Hi! I hope all of you have the Thin Within workbook kit #1, “Rebuilding God’s Temple.” If you don’t yet have it, you can call Joe or Pam Donaldson at 877-729-8932.
If you are leading a group through the study of the Thin Within workbook, you can get my leader notes for the first optional introductory session here. It is in a .pdf (Adobe Reader) format. Please email me if you want the Microsoft Word version to edit for your personal use.
If you are just planning on going through the study with us here online, GREAT! Welcome! Now is the time! (Even if you are arriving at this page in 2011, you can still use these notes to be encouraged and to focus your time. If you respond in the comments, others may be doing the study at the same time as you…so they may respond in turn!).
In my “live” group, I used last Tuesday night to hand out the material to my group members.
Your “assignment” for this week is to:
1.) Do lesson 1 in the Workbook, reading all the material for Lesson 1 and completing the workbook exercises for week 1, days 1-7. Days 6 and 7 *are* considered “optional,” so if you feel like you have fallen behind, don’t worry about completing those!
2.) As you read and study, please generate a list that we will add to throughout our study… “What God is Like” and “What God Does.” These can be two lists or one. I find it easiest to put it all on one list which I have started in the back cover of my workbook. Next to each item on it, I jot down the verse citation or the source of the “attribute.”
I believe it is AW Tozer who says that the single most important thing about a man (or woman) is what s/he believes about God and I believe it is so. Please keep this list, as we will be referring to it throughout our study!
3.) Will you pray for others who will be doing this study here and on the Thin Within forums?
5.) Read the associated devotional that I will post here tomorrow (or Tuesday) and respond! I may be posting my thoughts here as I go through the material…I have the hankering to write again. Finding the time may be the trickiest part now. But it helps if you check in here and respond on the posts…You can get and give support to others on this journey. We need one another.
Thank you for your prayers. I have taken time to write thoughts about what is going on…but haven’t been able to put them here, either because I have been asked not to or because they just didn’t seem to be what God has in mind…or both.
I have just read a blog entry that I wish I had written. Instead, I will choose to receive it as the gift that it is. Wonderfully Made was founded by Allie Marie Smith. She is the lady who wrote H.E.A.L (Healthy Eating Abundant Living) with Judy Halliday (who also wrote Thin Within).
Wonderfully Made has speakers and events particularly helping young women. One of their representatives is Jennifer Strickland who has written a book called Girl Perfect. She was a runway model and has an incredible testimony.
She has written a blog entry that God is using to encourage me today. I want to share it with you. Please read “Choose the Crown” at this web page at the Wonderfully Made blog, and if you comment, let Allie and Jennifer know where you found the link. They are both such sweet sisters who love Jesus and his daughters. 🙂
Thanks, Allie and Jennifer. I needed this encouragement today. Jesus knew.
Hi, everyone! Today is the day I promised to post information that I was going to offer you for your own study of the Rebuilding God’s Temple Workbook Kit #1 and/or for leading your group.
Some of you are having your informational meetings this coming week or in a week yet ahead. If that is the case, I have some things that may be of value to you:
An informational handout that you can use to get ideas for your own. I distributed this at my informational meetings. The informational meeting is designed to give information about Thin Within and your upcoming study. No one is obligated to continue. So this handout is for you to use as you see fit. Use the contact link in the sidebar if you want me to send you the Microsoft Word file to edit.
My informational meeting notes –These notes may not make a bit of sense to you, but you can use them to get an idea of the types of things you might include in your informational/orientation meeting!
Our schedule for the class for the next three months. I suggest handing something like this out to your Thin Within workbook study group members so that everyone knows when you will be meeting, what lesson you will be going over on which day, and what lesson will be assigned following your class.
If you are NOT meeting with a group of people to go through this study together, THAT IS PERFECTLY OK!!! I just wanted to be sure to offer some support to folks who are. So there you have it! Maybe you will, in the future, decide that you want to lead a group. These and the other resources will remain available for you at that time. 🙂
If you are NEW to Thin Within, as many are you attend an informational meeting, I want to share with you a little bit about this workbook study!
Thin Within began in 1975 when two ladies, Joy Imboden Overstreet and Judy Wardell Halliday, began to share with others what they had learned studying naturally thin eaters. Joy and Judy shared in “workshop style” the behaviors and practices of people who didn’t diet or exercise specifically to keep weight off of their bodies. These are people who just naturally seemed to be a “normal” weight.
Christian principles were incorporated in the mid to late 1980s after Judy gave her life to the Lord.
There are a bunch of resources available for you if you embrace this approach–no shortage, in fact:
The Thin Within book, released in 2002 and 2005 by Thomas Nelson publishers by Judy and Arthur Halliday
Silent Hunger/Thin Again/Get Thin Stay Thin – this is a trade paperback published by Baker/Revell with three different titles over the years (don’t blame the Hallidays for the confusion!). Dr. Arthur Halliday and Judy Halliday are the authors.
HEAL – Healthy Eating Abundant Living by Allie Marie Smith and Judy Halliday – this is a book with principles compatible to Thin Within but designated for college-age women. It is suitable for high school girls and older women, too!
Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World by Judy Halliday and Joani Jack, MD. This is for parents who want to know how to raise their kids to live according to this approach. My own kids are now 16 and 18 and are naturally thin. It works! 🙂
The Rebuilding God’s Temple Workbook Series – there are four workbooks, each 12 weeks in length, so a full year’s worth of material!!!
Right now, we are launching into a study of the first workbook in the series of four–it is the most comprehensive of the four–the other three in the series are ideal to follow workbook one.
So what does Thin Within teach?
In a nutshell, Thin Within teaches that our bodies, designed and created by an awesome, magnificent, creative God, are reliable. If we eat according to physical hunger and physical satisfaction we will release excess weight and maintain our naturally trim God-given size. NO foods are off limits.
You will never have to weigh and measure food EVER again. No counting! You don’t even need to weigh yourself. In fact, I personally encourage you to get rid of your scale.
Isaiah 43:18, 19 encourages us to forget the past! God is doing a NEW THING! So, let’s be radical! Throw out old dieting paraphernalia, books, magazines, scales, counters, trackers, and embrace this new thing!
During the next three months you will learn how to discern physical hunger and physical satisfaction. You will become more conscious of the many things that draw you to food when you aren’t physically hungry. You will learn to feed physical hunger with physical food–any physical food you choose–and to “feed” other hungers with what they need. Physical food can’t satisfy a hungry heart. We will investigate some of the things that draw us to food when we aren’t hungry and learn to go to the source of the abundant supply of what we need for what truly ails us.
In the next three months you will lean on God in a way you never have before. You will develop an awareness of his amazing character. You will develop a heart of praise and gratitude and be less focused on your body, your food, your weight, your clothes as you seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness! All the rest will fall into place as he is praised, worshiped and adored.
Will you lose weight? Sure. But we have found that God often works from within–from the inside out. Nowhere in his Word does he call us to be thin, but throughout the Word of God we are called to be HIS! When we seek to allow him access to this area of our lives, we discover that he cares very much about our physical, emotional, *and* spiritual health. He longs to infuse us with hope!
If you haven’t yet ordered your workbook, now is the time to do it. Next Saturday, I will be posting some introductory thoughts and making the first assignment. You have plenty of time to get involved! In two weeks, we will discuss Lesson 1.
Who is with me! 🙂
How about you? Are you new to Thin Within? I would love to know you! Please introduce yourself in the comments here. If you are already familiar with Thin Within, I would love to know you are joining us as well. Feel free to say Hi!
Our summer Thin Within book study is coming to a close and we will have a Grand Finale chat TODAY, September 3rd. The time is 5-6pm Pacific Time (or 7-8pm Central, or 8-9pm Eastern). You can come for all or part. JUST COME! 🙂
This will be a CELEBRATION chat and I hope as many people can come as possible. I hope some of you will share anything that God has done in your life through the reading and applying of the Thin Within material ever or during our time over the summer. What has God been doing in your life? I am so eager to hear!
If you want to participate and know how to get into the chat room already, please just visit this link at chat time: http://www.thinwithin.org/chat/
I am so totally excited! Over the weekend, two matches were made for the first ever “God is Doing a New Thing” Thin Within email accountability partnerships! These ladies will have a chance to go through the study together starting in just a couple of weeks!
If you are solo for this journey, you can be connected if you want, just by emailing me. Or, you don’t need me at all! You can feel free to connect any way you like.
If you DO want to have me pair you up, truthfully, I am not doing anything particularly fancy. If you send me your name, the next person who emails me about it will be your buddy and you hers! Then, I send out the information to both of you, suggesting some things to consider as you begin.
Why not give it a try if you don’t yet have someone to go through the material with? 🙂
As my kids and I pulled into the driveway after a long day away from home, the last thing we expected was to see a horse by the hay shed. That wasn’t where he belonged. Even worse, his neck and head were jammed down into a large barrel…the barrel of 250 pounds of feed that was horribly moldy, awaiting the feed store truck to pick it up. “Oh no! Breezy has gotten out!”
Sure enough, our appaloosa horse, Breezy, had popped the screw top off of not just one barrel of moldy stable mix, but TWO. He had carefully munched all the molded feed off the top of the stash before going on to what was next on his buffet list! By the time we arrived, he had packed away a considerable amount of moldy feed!
A quick call to the equine vet and, within the hour, I had the trailer attached, and Breezy loaded up. I raced Old Reliable–our tried and true trail horse who had taught my family members to ride and “respect” horses–to the vet about 45 minutes away. Experience had taught me that a pricey treatment was in store. Without it, Breezy might be in danger of colicking. With horses, this is a serious thing–horses can die when they colic!
Some $400 later (we got off easy this time!), I meandered my way back home through the canyon. Breezy was a bit woozy from the “mickey” he had been slipped enabling them to “tube and oil” him.
Over the next few days, we discovered that Breezy had a regular escape route (he repeated his offense!). He nonchalantly blew right through the electric fence in one particular location. In that spot the charge was diminished enough that the shock didn’t bother him nearly as much as getting access to (molded?) feed rewarded him!
Breezy during one of his “jail breaks”– heading in to the hay shed!
We have since amped up the fence (literally) and added a fence post or two, making escape less appealing.
During these misadventures, however, the Lord has again used my animals to shine His mirror of truth into my life.
I have come to realize that I am often like Breezy, blowing through boundaries that God has established in my life because of His love for me.
Far from being perfect, sovereign, and all-wise like my Heavenly Master, I am an imperfect “Master” for Breezy. Even so, boundaries that I establish for him are there for his good. Without those boundaries, he will eat all kinds of things that might kill him. Rather than respond to the “zap” of the fence, though, he pursued the instant gratification that he experienced on the other side of the fence.
How often do I do the same?
In fact, I know I often resent the boundaries that the Lord has established for me. And, if I am honest, I even resent Him at times. I wonder how often I plunge myself into “moldy stable mix” when God intends to set a bounteous table before me at the right time? How much damage do I do to myself because of my pursuit of instant gratification?
How about you? Can you relate to Breezy? Will you put up with a little discomfort for the sake of instant gratification? Are you like me at all, resenting boundaries that are there for your own good? Do you struggle with submitting to the hand of a perfectly good Master?
I think today I will rethink things a bit. When I know I have had enough or when I sense the Spirit of God leading me to eat something different than what my taste buds prefer, I think I will remember the image of Breezy that is indelibly marked in my mind–head and neck down inside the barrel, sucking up moldy stable mix. I don’t want to be like that. God has something so much better in mind.
Here is our last assignment! Let’s finish well, shall we?
1.) Ongoing assignments to keep at a tiny bit each day or as often as you can:
Attributes of God list–don’t give up yet! His character is so broad and expansive! There are still things to learn and new depths to plummet!
Praise and prayer time using 5 things from your cumulative attributes of God list
Gratitudes – Keep thanking and keep on praising. It will transform your life! TRULY!
Forgiveness phrases – Is God using this practice to transform you? I would love to hear about it, if so.
2.) Take time to carefully read and complete chapters 27, 28, 29, and 30.
3.) In chapter 27, we are reminded that Jesus invites us to come to him…not for more religious duty or impossible burdens. He doesn’t call us to him so that we might be inspired to be perfect, though knowing him definitely IS inspiring! He calls us, instead to receive rest. As you read the words that open chapter 27, journal an answer to this: “Are you in need of rest? What do you sense God is calling you to release a hold on at this point in your life? What might ‘rest’ look like for you?”
4.) Of the three reasons for weariness mentioned in chapter 27, to which are you most prone? 1. Investing yourself in things that are not a part of God’s plan for you? 2. Investing yourself in godly activities that are beyond God’s plan for you? 3. A tendency to rely on your own strength when doing that to which God calls?
5.) Chapters 27 and 28 challenge us to evaluate our schedules. As you may know, this is something God has called me to do recently. In what ways can chaos in your schedule lead to chaos in your eating or other areas?
6.) As you complete chapter 27 and 28 what insights do you get from God’s Holy Spirit? Is there anything that you want to share with our study participants?
7.) Chapter 28 hits us between the eyes by pointing out that procrastination is actually delayed obedience which is DISobedience! Share your response to this. What does this have to do with eating within godly parameters?
8.) What are some things that you can do for godly rest and relaxation? Sometimes the things we do aren’t terribly rejuvenating! Submit the things that you tend to do “for fun” to the Lord and ask him if these things are, in fact, “re-creational”–do they help to re-create your spirit, soul, mind, and body? If you feel inclined, share with us here!
9.) I love day 29, as it challenges us to think about what is next. If you have been involved in studying the book with us, what will you do next? Again, I want to challenge you to consider doing something “in real life,” face-to-face with people! God created us for community. When we isolate behind computer screens we deny ourselves some of the blessings we were created to benefit from!
10.) Do the survey on pages 309 – 312. Compare your answers to the survey you did three months ago! You will find that initial survey in the “Before You Begin” section of the book, on pages xvii – xx. What is different? What is the same? What do you think about this? I would love to hear what God shows you!
11.) Compare the survey in Day 30 with the one you took 12 weeks ago on pages 16 – 17. If you feel so led, please share with us your answers to the questions on the bottom of page 321.
12.) Take time to come to our final CELEBRATION chat on Friday evening, September 3rd. We are meeting 5-6pm Pacific Time (7-8pm Central or 8-9pm Eastern). Come ready to share ways that you have seen God growing you through the past 12 weeks. What physical, emotional, or spiritual changes have you seen? How has studying the attributes of God, practicing praise, gratitude, and forgiveness affected your view of yourself, God, and others?
13.) Will you continue to pray for us as we all finish out this week together? 🙂
You are so dear to me. I hope you will all CHIME IN THIS WEEK! 🙂 Let’s finish well! 😀
Still planning on doing the workbook study. I don’t have anyone leading an online chat for it yet, however, and I can’t do that this time. But I will provide what I can by way of resources for you to study the material either on your own, with an email buddy, and/or if you are going to lead a group as some of you have indicated you might. 🙂
Don’t forget, if you want to be connected with someone in email for the study, shoot me an email, using the link in the upper right corner menu “Contact.” Let me know you are interested in having an email buddy and I will send you one another’s emails and let you work things out! 🙂
