Chapter 25 - Godly Boundaries - Broadening? Or...?
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Psalm 16:5-6
Boundaries…we have been talking about them since our orientation week. They are fundamental to a godly life and eating is no exception. Eating without boundaries gets us to places we don’t want to go! Eating within the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction is a wonderful goal for us, honoring our body’s requirements and the way our amazing God has created us. Truly, this is a wonderful, pleasant boundary. No more diets! No more restriction! No more obsession! It is my hope that you are experiencing the blessing of living within God’s boundaries for your life.
This week’s video is so special to me! I am definitely eager to feature other people in the videos that we supply to encourage you on your journey. Last week, I traveled with my husband to the Chicago area where I was able to meet up with Cathy Maher, a new facilitator of Thin Within classes online. She let me twist her arm into being in this week’s video with me! Cathy is still taking sign-ups for her Workbook #1 online study, so hurry over to the sign-up page and click the link to register!

This Week’s Video:

http://youtu.be/SjSdjhJnOmw

 

There are more video questions than normal this week.  The reason for that is that Cathy is a fount of wisdom, knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. I want to be sure to “milk” our video interview for all we possibly can. If it seems like too much, then just do what you can.

Video Questions:

1.  What is Cathy’s definition of a boundary? (0:43)

2.  How do you identify with Cathy’s definition? What is the parameter that you have for yourself with regard to your eating?

3. Cathy referenced 2 Timothy 1:7 at 1:15. Look this up in your bible and evaluate the place that fear, power, love and a sound mind might have in your Thin Within journey.

4. From 1:33 to 1:45 Cathy mentions some reasons that we may have trouble with “finding” our 5 boundary lines. What are some of the reasons she describes? Are any of these possibly keeping you from “finding” 5?

5. What does Cathy suggest will make the difference for us to be able to recognize our “5?” (1:50-1:59)

6. What role does evening eating have in your difficulties with staying within the godly boundaries of 0 and 5 for your eating? What would happen if you created a secondary boundary of not eating after dinner unless you had a very insistent “0?”

7. How can using Truth Cards assist you in accepting the truth of your identity and help you no longer to break your 0 and 5 boundaries?

8. Cathy’s 0 to 5 boundary has had to shift, as she has discovered she has food sensitivities. What has helped her the most? (4:46)

9. At 5:17 Cathy speaks about her struggle with condemnation and how she has broken free from it. Can you identify with what she shares? How would adopting a personal boundary about rejecting condemning thoughts help you?

10. At 6:12 to 7:53, Cathy mentions a relatively new boundary for her regarding the scale. How can you identify with what she shares? Should you adopt a boundary relative to the bathroom scale? How might that actually serve your boundary of eating within 0 and 5? How has using the bathroom scale helped you? How has it hurt you?

11. At 8:48 to 8:55 Cathy says she had to redefine what a good evening is about, what time with her husband was about. How can you change the definition of what a good evening is for you to honor your godly eating boundaries? How can you change what it means to bond with your loved ones and friends to honor your godly eating boundaries?

12.  One of Cathy’s earliest boundaries (she has released 30 pounds so far!) was her body would belong to God. In fact, she asserts at 10:52 that it is a “necessary boundary to do this program.” If you struggle consistently with respecting your godly boundaries, perhaps this is the most fundamental boundary that you could establish that might help. What are your thoughts about this? Your fears? Your concerns?

13. Cathy shares some tips at the end of the video. The first is to “Keep it Simple.” How might you apply this tip from Cathy? The second is to “Make it Personal.” What changes could you make to approach Thin Within in a more personal way, welcoming God’s Truth to come deeply into your own heart uniquely?

14. Another tip Cathy shares is to pray for discernment and pray for a willing spirit. Can you carve this into your time with the Lord each day, to include a request for discernment and willingness?

15. Cathy’s final tip is to “Go Easy.” What are ways that you are too hard on yourself? What can you do instead? Even if you have not lost weight in a week’s time, what other changes might you take note of? (12:23)

16. At 12:34 we dialog a bit about a boundary of “What will I call progress?” This is where I refuse to use numbers or weights or sizes to evaluate our progress given that God is doing so much more in our lives than just weight/size. What are some of the things in your life that God has been doing?

Renewing the Mind – Pressing On

1. What is true about failure? Take some time to generate a list of what is TRUE about “failure” on this journey…and tell yourself the truth. If you need help with this, just ask. Failure is NOT an undertaker, but is one of the best teachers we have going!
2. If you haven’t started using Barb’s book or iTunes app yet, now is the time! Make the final 4 weeks of this class your best yet by using her material to renew your mind.

Pick One (book or workbook):

Trade Book Assignment – To Be Completed by March 10th

  • Here is the Thin Within Book Study Guide Week 9 . Feel free to discuss it at our Facebook group or here! THIS WEEK, we will have a drawing for one of Barb’s books. The comments made last week and those made this week … all names will be put in a drawing to win either Taste for Truth or I Deserve a Donut and Other Lies That Make You Eat! Comment on this blog post or any others this week or last in order to be put in the drawing. You can enter more than once, too. 🙂

Workbook Assignment – To Be Completed by March 10th.

1. Read, highlight, mark 🙂 Lesson 9,Boundaries, on pages D3 – D8 or listen to it or download it from Sound Cloud.  Discuss it here in the comments section below this post or at our Class Facebook Group.
2. Complete the exercises for Lesson 9 on pages D10 – D16. Don’t worry if you are behind. Just do what you can of this week’s material. Next Monday before the webinar, respond to the Review questions on page D17 or even better–do so at our Facebook discussion group.
3. List 10 attributes of God that have ministered the most to your heart. Have a praise fest, saying back to Him these attributes and thanking him for how they have ministered to you. Share here at the blog how this impacts you.
4. Use the entries for Day 57 through Day 63 in the Temple Tool Kit. All the tools have been introduced to you now. Remember, only use them if God leads you to do so. If you have the freedom, try a new one this week. Don’t forget that the Thin Within app includes all the Sound Cloud files, YouTube videos, and the tools!
5. Memorize 1 Corinthians 6:12. Personalize it and add it to your truth cards.
6. Join us on March 10th for our live webinar at 4:30 Pacific Time. We will be wrapping up lesson 9 on Boundaries.

How About You?

One of the things I love about Barb Raveling’s book is how she helps us to see that boundaries are really what this is all about. Will we live according to the boundaries that God has so lovingly offered us? Or will we blow through our boundaries again and again? Do you need to take time to sit with the Lord and evaluate if 0 to 5 eating (between hunger and satisfaction) is something that you are convicted are from God for you? If you know that this is your primary boundary then creating secondary boundaries to help support you in your pursuit of honoring this godly boundary seems no where near so laborious. It becomes a joy to submit to the Lord in this way!

Lesson 8’s webinar recording is available here.