You DO have “Body Beautiful!” I hope you are beginning to see that. You have arms to give hugs; a mouth to offer affirmation; a smile that warms a heart or gives courage to another; legs that have carried you throughout life, enabling you to experience adventure, to work, to play, to live! You have shoulders that are strong and arms that have carried groceries and moved furniture. You have served, used your hands to write notes of encouragement and your bottom has sat beside a friend in need! 🙂
Are you beginning to know full well that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Is the truth, reality, validity, accuracy, actuality, authenticity, certainty, correctness, exactitude, genuineness, infallibility, legitimacy, precision, rightness, veracity of this fact beginning to come home to you? Continue to invite God to show you this truth that you might know full well that ALL of his works are WONDERFUL (including you).
Looking at this week’s material in Lesson 4, what resonated for you? What did God show you, perhaps for the first time, or remind you of? I would love to hear!
On page 76 of the HEAL book, we have an activity: Praise and Reflection. If you were in my living room with me, we would do this activity together, so I have included a part of the video for it! I hope you are able to view the entire video. If you are short on time, fast forward the video to 6:26 and take about two minutes and thirty seconds to participate in the activity with the video running. Welcome God to show you what you can praise Him for because of your body. If the Psalm says “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” then we want to invite God to show us what specifically we can praise Him for relative to the amazing creation that is our bodies!
God, you have shown me ________.
God, thank you for _____________.
Additionally, will you please share with us what some of the things you have added to your Body Beautiful checklist on page 73 to keep your body in the most God-glorifying condition possible? I have so enjoyed your comments this week on the blog posts. Now let’s welcome the “rubber hitting the road” with how do we DO this? How do we work this out? God will lead each of us uniquely, to be sure. Whatever he shows you, another person can prayerfully consider. Who knows? Maybe God will use what you share–what you have added to your Body Beautiful checklist, for instance–to encourage her to do something similar!
On page 74, we were issued a challenge to renew our minds about our body. What are some truths about your body that you can continue to tell yourself so that you can relish and praise God for the body he has given to you? Again, if you share here, someone else is going to be encouraged by what you post!
Did you memorize 1 Corinthians 6:19-20? How has God used that in your life this week?
How can we be praying for you?
Is your routine changing right now? I know that when weekends come and when summer comes, many of us experience a shift in our routine and this challenges us! Let us know how we can pray for you!
God, you have shown me that my body is a marvelous tool, used by you to help my church family to worship you. My arms and hands move to play the keyboard and the guitar and I know that this is a helpful addition to the worship team. Thank you for the voice that you have given me and the fact that I can lift my hands to praise you, too. Thank you that my body can be used to keep rhythm to facilitate joy and praise!
Lord, you have made me into a powerful prayer warrior for my church, family, and community. As I have spent more time with you in prayer and reading your Word, I have grown in my faith and been amazed by what you are doing in me and others in my church and community. Thank you for this gift you have placed within me. And thank you for a body that is able to exercise daily which helps lower my pain levels and helps my mood. Through you my body is able to do amazing things I never thought I could do a few years ago. You are renewing my mind and my spirit first and foremost then comes the dealing with my food issues. I know now why it took me so long to get this idea of eating within boundaries- You first wanted me to grow closer to you and let you be in control. Thank you, Lord, for the body you gave me and for guiding me through this journey.
Amen! Thank you for sharing your prayer, Sue!
I an not doing the HEAL study but I love loved loved this video from Heidi!!! While I watched the scenes play with the music I thought of the sensory things like touch. I am thankful for my skin which can feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze. I am thankful for smell so I can smell the flowers and salt air and even dirty diapers!! 🙂 I am thankful for my eyes to see the beauty God has created! I am thankful I can hear!!! I can hear His word and hear the leaves rustling and hear music and my children. God has made my body to take all these things in and it is truly wonderful!!!
Hi, Adriane. I am thankful for these things, too! (Well, not so sure about dirty diapers! LOL!) Yes, I am thankful for these things too. This morning, on my deck, so very early, I heard a goat, cow, horse, woodpeckers and other birds, dog barking…and the light breeze and the warmth of the early morning (its been hot here in “Cool, California)…Even the smells of the oak forest this time of year. Isn’t it all so amazing!
Wow. That was a great exercise. As my eyes were closed, I thanked God for arms that just hugged my daughter, legs that carried me through a fun grocery trip with her, eyes to see the beauty of the outdoors, nose to smell summer, belly that carried my children, legs that have run half-marathons, ridden horses, walked through a trip to Spain, hauled me to the beach, taken me on hikes and then there lots of praises about, um, bedroom activities with hubby (blushing) . As God would have it, I was shown to praise the most the area I like least (legs). The list of praises really is endless.
I have a friend who lost both of her legs below the knees and most of her fingers and let me tell you how that changed my perspective. Imagine the difficulty in putting your hair in a ponytail or braiding your daughter’s hair without most of your fingers. Walking up stairs in bilateral prosthetics.(ps she is doing very well and driving, etc.)
As for body beautiful, I know that I have to limit my exposure to th media. I don’t read People magazine or any other woman’s magazine. I have stopped some tv shows bc I start to compare myself to the skinny, surgerized, made-up people.
As for prayers for me, I am struggling a bit with the transition to summer. It feels like every day is a weekend day an. Really have to fight the thoughts of entitlement/indulgent eating. I would appreciate prayers for obedience to stay in my boundaries. Have a wonderful day and I will be praying for our group here.
Me, too, CMK, about the …um…blush-worthy “activities!” I am so thankful! How awesome that God led you to praise him for your legs. What great insights regarding input we get from women’s magazines and other sources.
God thank you for using my body to knit together 2 beautiful children, thank you for giving me the ability to care for those children, myself, my husband — The ability to think, to smile, to laugh, to run, to walk, to do “Body Combat,” to dance, to garden, to physically play with children – throwing my oldest on the bed and playing hide and go seek. The ability to continue to nurse my youngest child, especially as she has so many food allergies. And, I thank you for the ability to share my body fully with my husband who is wild about my appearance.
Wow…awesome, N. Thanks for sharing your prayer, too. These are so encouraging to me!
You know how they say that you learn more from your children than you teach them. My children teach me every day (if I’m looking) how to love myself better. My son is such a reflection of me in terms of his temperament, intellect, and energy level. In focusing on the positive qualities in him, I learn to greater appreciate those things within myself.
Today, I felt like my 9 month old daughter taught me about body beautiful. I put her in this outfit from a friend. It was just adorable; it has a button down tie shirt and cute little matching red skirt. When she moves, her midriff sticks out, so this might not be an acceptable outfit when she’s a teenager, but at the moment, it’s just so darn cute. Anyway, as I was looking at her, God’s creation, I was in awe. She’s such a sweet kid, and looking at her body, I can truly see “Wonderfully and Fearfully Made” and Also Body Beautiful.
Body Beautiful first – my daughter is of average weight for a baby, which means she has these chubby little thighs and adorable little belly that we all love to kiss and blow raspberries on. It’s funny how our idea of beautiful changes, and it just made me realize that thin isn’t all that is beautiful. Now, I’m not copping out of reaching my natural size or 0-5 eating, I’m just saying it made me see that beauty comes in all sizes and shapes. I want her to not worry about what she eats the way that I have my whole life. I think she is part of the driving force for me to be addressing these issues now in my life. I want to be able to set a good example and pass along better gifts to her. And, to both my children by being Christ-focused.
Next, both of my children have severe allergies. My 3 year old son has a severe nut allergy and my daughter has a severe allergy to rice, and we believe she reacted to oats this weekend. As I was looking at her today, I thought how amazing it is that she’s “back to normal” from a weekend of this new food – “oatmeal” that was essentially poisoning her. Her skin is clearing up and she’s back to her happy self. I just thought it was so amazing that God designed our bodies to cleanse themselves when we take away the poison/toxins. So, that’s what has hit me.
I also have a weird addition to the Body Beautiful Checklist, I’m not sure it’ what the authors have in mind, but I often don’t feel beautiful when I’m not feeling well. With 2 young kiddos in daycare, and hubby and I working at 2 different offices, this happens a lot. Thankfully, just usually a lot of colds, occasional stomach flu and the like, but I’ve struggled with the days that I have no energy, feel crappy, and my body is so bloated because it’s fighting the bug de jour I feel like I’ve gained 20 pounds and must have found every pound I release, that I felt God telling me to just make it through the tough days, don’t expect too much, and know that I know when I get through and the virus runs its course, I will feel better and all that much more beautiful, and when the water leaves I will generally weigh the same or even less. So, this is a mental action that I take when I’m feeling sick that helps me. It doesn’t make me feel great, but it helps on days when my body really is “down” or “off.” Don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else or if I’ve explained it well. Of course, I forget and have to be constantly reminded through prayer. I loved the practical items already on the list and look forward to hearing what others have added to the list.
I’m very thankful for this online community where we can share any time of day. Praying for you, ladies. Let me know if there are specific items that I can pray for you? I’m praying that I would be more Christ-centered and gain my worth, purpose, strength and validation from him and not my roles that I have in life. I have to admit; I stole this concept and tweaked it for myself. Have a great weekend ladies, God is doing a new thing here and in each of your lives. It’s amazing to “see”/”read.”
So true! Beauty DOES come in all shapes and sizes! Thanks for the reminder! You are right! Thanks for the thought about when you are sick, too, Body Beautiful. SO TRUE! This is going to pass. Let’s not beat ourselves up when we are already sick! I would welcome prayer for God to help my husband to know how wide, high, long and deep is the love of Christ and to love Him again…differently…truly…from his heart….that freedom is found there. Thanks so much Body Beautiful! 🙂
Will do, Heidi.
Lord I thank you for a mind to think and a heart to love. I thank you for feeling joy that gives me happiness and hope. I also thank you for feeling pain that helps me to stay away from dange and also helps me to understand others that are experiencing pain. I thank you for my soul and my spirit that are able to be in communion with you. I thank you for all the parts of my body that work so well together (usually). I thank you Lord that I can know without a shadow of a doubt that you love me and care for me and that you desire for me to see the beauty that you see in me. Thank you Heidi and all for helping me on this journey. We continue to pray for each other.
Lisa, you are a joy to my heart, my friend. Thank you for the way you let God use you! 🙂
I found this a hard exercise to do..as I have always thought neg about my body….here goes….
Thank you Lord that my body is the temple of your Holy Spirit. To know that you abide in me leaves me speechless. Lord, help me to bring honor and glory to you by taking care of your temple…not abusing it with food. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you for arms that I can raise in praise, worship and adoration of you. Thank you that my body is able to move and care for the six wonderful children you have blessed me with. Thank you for knitting them together in my womb…I stand in awe of you! Thank you that you have knitted and formed my soon to be born granddaughter in her mother’s womb. i am blessed…
Please pray that I can continue to be obedient to the still small voice of God that says you are at a 5…stop eating now. I want to be consumed with God…I love that verse in Isaiah 62..vs 4….never again will you be called the forsaken city…but your new name will be ‘The City of God’s Delight’ and the ‘Bride of God’ for the Lord delights in you…and will claim you as his bride. To think the King of Kings delights in us…wow…knowing that…how can we hold back….Rom 12:1-2 “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” NLT I pray that we can all give our bodies daily to God as a living sacrifice, as an act of worship… and carry it throughout the day. Holy Spirit gives us strength to be obedient and conviction when and where we need it.
Marie, it took me about 5 years to get through Day 5 of the Thin Within book. Have a look at it and you will, no doubt, understand why! I applaud your courage to do this exercise! By praising God even when we don’t FEEL it, I think we *are* transformed and changed. We begin to believe the truths we are praying. Thank you for sharing your prayer and your insights.
Oh, my what beautiful thoughts from you all. My husband tells me sleepily this morning that I am beautiful. It is still dark and I know he is not seeing me with his eyes, he holds me close. He sees me for who I am not for what I look like. Thank you GOD for this wonderful man. Yesterday I was told by a co-worker, when I get older I want to be just like you. Then she complimented me on my creativity. Thank you GOD for my mind and years of work experience. Thursday morning a co-worker randomly told me I looked nice. Thank you GOD for positive comments from others. Last night my daughter texted me with a photo of a bunch of rusty cast iron needing reseasoning with the question, are you up for a challenge? Thank you GOD for my relationship with my daughters. They think I am wise. God tells me I am loved, wanted, cared for, saved, holy, his child, created in his image…. There are so many reasons I am not beautiful by the world’s standards. I don’t need to be. God made me. Now to accept this fact, and live rejoicing In all my blessings.
I just found this verse! 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Oh, Joyce. What wonderful gifts God has given you! I love sharing in them, so thank you for telling us!
I just have to say that these entries have been wonderful! Thanks to everyone for sharing. They definitely affected my perspective as I went about my day yesterday. I also wanted to share 2 things that I experienced yesterday.
First -I had the most productive and satisfying day of cleaning my kids’ and my closet (well it has taken a few days). The part that applies to TW is that I had so much time and energy yesterday to clean because I wasn’t thinking about food, diet, exercise plans or planning when and what to eat or eating. Both my kids were with friends in the afternoon and before this bible study, I would have used that time to sit down with a snack in front of the tv. Yesterday, I used that time to go out to buy hangers so everything is organized. Also, my closet was a wreck because I had felt a wreck. I never wanted to go through my clothes because I would be reminded of what didn’t fit anymore. Now, some of those clothes are fitting and if they don’t that’s ok too. Healing!
Second – I decided that I wanted cereal on my yogurt for lunch. As I sat down to eat I realized that my issue with eating cereal out of the box at the pantry is resolved! I have 2 kinds of cereal that I like (I have to eat gluten free, so I can’t eat what is in the pantry for the rest of the family). I had to stop buying my cereal because it seemed like every time I walked past the pantry, I opened it and grabbed a handful of cereal. Once I committed to my secondary boundary of sitting at the table to eat, I started buying the cereal again. And realized yesterday that I have not once stopped to grab a handful of cereal (in probably 2 months) PTL for healing!
Praying for healing and for willing spirits to obey for all of us today.
WOOT WOOT!!!!!