week?

4. How might really believing that your body is God’s temple now affect you?

5. What is the significance of the fact that my body is not my own? (5:30)

6. What is a fundamental belief (actually a lie) that we tend to hold? (6:39)

7. How can you, practically speaking, renew your mind?

8. Consider adding some of the truths in this video to your deck of truth cards as mentioned in 09:10. Which ones will you add to your deck?

9. How will you use your truth cards this week? (What times of day, how many cards, etc.)

10. What are the 5 truths that summarize (12:00) the video?

Renewing the Mind – Pressing On

Last week, we began the process of renewing our minds. Romans 12:2 tells us we are transformed not by gritting our teeth and eating between physical hunger and physical satisfaction. That is all well and good, but if that is all we do, we will revert to old behaviors when the first trial or stressful situation hits.

Instead, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. I mentioned in Lesson 1’s video that we would be going through the workbook this time with a different focus. I hope you have been using Barb Raveling’s book, I Deserve A Donut and Other Lies That Make You Eat or the iTunes app by the same name.  These resources, though optional, are indispensable. If you don’t have it yet, please get the workbook kit, Rebuilding God’s Temple.

Trade Book Assignment – To Be Completed by January 20th

Again, from the deep dark recesses of my hard drive 🙂 , I bring to you this week’s Thin Within Book Study Guide (Lesson 2) for those unable to get a workbook.

Workbook Assignment – To Be Completed by January 20th

1. Read, highlight, mark Lesson 2 on pages B18 – B22 or listen to the audio file of Lesson 2 at  Sound CloudDiscuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Private Facebook Group Page.

2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 2 on pages B24-B28. Use your discretion about the optional exercises on pages B29-B30.

3. Continue to add to your “God List.” Here is a sample beginning of a God List. Here is a video about it if you have some extra time (I did share the link last week here and on the FB page):

4.  Use your God List to have a “Praise Fest” or “Praise Feast.” Find out more about that here. You can find a playlist of PraiseFests here.

5.  Use the entries for Day 7 through Day 14 in the Temple Toolkit. You can use it to write your praise-fest down or to write down the attributes of God that you are aware of that day. Some people prefer to use their journals instead of the Temple Toolkit. That’s fine, too, of course!

6. Have a look at this file: Renew Mind – Class Affirmations These are a list of some of the things our class members have said…TRUTHS that they are using to replace lies they have been believing for far too long. You can write these and other things like them on your spiral bound set of index cards. (I hope you have gotten some index cards by now and are using them!)

7. Continue to eat when you are hungry. Select any food you desire. Some of you are ready to begin to discern which foods make you feel energized! That’s great! We consider those “Whole Body  Pleasers” and we will talk more about those later. If you know your body feels best when you eat beneficial foods, then enjoy!

8. This week, try to hone in on what a “5” is for you. If the entire hunger scale thing feels too complicated or difficult or confusing, please just use this simple test: Hungry? Not hungry? Eat when the answer to the first quest is yes and stop eating (or don’t start) when the answer to the second question is yes. This may simplify it enough to make it doable.

9. Interact here in the comments or at the Facebook group. I would love to hear what God is doing in your life. What new thing are you seeing in your life emotionally, spiritually, or physically? Won’t you give God glory and share it with us?

How About You?

How did the first week of our journey go for you? What is God impressing upon your heart?  What questions do you have at this point? How can we best serve and encourage you?