Summer can be a time of wonderful freedom. Sometimes, though, we may find our freedom erodes to chaos in short order!

There is no need for summer to go from fabulous to frantic. Join me in planning a little bit of structure, to help us maintain godly boundaries as the days get warmer and longer!

Join me and dive in to a study of the Thin Within book here on this blog. This might offer a bit of added incentive and accountability to press on in your quest to give the Lord your eating habits!

I prefer to take a very casual, easy-going pace as I study the Thin Within book this time. Here are the (sort of) specifics:

  • A 10-12 week study, but it could go longer depending on other aspects of my life and schedule. 🙂 I anticipate covering about 3 chapters each week. Our mileage may vary. You can go at any pace. The posts will be here whenever you need them! 🙂
  • You will want to purchase a fresh copy of Thin Within, by Arthur and Judy Halliday, published by W publishing in 2002 or later. I say “fresh copy,” since many of you may have read it before and filled in the blanks. I am starting fresh and I want to encourage you to do so as well. God is challenging me to break camp and head off, as if for the first time. So, I will do that with a book that is new and not yet written in! I recommend you do the same, but that is up to you!
  • You may want to get a journal that you can write in as needed. I will be adding little assignments along the way and you can do them in the journal. Obviously, everything is optional. Make this study whatever YOU want it to be!
  • You will want a favorite translation of the bible. I recommend a bible highlighter, too, so you can highlight the verses that stand out to you in the reading we do.
    • If you want to hide God’s Word in your heart (an excellent practice), you may want to get index cards for scripture memory.
    • We will begin June 14 (I think).
    • Finishing, hopefully by August 30.
    • There may be an optional “real time” chat mid-week at the Thin Within.org website for those who want to join us for that.
    • I will post one or two times a week about what I am seeing in my study of the book. I will post other things like I usually do, too, but only two of the posts each week are likely to be about the study. I will let folks know which days to expect those posts as we get closer to the start of the study. Then, you can respond and connect with one another if you like. If you want to, you can gather friends to join you in a LIVE study of the book. Then you can post here, too. That is up to you. 🙂 FUN!

      My Approach:

      I will be processing this material in a unique way, as:

      1.) …someone who has been through the material many times before, taught classes, spoken to groups, but now needs to start as if from scratch — I want to rekindle my commitment to godly boundaries and focus on the Lord, but I also know that my tendency to compromise has made a difference in my physical size in a way that probably isn’t God’s best for me. I want to see really what he wants for me. Of course, as I have said before, he doesn’t want me thin nearly so much as he wants me to be his. So I will be working on being his in all respects–including with my eating. I need to get to know my body all over again as it has changed, my hunger/satisfied signals have changed. I want to learn what God has for me now.

      2.) …someone who took part in writing the Thin Within book and workbooks–I was the collaborator for the Thin Within book (God has such a sense of humor!). It was my job to “get inside” Judy Halliday’s head and bring to the printed page what she had been teaching in her workshops for years. I will gladly field questions from anyone who is studying with us and, if I don’t know the answer, I will ask Judy Halliday directly. Studying from this perspective is unique, though. If you have known this material for years and wonder why you can’t “get it,” trust me, I know what that is like. I began this approach in 1999, but didn’t allow it to change me physically until 2006. Now, I am here again, almost “jaded.” When I began this blog in 2006, I began it with the attitude of “Ok, God, Let’s see if you can take this jaded pilgrim and do something new…” He didn’t disappoint. I am, perhaps, more jaded now…yet I find myself wondering if he won’t do a “new new thing.” 🙂

      Since we will start about mid-June, there is time for you to get the book. You can call Thin Within (http://www.thingwithin.ORG) to get a copy of the book (the 2002 or later version) at 877-729-8932 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST Monday through Friday. Joe and Pam Donaldson are quick about shipping out and I think the books cost about $11.00 for a paperback from them. You can order it anywhere you wish, of course–half.com and Amazon Marketplace may have new books for a good price. Be sure to get the 2002 edition or later. The version from 1985 is not from a Christian perspective.

      I hope you will join us, starting June 14!

      I am having another book giveaway, too. THIS WEEK I will be giving away a Thin Within book. In fact, I think I will give away one each week between now and the time our study starts. 🙂 All you have to do to enter is comment here…and be sure to check back to see if you won. Each time you comment here at the blog (relevant comments only, please), I will write your name (the one you use for your comments) on a slip of paper and put it in a bag. Next Sunday night, I will draw a name and Monday I will post who has won. I will do that for the next four weeks. 🙂

       How about you? What will you do to enjoy the freedom of summer without allowing the erosion of your godly boundaries? Will you join us? 🙂