Image Source: iStockPhoto
I am a brat.
There. I have said it.
It’s true, too.
When I get mad at a family member (maybe sometimes even when I get mad at a mean church lady), I want to eat to “get back at them.”
This is just silly.
Stupid.
Ridiculous!
But somehow it has fueled much of my eating outside of 0 and 5 for years.
I think it began when I was a kid and my parents would abuse me over food doing all kinds of desperate things to try to get me to eat foods they felt I needed to eat and NOT to eat others. As soon as the ordeal was over, I would sneak cookies. Or ride my bike to the liquor store to buy candy bars with money I stole from my dad’s change stash. (True confessions!) I would do other things, too, just to “get back at them.”
So I guess I brought this behavior into my adulthood!
I became aware of it when I was a mother of a relatively young, rebellious pre-adolescent (who shall remain nameless). Said pre-adolescent with special needs (no less) required a great deal of me and there were times when I just had a major melt-down tantrum of my own. In a huff, I would grab the container of frosting (bag of cookies, chips, ice cream carton…whatever…it made no difference what) a spoon (if needed) and shut myself into the bathroom where I would relish my “I can TOO do what I want–you are NOT the boss of me–get back at them” eating or “Bratty Eating” for short.
Can you relate?
If I am honest, although said child 🙂 no longer lives here…in fact, my “nest” is pretty empty…I still can find myself doing “Bratty Eating.”
In those moments, when I pull out my truth cards or rehearse in my mind the things that I know are true, I come up with quite the arsenal to defeat this “Bratty Eating” and the bratty attitude that fuels it, too!
When I look at the Lord I serve and what he was called to experience when he walked the dirt of this earth, I realize that he was called to suffer. How can I expect to be called to something different? A life of ease? Really? I think I deserve that? And when I bump up against someone who bugs me, I think I should eat? Hmm…. seems to me I need to grow up just a bit! I am so thankful that my God is in the business of doing that very thing—growing his children, including me. Funny thing is…he often uses trials to do it! But he provides everything I need for life and godliness if I call on Him.
How About You?
Do you ever engage in “Bratty Eating?” If so, do you know what situations or individuals typically set you off? What truths can you cling to so that you can defeat this tendency?
I can so relate! It makes no logical sense! But thank God He’s redeeming us and our silly ways.
Amen, Chelsee!
Heidi, you are so real and your words really “hit the nail on the head”. Thank you for all the time and effort you take to share. I added some additional questions to my truth cards. How do you control the quantity of your cards and focus?
Hi, Lisa. Thanks for your kind words. I have a lot more cards than I can go through in any one sitting at this point. I usually take about 5 minutes to go through some of them in the morning and again before dinner. Often, I will pick the ones that I sense I need. I have a number of “entitlement” cards together. A number of “boundary” statements are on cards together. And so on. I typically pick what I think might hit the need on the head. Sometimes, I just need any and all of it and take as much time as I can. I do try to read them out loud, too. For me, there is something all the more powerful about reading it with my eyes, saying it with my mouth, and hearing it with my ears. I think we are wired to be multi-sensory, so i go with it! I hope this helps!
Thank you Heidi for sharing how you handle the multiple truth cards. I decided that I am going to get up 45 minutes earlier and spend extra time reading through them before I even begin my day. Thought this might be a good way to prepare myself and creat new patterns. I also listened to your video clip on idols. The list you gave for how to remove the idols was very helpful. It is the first time I have ever seen something like this. It’s nice to have a starting place. Thank you!
So glad it was helpful, Lisa! That makes me so very happy to hear!
ps will start “chatting” in the class area too. 🙂
Hi, Lisa. You are welcome to post wherever you like. It is fun to see a little “mini-community” pop up on pages later than when they were posted when a number of people start reading them or, as in this case, doing the studies, after we have moved on. In fact, I believe that comments posted later on those pages are often used by God to be a review for others of us who have subscribed to the comments! You never know what might happen! You might be part of a new surge of folks studying once again!