by Kelly Tull | Dec 31, 2018 | Blog
We usually search out and go on diets as a knee-jerk response to that moment when we step on the scale, look too long into the mirror, or fail to fit a clothing item that we used to wear with ease. We freak out at the number on the scale or the pants that would not button, and off we go on a diet hunt. Maybe we go back to a diet that worked “once upon a time.” Or we decide to try what so-and-so did to lose “X” number of pounds.
The problem with this is that it’s only temporary, and eventually we go “off” of the diet only to land right back where we started. Or worse, we end up even heavier than we were before we went off of the rails.
The word “diet” has its roots in the temporary. We “diet” for a one-time event like a wedding or reunion, for surgery, or for a “cleanse,” and then we stop and return to our previous way of eating. Deep down we know that it is not sustainable to restrict ourselves from our favorite foods for very long in this way.
Let’s be honest, we also know that if it was sustainable to stay on that particular diet, we would still be on it today!
So why do we go back to those “weak and miserable principles” referred to in Galatians 4:9? And what is the solution? We need some solid answers. Praise be to God our Father who can provide answers for all things, including our weight and food woes!
First and foremost, we need to ask God what HE thinks! What does He want for us as individuals? No diet or boundary is “one size fits all.” If there was such a thing, we would ALL be doing it!
However, here at Thin Within we subscribe to our natural hunger mechanism that we believe God gave us at birth. We define that hunger mechanism as eating between zero and five (0-5), which is our primary boundary. Zero is fully hungry, and 5 is “just satisfied”; not full or stuffed.
We believe that God never expected us to be preoccupied with food and diets, or our bodies (Matthew 6:25). He certainly talks about food a lot in scripture and had food rules for the Israelites. However, now that we are in Christ, or rather Christ is in US, we are given so much freedom!
Notice that I said freedom, not license! He tells us that we now have the fruits of the Spirit. One of those fruits, listed in Galatians 5:23, is self-control. He tells us that everything is permissible (1 Corinthians 10:23), but that nothing is to have mastery over us (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Then let’s roll up our sleeves and take a look at what we need to do!
5 Steps to Connecting Our Eating with God
1) We need to view 0-5 as being our life-long chosen boundary with God’s blessing. This is hunger and fullness on a definable scale. I realize that this may not be the boundary God leads everyone to. Barb Raveling says to look for a boundary or boundaries that you can keep for the rest of your days here on earth. For some, that might just be calorie counting, three meals a day, or low-carb eating. But chances are you are reading this article because, to you, those were diets and they just didn’t “work” for you. So consider that God may be prompting you to do zero-to-five eating!
2) We need to utilize whatever means we can to keep 0-5 as our primary boundary. Just as alcoholics need to avoid situations that would cause them to imbibe, like Joseph, we need to flee tempting situations when possible. I like to tell myself Romans 13:14 often and “make no provision for the flesh.” I do this by not purchasing certain foods that I know I have little self-control with at the moment. I do this by avoiding situations where I might lose control, like in front of the TV at night. It may be a temporary restriction or limited in scope (think of a single serving bag of m&m’s and not a five-pound bag). I know my weaknesses and that certain foods could derail my efforts if I have them easily accessible. This is different from saying “I can eat this but not that! And it might just be for a season.
3) We need to realize that we need God’s power! This should always be number one on our list. His Word says that “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). NOTHING! I have to shout this to myself! Another verse reminds us that we need Him, the Holy Spirit, to bear the fruit of self-control in us (Galatians 5:23). Diets just do not provide God. IF they do, they might still tell you what you can and cannot eat just like a person in authority over us used to do. We want to mature beyond that. Think about it: Diets have the potential to keep us immature! How humiliating. We want to be grown-ups in Christ. It is shocking to think that a diet could potentially keep us from growing spiritually.
4) We need to find support. AA to an alcoholic is Thin Within Ministries to us. We need loving accountability. We need to be in groups where others can lead us through valleys and trials. We need cheer leaders, people to help us not give up! And let’s face it, we all need others who “get us.” We also need as many ideas as we can employ to do this 0-5 thing! Just as you would not visit a foreign country for the first time without a guide and a translator, you do not want to try to do this alone. It could be disastrous in a foreign country and it could be disastrous here.
5) And last, we need to actually believe and trust God! It’s one thing to realize that we need God’s power, but quite another to actually trust His direction each day and not get focused on the end result, whether that’s a number on the scale or an outfit we are dying to get back into. If we keep looking for the end result, we will not be focused on Him. We need to focus daily on keeping our boundaries with God’s help. Then the results become God’s responsibility. We do this by utilizing tools such as “The keys to conscious eating” found in the Thin Within workbook series in conjunction with renewing our minds (Romans 12:2), joining classes and groups for support, and maybe getting individual coaching.
It is the daily focus and disciplines that get us where we need to go (Matthew 6:34) one meal at a time, one bite at a time. We want to learn to be content with food and our bodies, don’t we? “For godliness and contentment are great gain!” as it says in 1 Timothy 6:6. Thankfully, that is not weight gain!
by Barb Shelton | Apr 20, 2018 | Blog
Several weeks ago a couple came over for dinner (yes, we had invited them; they didn’t just show up) and brought us a potted miniature rose plant. It had some pretty red roses blooming, and was healthy and thriving. Which actually made me feel bad that it was now going to have me for its owner, as I do not generally do well with indoor plants. (Well, outdoor ones, either, but we’ll stick with indoor ones herein.)
However, the sweet beauty of this plant made me that much more determined to not only keep this one alive (like for more than a week), but to have it flourish! So I have done my best to water it with the “right“ amount of water – not really knowing what that is, but trying anyway.
I do remember my plant-whisperer mother-in-love saying something about watering plants when they’re dry. Okay, maybe she didn’t mean “dry for three weeks,” so I touched the surface of the dirt every day, and when it felt dry, I watered it.
Plants seem to enjoy light, as well, but living in the non-sunny (I’m trying not to actually say “cloudy and dreary”) Pacific Northwest, and specifically living in our house that doesn’t get a lot of sunlight anyway because of being in the woods, I had to get a bit creative. I thought it might help to put it in a spot where there was more light – specifically directly beneath an under-cupboard fluorescent light in my kitchen.
As you can see, I put it in a mini red crock pot, (which matches my Mary Engelbreit kitchen,) but it is not turned on, so that had no effect on its growth. That was just the only counter space available below any of the fluorescent lights under my cupboards!
Well, I am thrilled (more than you know!) to announce that my rose plant has thrived in this spot! It not only stayed alive, but it has actually GROWN!!! (I kid you not!) Three times its original size!!!
The original mini roses eventually matured and I picked them off, but that’s normal. The rest of the plant still grew. No more mini roses, but, in faith, I knew they’d eventually come. At least I had a green plant in the meantime.
While working in the kitchen one day, I happened to bend down further than I usually do and noticed something interesting: Two darling little roses right at the top of the plant, the spot that was closest to the light!
I looked through the rest of the plant, and did not see any other rosebuds anywhere else! (I’m pulling them down to get a picture of them, so that’s why they don’t appear to be right at the top by the light. This is a few days after the picture above, which is why they’re bigger.)
Whether or not this is the norm for miniature roses (growing in mini crock pots directly below fluorescent lights in Pacific Northwest kitchens), it wasn’t hard to run with and “interpret” this analogy!
Obviously, the closer we position ourselves to the Light ~ Jesus Himself ~ the more we will blossom and grow in our walk with Him!
There are many good reasons He uses “light” to refer to Himself. Many more than I thought as I discovered when searching for Bible verses about light. I was delighted to find that the Word even get very specific about how, as “the Light of the World,” Jesus: (For your graphic-viewing pleasure, I made scripture-graphics of some of these verses.)
Jesus…
…helps us.
“Many say that God will never help us. Prove them wrong, O Lord, by letting the light of your face shine down upon us.” (Psalm 4:6)
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…keeps us from stumbling.
“Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.” (John 8:12) “Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling. (Psalm 119:105)
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…gives us life.
“Answer me, O Lord my God; give me light in my darkness, lest I die.” (Psalm 13:3) “He floods the darkness with light, even the dark shadow of death.” (Job 12:22)
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…counsels us.
“Your laws are both my light and my counselors.” (Psalm 119:24)
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…gives us wisdom and joy.
“God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light.” (Psalm 19:7-8)
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…dispells our personal darkness.
“You have turned on my light! The Lord my God has made my darkness turn to light.” (Psalm 18:28)...
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…warns us of danger.
“For their [it’s actually referring to parents’ advice, but because many parents are living ungodly lives, I’m using the word “godly” instead] advice is a beam of light directed into the dark corners of your mind to warn you of danger, and…” (Proverbs 6:23)
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…gives us a good life.
[For their advice is a beam of light directed into the dark corners of your mind to] give you a good life.” (Proverbs 6:23)
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.…leads us.
“Oh, send out your light and your truth—let them lead me. Let them lead me to your Temple on your holy mountain, Zion.” (Psalm 43:3)
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…blesses us with good things.
“For Jehovah God is our Light… No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.” (Psalm 84:11)
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…protects us.
“For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.” (Psalm 84:11)
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…sheds glorious light on us, healing us, leading us forward.
“If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.” (Isaiah 58:8)
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WOW! I knew that what I’d find when I looked up “light” would be good, but to see all these verses ~ and benefits of light ~ in one place is just a deLIGHTful BLAST of BLESSING!!!
Which my darkened-in-some-areas thinking could certainly use! I am on the path of getting my mind renewed, especially as it pertains to food and eating, but I need much more light to illuminate and correct my wrong thinking.
For others, maybe it’s a different addiction ~ shopping, alcohol, drugs, porn, too much of anything, be it TV, computer, games, entertainment, even exercise.
Any of these can be a little-g god in our lives, and, without them being exposed to the healing light of God’s truth, can (and will) keep us in darkness in that area, which will eventually spread to other areas.
Of course, to receive this new thinking, the very mind of Christ, we have to actually draw near to Him, who is the Light!
Which brings me full-circle back to my rosebuds and what they did. They drew near to the light, not because of how smart they were, but because of how attractive light is. By its very nature, light draws living things to it.
But that doesn’t mean all living things ~ including us ~ always make the choice to draw near to the light! It takes time and effort. And denying what our flesh gravitates toward, which feels good for the moment, but is not ultimately good for us. Nor is it what we really want; what our spirit longs for. But it is sooooo worth the time and effort! And what valuable rewards come of it!
There’s one other little detail that did not go unnoticed by me… There are two rosebuds side-by-side! If any of you have an active, growing relationship with an accountability/prayer partner, you will get this right away! As it says in Ecclesiastes:
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“…(O)ne standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer; three is even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
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It is the Lord ~ that Third Strand of the triple-braided cord ~ who binds us together and strengthens us! I love how He uses other sisters to help strengthen us! I know that, for me, having an accountability partner helps me “walk in the light” ~ which brings me full-circle to the focus of this article…
That nothing but good can come from drawing near to the Light of the World! He IS Light, He is FULL of Light, and He brings light to our darkness ~ whatever it may be.
When we go into a totally dark room, grope around on the wall for the light switch, and flip it on, there is no argument between the darkness and the light. Get that? NO ARGUMENT at all! The light always wins.
This is true in both the natural realm as well as the super-natural.
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So let’s take hold of what God has for us, stop stumbling in the dark, and receive more of the wisdom, joy, protection, good things and GOOD LIFE that God has for us, if we’ll only choose Him and allow Him to shed light on ~ and thus pull us out of ~ our “personal darkness” ~ whatever area that may be for us! He is stronger and brighter and bigger than anything that, heretofore, has kept us in the dark!
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“Lord, You have turned on my light!
You have made my darkness turn to light.”
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by Heidi Bylsma | Mar 27, 2018 | Blog
This could be YOUR lucky week! 🙂
Heidi and Christina welcome you to join them for a 10-week Thin Within small coaching group experience!
We’re giving away a scholarship to the upcoming Coaching Group session!!!
A $350 value! 🙂
(Actually, we think that it is worth way more than that! At least to US as we LOVE LOVE LOVE our coaching group participants!)
To qualify, please comment below with your answers to the following questions.
- Why do you need this coaching?
- How will this coaching change your life?
- What food, that’s been on on your “no-no” list, will you be able to enjoy freely?
Please be sure to scroll on down and answer these questions in the comments to be considered as our Grand Prize Winner! 😀
WHY do we consider Thin Within Coaching Groups the ultimate Thin Within experience?
Consider:
1.) Two coaches join together with 8 students for an intimate, deep dive into Thin Within for 10 weeks. We will provide you with more inspiring input and supply more effective strategies than Heidi offers even in 1-on-1 coaching!
2.) The other 7 students will contribute to your journey just as you will have insights and wisdom that may shed light on theirs!
3.) Heidi Bylsma works with Judy Halliday extensively, having collaborated on the writing of the Thin Within book and also the Thin Within Workbook series. In 2006 to 2007, using the Thin Within principles, Heidi released 100 pounds and kept a healthy size for 7 years. Heidi has joined you in the trenches, now, as she seeks to release weight that has returned to her frame due to a lack of diligence to renew her mind during a health crisis, and all that has been entailed in the dismantling of her 33-year marriage. She wrote the Fresh Wind Fresh Desire curriculum to share insights gleaned on her 18-year Thin Within journey.
Heidi – Before
Heidi – After (She has temporarily gained weight since this photo was taken!)
4.) Christina Motley has coached others with Heidi Bylsma for the past 2 years. Christina has been involved in Thin Within for a long while and uses her experience and enthusiasm as well as her brilliance 🙂 to contribute to the Fresh Wind Fresh Desire curriculum and to our small coaching groups in a powerful way. Her “Porch Chats” provide continued encouragement and inspiration to our coachees–all new content created each week, often in response to questions or concerns raised during our group coaching calls. Learn the tips, tricks, tools that both of these women use for victory. Discover (and avoid) the pitfalls that keep you from victory on your journey. (Heidi has learned the hard way that when she stops using the tools, over-eating becomes an issue again…even after 7 years of maintaining a healthy size!)
5.) Facebook Group support all day every day where the 10 of us meet:
- Use the group for accountability by checking in each day if you like!
- Share prayer requests and praises about your journey specifically.
- Ask questions and get feedback from 9 others, including at least 2 veterans (the coaches are veterans, but many of the people who sign up for the coaching groups are veterans as well)
- When you need immediate prayer support and encouragement, you can post to our Facebook group.
- Porch Chat videos by Christina available and uploaded 2x a week.
- Heart 2 Heart videos by Heidi available and uploaded once a week.
- Other helpful files made available in the Facebook group
6.) This is the closest thing we have to an “Insider’s Club!” 🙂 All of us in the coaching group will become great friends with one another over the 10 weeks together. Many of our participants so far have continued to meet together!
7.) You WILL experience victory if you participate! We know this will UNSTICK you! If you haven’t seen ALL the details, including a video or two to show you what’s up, visit this page.
What questions do you have about our coaching groups? Christina and Heidi will be hosting a Facebook Live event on Thursday, March 29th at 10am PDT, 11am MDT, 12pm CDT, 1pm EDT. Visit Heidi’s profile page and keep refreshing until you see a live video. If you miss it, you can always catch the recording.
Remember! To be considered for a full scholarship in a coaching group this Spring, please answer the questions at the top of this post by typing your comments below and we will be selecting a “blessed winner” who will get free access to be in a coaching group from the week of April 2-June 3rd.
by Barb Shelton | Jan 15, 2018 | Blog
I have noticed that there are two types of people in Thin Within:
- Those who stay on the fringes of the ministry, dabbling here and there, reading some, participating in a group or two – which I did for years! And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it! I was welcomed, accepted, and loved, and I received much in the way of encouragement and resources. And I learned and grew. But there was no “connectaccountability” – meaning no one knew when I was coming or going, or how I was doing with the program, other than what I chose to reveal in a group.
Fringe-stayers; comfy, but you don’t go anywhere (at least I didn’t!)
But I personally could just not get to a place of fully embracing the Thin Within message or implementing it into my life. That’s why I was SO glad when Heidi and Christina began their small coaching groups, as this was the opportunity I needed to be part of the second type of Thin Withinner:
- Those who jump in to the program head-first, with heart in tow, and become participants in a much deeper, real-time, connected way!
Woo-hooooo!!! So glad I jumped in!
This is now ME, too!!! And I like it much better than being in the first group! (Don’t worry, it’s much easier than doing the above jump would be, but it felt almost as scary right at the beginning!)
In fact, I love small group coaching – and Heidi and Christina(!) – so much, I’m now in my fourth group!
Perhaps you have made the jump into joining a small coaching group, and started out, but then got cold feet part way through and opted to pull out.
Or maybe you stuck it out, but didn’t feel you got out of it what you hoped.
No matter what boat you’re in – or not in – I have a few tips that will help you get the most out of your involvement with a small coaching group. Note that many of them are decisions.
1) Decide right up front – as in right now ~ that you will jump in to this program, specifically into your group, with your whole heart, and that you will give it all that you can! This isn’t just about Heidi and Christina giving to us, although they do much of that! It’s about what you bring to – and give to the group. In fact, if you decide to GIVE more than you receive, you will be even more blessed, because, as we all know, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Part of what they do is facilitate us connecting with and blessing each other!
I’ve often gone to a call just feeling grimey, like I’ve failed (cuz I actually had!), and like I need a good cleansing. But after each of our calls, I feel like I have been washed fresh and clean – by the Word, by sharing my heart and being showered with encouragement, love, and compassion. My focus gets changed from being downward-focused, to being , focused on Jesus’ cleansing grace, excited to jump back in whole-heartedly and right-heartedly.
2) Do your prep work for the call each week, as much as possible, not as a legalistic or performance-based thing, not just so that you can check it off your list (which, as confirmed “To-do-a-holic,” I do LOVE checklist-checking-off!), but rather, simply because these assignments are part of the work that God is doing to bring us out of Egypt and into his promised land! In our case, it’s the Promised Land of FREEDOM FROM EMOTIONAL EATING AND BONDAGE TO FOOD!!! I SO look forward to this, but, thanks to these coaching groups, I am much closer to it than ever before!
3) But, even if you are not able to do all of the assignment, or even any of it ~ and there will be those times – decide right now – this very moment(!) – to come to every single call that you’re able to, even, if not especially, when you you don’t want to come! Heidi and Christina are sooooo gracious – ALL of the time!!! Even if we have been unable to do the assignments, we are still just as welcome on the calls! We have ALL been there, and there is no condemnation, and we have still gotten much out of our time on the call, with noone thinking less of us for it!
4) Show yourself GRACE ALL through the process, because that is absolutely the theme of this ministry, and at the very core of Heidi and Christina’s hearts! There have been many times that I have felt like I deserved a little bit of scolding, but that has NEVER EVER happened! I have received nothing but encouragement, grace, and love!
5) Determine that you will discard any and ALL thoughts of self-condemnation! This includes being down on yourself, feeling like a failure, or entertaining any ideas of quitting. Since what we are doing in these small groups is really part of our walks with the Lord – in an area we have heretofore kept in a dark closet of our hearts – there’s really nothing TO quit! This is very much part of our journey with God! We are just bringing an area of our lives into a place of allowing God to have access to it – to heal us, and bring us out of that darkness and into His wonderful light! Sometimes that light can be blinding and uncomfortable, but it’s the only place we’re going to get fully healed!
6) Decide, instead, that when you fail or “blow it,” you will “observe and correct,” and focus only on what you can learn from any failure. And we get plennnnty of practice at this with Heidi and Christina, who simply don’t accommodate any attempts to beat ourselves up!
7) Likewise, decide right now that, when the Holy Spirit shows you any sin, you will repent quickly! No groveling, no retreating from Him, no justifying, no pummeling yourself for doing it again, no pity party. Just quickly come into agreement with the Lord (about your sin) and REPENT! Respond to His loving conviction and come back quickly to Him. Do not allow it to keep you away from Him. He is our only hope for transformation anyway, so staying away from Him will only cut us off from our Source of power and change!
Jesus’ arms – and those of Heidi and Christina and everyone in our small group – are wide open to receive us and swiftly get us back on the path to peace, healing, freedom and victory!
This is actually more like what it feels like sometimes!!!
And finally…
8) Come to each call ready to be vulnerable and share what is truly on your heart! This is not the place to come with a happy-face mask and act like everything’s fine when it isn’t. This is truly a loving, caring, gracious group of ladies, under the loving and wise leadership of Heidi and Christina, and you can be totally yourself, totally vulnerable with them! You will absolutely FALL IN LOVE with these amazing people!
It’s like being part of a living, vital, growing, fruitful vine! We are all connected, all growing together, and in many ways producing sweet fruit together because of the input we all have into each others’ lives on this inter-connected leg of the journey. Yes, it’s difficult but we are in it together!
So – can you see why I am sooooo deeply grateful to be in a Thin Within coaching group with Heidi and Christina?!?
I know weight numbers are not a focus, but just so you know this really works from not only a spiritual angle, but from a physical one as well, I have lost about 30 pounds since starting this Thin Within journey! And I have another 20 or so to lose, which will put me at my natural God-given size, not necessarily “skinny.”
These small groups help me keep “walking in the light” where it’s much more difficult to hide in the darkness than when I’m “Lone Rangering” it! – which is SO easy to do when I am struggling and failing and sinning!
So if you are still on the fence, I encourage you to take this to the Lord, ask Him if this is something He wants you to be part of, and if so, don’t wait another moment to sign up and jump into this! It might feel like you’re about to do this…
…especially when you first join and come to your first group phone call. But I encourage you come to the water, LET GO of the rope – whatever is holding you back – and JUST JUMP IN!!!!
I can wholeheartedly assure you that…
the water is WARM!!!
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 1, 2017 | Blog
Actually, a better title might be: “No Man… but I have a Plan!”
During my second month of pregnancy, when I may have been feeling my worst, my husband announced he would be going to London on a two-week business trip. I was very concerned about being left alone with the two kids, work, housework, and in my first trimester of pregnancy. But most of all, I was concerned about being left to my own devices in the evenings… all alone…
Historically I would have used the evening times alone to “indulge” in over-eating, and late-night movie watching. But I know that inevitably, I wake up the next morning regretting staying up so late and regretting what I ate! So, I decided to use it as a re-framing opportunity. I wanted to think of an evening alone in a whole new light. I knew from experience that would take planning, accountability and a new way of thinking.
I started out with a favorite prayer pneumonic from John Piper. It’s “APTAT”:
- A – Admit that you can do nothing on your own.
- P – Pray for help
- T – Trust a Promise
- A – Act in response
- T – Thank him for helping you.
In the past, this little reminder has helped me calm my anxiety and refocus on God and his ability to influence me and my circumstances. So that’s what I prayed. And then I made a plan.
Truth Cards
My attitude about this whole situation was not great. I felt panicky and like I was being left out of the fun. So I wrote some truths about what this time really was about—or some of the potential benefits of this short season. Truths like,
“Thank you God for this more relaxed week to make memories with my children.”
“Jesus is my Perfect Companion. He never gives up on me, grows weary, stops loving me, or walks away.”
“God, you know I am not perfect. But you have said I have your resurrection power in me. You said your Divine Power has given me everything I need for life and godliness today.”
I reviewed these in the mornings usually. A quick way to get my mind right for the day.
Evening Mind Renewal
One of my goals was to renew my mind every evening after dinner and before I started watching TV or having any snacks. This was an Accountability Point for me (see below) and was very helpful. In fact, I got a big surprise! I discovered new things about myself! I discovered I love to go out on the porch after dinner. Listening to the night sounds and looking up at the moon and stars gave me a wonderful calm and new perspective for the evening.
I came to look forward to that time to just “be” with my Heavenly Husband. We enjoyed such satisfying moments together that TV didn’t even interest me some nights (!) This time of mind renewal looked different on different nights. It might be praise time, reviewing my Truth Cards or using Barb Raveling’s I Deserve A Donut App or my own Bible study.
Extra Boundaries for TLC
I also tried to listen to what the wisdom of God’s Spirit was nudging me to do to protect myself during a particularly vulnerable time. I decided it was best not to buy or bake any sweets/desserts during that time, since those are particularly difficult for me to resist, especially when I’m alone. I also knew that the later I stayed up, the weaker I became. I was more likely to make choices I’d regret later. Plus, I need my rest—after all, I’m growing a baby! So my other boundary was to be in my bed at 9:30 on weeknights and by 11 on weekends.
Accountability
I knew that on my own, I’d be less likely to finish strong. I tend to thrive with that extra boost of encouragement. So, I called up my friend Molly. We met in one of the Thin Within online Facebook groups and really hit it off. We periodically text or call so I knew she’d be willing to help. She was so kind to touch base with me daily and encourage me that we were doing those two weeks together. Even when I had a disastrous day, it really helped me to Observe and Correct, when I had to reflect back and report in about what had happened and the choices I had made.
God was so gracious during the time my husband was away. He answered prayers and gave me extra energy, grace, and patience with the kids. He kept everyone safe and gave me strength to survive fever and floods! He is so Good.
So whether you have a challenging weekend coming up or a new life situation that has you baffled…I pray these ideas will prove useful to you. I have to remember: the main thing is the Main Thing—Jesus! He’s the one who empowers me to walk wisely in the way he instructs me to go. Keeping my eyes focused on the Author and Perfector of our faith is what makes life full and satisfying, regardless of my outward circumstances.
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Emily lives in South Korea with her husband and 2.1 children. She enjoys being the token American in her neighborhood and baking for the Korean neighbors. She is grateful for the chance to lead worship in their small “expat church”. Like most mothers, she’s also good at multitasking–like cooking and putting on bandaids, rubbing four feet while reading two books and driving while chewing gum and talking on FaceTime with family back home.
Thanks, Emily!
If you are a pregnant mom, won’t you post here and let us know? We would love to have a little support community right here on the blog for you all who are hoping to navigate the waters of your pregnancy (and after) while applying the Thin Within principles. Not only does Thin Within “work” during pregnancy to minimize weight gain, but many women LOVE the way they feel when they do this! EVEN when pregnant!
~ Heidi
