This morning, I am studying Jesus’ own words in John 6: “Truly Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (verse 53)
Woah…Can you imagine the response of the Jews listening to Him? They clearly thought Jesus was speaking of literal cannibalism. Jews took very special care in what they ate, so this would have been reprehensible to them.
They got it wrong. But they responded assuming they had it right…Verse 66 tells us: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.”
Jesus required the impossible (or so it seemed) of His followers. But where there seems to be no way, he makes a way. He is the WayMaker. I need to remember that.
This morning as I paused with Him about this requirement to take in His flesh and His blood in order to truly have life, I asked Him what it means to me personally, today. He laid on my heart that it means that I will “make room” in my “stomach” — my LIFE — for him in ways that are foreign to me and also common place, perhaps.
As insignificant as it may sound, I instantly knew he was asking me to surrender the last few bites of my “typical” breakfast. Probably a 3rd of my breakfast.
It isn’t about the food…it is about my heart. My heart wanted to react and say “NO! It is *only* a few bites! Surely that doesn’t matter to the Lord!”
Right. The food doesn’t matter to the Lord. My heart DOES. If I sense His leadership and minimize the importance of his call and turn my tail…THAT is the sin…not the food. I am adding another layer of callus to my heart.
I have a stronghold (heart) problem. Not an eating problem. Take care of the heart issue and the eating will follow.
Lord Jesus, thank you that you moved in my heart today to read a difficult passage. You call us to the IMPOSSIBLE. To “eat your flesh and drink your blood.” Lord, I know that this means dying to myself in the moment…and saying yes to you … in the moment…no matter what you are calling me to do. The little “insignificant” requests you make of me are not little and they are not insignificant. Help me not to miss that you are doing a deeper heart work…In your majestic mighty Name, Amen.
How About You?
Do you sense the Lord inviting you to “make room” in some way in your life for more of Him? To be able to really take him in…to feast on him, we have to make room for Him. What will that look like for you today? Feel free to share it with us.
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 frequentpampering 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:
This morning I read from Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” Not only does He satisfy, He blesses us as well.
This does not come effortlessly. It is so easy to get busy and slack on reading God’s Word. It is worth the effort, and the benefits are many! Here are just a few:
1. WE WILL BE FILLED WITH GOOD THINGS – Luke 1:53 tells us: “He has filled the hungry with good things.”
2. APPETITE CORRECTION – The more we feast on God and His Word, the less we want to feast on physical food. When we are truly hungry we will know it is time to eat physical food.
[I, Barb Shelton, am stepping in with a few additional thoughts…]
3. PEACE – There’s not one of us who does not want a feast of peace! But, sadly, most of us lack it because we are looking for it in all the wrong places. Nothing in this world is stable except for the Lord God himself, so that is where our focus needs to be – on Him: “You will keep in perfect peace (s)he whose mind is stayed on You, because (s)he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3) Our trust needs to be in God alone; not in our government, not in our financial situation, not in our job, not in our home or our stuff, not in our marriage or children. In God. Alone.
4. CONTENTMENT & SATISFACTION – Psalm 17:15, one of my all-time favorite verses, says it all: “But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing You and knowing all is well between us. And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see You face-to-face.”
5. FRUITFULNESS – So often we, as Christians, strive to be fruitful and productive, forgetting that God abiding in us is what that fruitfulness actually comes out of. In John 15:5 we read: “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
6. MORE JESUS-LIKE – In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read: “But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” So the main thing we need to do is to allow Him to work in us, and not wiggle away when it gets uncomfortable.
7. JOY – Too often the next thing I get to eat is my highest joy for the moment. Psalm 16:5 corrects my thinking by changing my focus to being on God: “The Lord Himself is my inheritance, my prize. He is my food and drink, my highest joy! He guards all that is mine.”
[Back to Marge now!]
8. POWER – This verse – I Corinthians 10:31 – challenged me to make some serious goals for many areas of my life: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all for the glory of God.” I cannot attain my goals on my own. But His Word is powerful! Victory comes by tapping into His power and ability to do for me and through me what I cannot do for myself.
The way to access this “feast” is prayer. Prayer is such an important part of our journey. As I said above, it’s so easy to get busy and slack on reading God’s Word. Jesus was a great example to us of what we should do during our busy times. He had a very busy life, preaching, teaching, healing, and all He did while here on earth, but still He would sneak away to talk to His Heavenly Father.
He had a special place, The Mount of Olives. Not that He didn’t commune with His Father in other places, but that was one special place that His followers knew that He went to pray. Why do you think that Judas knew where to find Jesus on that fateful day? Because He was at His special prayer place.
Do you have a special place that you get away and talk to your Heavenly Father? Find a spot or spots.I have a couple. Take the time to really be honest with Him and fellowship with Him. God doesn’t answer prayer not prayed.
In the small coaching group that Barb Shelton and I are both part of, Heidi posted the following questions:
In the past, when you have committed to letting go of extra weight and keeping it off, what has been your largest hindrance? … What do you think you can do to overcome this hindrance?”
Barb responded:
My biggest hindrance is staying focused and consistent, and therefore retaining the ground I have gained and keeping off the weight I have lost. I need to fully recognize and admit my weakness and my extreme need to stay focused and be consistent!”
Here is my – Kelly’s – response to Barb, and I hope it will minister to any of you who might be feeling discouraged…
I have two kiddos that play piano. My Rachel played for awhile, left piano to play violin, and then came back to piano.
Jacob, my youngest, has played since he was too little to reach the pedals.
Rachel practices with great passion and consistency. This has resulted in her racing right past her brother in terms of growth into harder pieces. She’s not scared off by the “hard.” In fact, she sees it as a challenge and goes for it!
Jacob, on the other hand, gets more and more discouraged as the music gets harder. He avoids practicing, he cries, he takes twice as long to learn a piece than he used to.
For him, it’s a real struggle. He does not practice consistently.
Are you following me? Ha!
Sooo, what this means for Jacob is that he has the ability to play. We know this! He just isn’t getting as far as his sister. He needs his musical dad, his musical mom (me), and his advanced-piano sister to all come around him and help him!
We cheer him on, hold him accountable and support him to get through the hard stuff.
How much is this like us on this journey?!?
As our family did for Jacob, we in Thin Within want to do the same for each other…
We cheer each other on…
hold each other accountable, and…
support each other through the hard stuff…
to get through the hard stuff.
I was a “Jacob” for sure at the very beginning of my Thin Within experience. At times, I’ve been a “Rachel” and I’m more like her now than I am like my son in this way. (Thankfully, and by the grace of God.)
But I can relate to both. You get my drift.
Like Rachel, we want to not be scared off by the “hard.” In fact, we want to see it as a challenge and go for it!
Practice, practice, practice! And we will get there!
Now that I’m on track, I’m realizing how much my relationship with food has changed. Food was able to stifle any feelings I had, and it did so quickly by numbing the pain.
God doesn’t work that way, so that has taken some getting used to. It’s very different. I’m learning how to be patient.
I’m no longer spacing out every day, nor running to food for comfort anymore. Therefore my emotions are rising up. I’m running to God, knowing that He is not an instant god, like food.
Keeping food in its proper place in my life is different too. Food was never designed for what I put it in my life for.
I am letting God do what only He can do; He can handle it and is a better God to me than food could EVER be.
By exchanging my food idol for God, after I’ve had food on the throne of my heart, I’m learning to have a much better relationship with God, my Creator, who knew me in my mother’s womb.
I was listening to TD Jakes and he was talking about “having misery with the miracle.” The miracle for me is to have food in its proper place; the misery is the feelings that are now creeping up.
When it feels like something is missing, I have to exchange the false comfort that I felt with food for the real Comforter.
Satan offers us a counterfeit comfort, which was food for me. God offers the realcomfort of peace and joy and gives us the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, which is totally real!
So now I’m asking God to fill me up!
Job 23:12 says,
“I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
We cannot have one without the other. The miracle is releasing weight; the misery is eating less and waiting for zero. But I can honor God doing it. And being that living sacrifice and living a fasted lifestyle are what makes it worthwhile.
It’s incredible to have an unclogged mind… to not have to think about food 24/7… to leave room enough to hear the voice of God.
It’s a joy to fulfill His purpose for my life and I am grateful for it!
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:
so that I’d be ready to hear and obey;
because He knows that as sick and desperate as I am, this will not end in death; and
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!
Feel free to share it with us.
Feel free to share it with us.
