Today, I have a video AND a sound file for you. If you subscribe via email, please visit the blog as those links won’t come through the email subscription.
The sound file is 10 minutes long and you can download it and import it into iTunes if you like it enough. It is my renewing of my mind about how keeping boundaries–life–is hard and what are truths that I can believe to replace lies. There is hope in this place! I hope it encourages you and I would love to hear from you, if so (but not if not…LOL!). The sound quality isn’t as good as past audios because I used my old laptop instead of the iPad. Sorry about that. I won’t do that again! 🙂
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/86963587″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]I was so encouraged after doing Barb’s day 12 study on Hopeless Eating, that I also made a video. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwyEOW0ooIo?rel=0
The material we have been studying together is simply TOO good for us to blow through! I hope that if you have joined us late, you go back and DO this study. I have a page for you here. It lays a wonderful foundation for how to change the way we think–which is VITAL if we are to truly be transformed.
What will you do today to kindle your hope and to fight the fight? How can we pray for you?
Yes, the audio is really hard to hear but well worth the extra focus. I put myself in a quiet room, locked out all other noise, then got up close and personal to the computer speaker. Wow…great stuff on this audio. Heidi’s passion is contagious, and I needed to be infected for today’s 0-5 journey. This message encouraged me with the fact that when the hard times hit that I can be optomistic knowing that God will give me His strength to persevere through.
Lesley, thanks for the extra effort. 🙂 I was hoping it might be helpful…I don’t remember why I didn’t use the iPad. Go figure! Thanks for the summary of the audio! I really hope people can use these audios as tools to help! Or make *their* own audios! It would be so cool if we all just made our own audio files of renewing our minds and then when we are feeling backed up against the wall and “less than willing” we would play them…there would be our own voices speaking TRUTH! What do you all think? 🙂
Wow! The audio was so powerful – I know that I will be listening to it again! This week I have had several successes in fighting with the truth. A few examples – I wanted to eat sweets after dinner, although I was at a 5 – spoke out loud that God, You are enough! Never ate the cookie.
When my daughter was stressing me out (home sick the day before, huge melt down after school) and she calmed down and left the room, I was left standing in the kitchen. I wanted to eat something, anything, and I started praising God for this precious child – I walked out of the kitchen
. I have really been following my secondary boundaries (yes, it’s hard) of sitting to eat (no standing) at the table only (no tv). For lunch yesterday, I changed my planned meal to what I really wanted (my good food/bad food lie) and then prayed and invited the Lord to the meal. He clearly indicated when I should stop eating the chips (yes, chips!) and I didn’t mind stopping.
Lastly, I tried on a few shorts and a pair of pants yesterday. I had to try on a size smaller than usual in the pants and they fit! I didn’t buy them, but I do have hope that the Lord is at work. But, my focus is more on the goal of peace and freedom than weight release ( well, most/ some of the time :)). Let’s get on our armors of God and get to work!
GOD is effective in working in and through you, CMK.WOOT! I celebrate with you that you have been giving him your heart, your mind, your actions! And YAY to the new size!!! YIPPEEE! The comment you made previous to this one it sounds like you weren’t too sure the weight would come off and now look at what has happened! LOL! YAY!
I do want to add that I have also had plenty failures and struggles. But I am choosing to focus on the successes and learn from the failures and that keeps my hope kindled.
EXCELLENT! Is this a “new thing” for you? Focusing on the successes? 🙂 So often we maximize the missteps and minimize the things we should celebrate! I am so glad to hear that you are flipping that around!
That’s awesome! What you shared about thanking God for your daughter instead of eating reminded me about what God has been teaching me about gratitude from the book One Thousand Gifts. That’s encouraging to me as well as I have an almost 20 month old daughter and I have moments where I need to just thank The Lord.
I LOVE that book, Christina. I have her devotion on my iPad Kindle app, too. LOVE that as well. Gratitude is HUGE in turning the corner for me.
Hey, I don’t know if anyone will read this or not, but if you look at the upper right side of the columns on the blog here, you will see a bunch of block text at the top right that says something about a free audio file for subscribing to my newsletter. I talk about the three things that made the difference in kicking me into hyperdrive and made it possible for me to be able to apply the TW principles more faithfully. Anyhow, if anyone is interested (and gratitude is one of those keys), you can sub to the newsletter and you will be sent the link automatically (I think). LOL!
Heidi, I subscribed but I never received the free download. ??
Oh! I didn’t realize that Ann Voskamp also has a devotional. I will definitely have to get that!
Thank you for the reminder that it is not easy. If it were easy we would have all done it by now! Today I had 2 situations come up where I felt fearful and insecure. Instead of letting my mind whirl around with all sorts of accusations about myself, I stopped and offered up a prayer for God to help me and He did. Before i have always felt like I had to come up with the solution to everything and that has been an unnecessary burden. Today I realized that this does work if I make the choice to speak the truth to myself and ask for God’s help in that moment.
Hi, Lynn! THAT is AWESOME! I love hearing about how God is doing a new thing! 🙂 We can keep renewing our minds and I believe there is no end to the “new things” that we will see him do! 🙂 He is reNEWing our minds! 🙂
I am so blessed by all your comments. There is hope of victory in this battle and I am grateful to all of you for providing the support I need. CMK I know what you mean about how difficult it is to follow those secondary boundaries but also how much of a difference they make. I, too, stop doing everything when it is time to eat and sit down quietly sharing my meal with the Lord. At first it feels strange but after a while it feels good to sit with the One who is the source of everything. It makes me more grateful for all of His gifts. I also believe my portions are less and I stope when I am satisfied. I really like how you handled not eating more when you reached 5 by saying God is enough. I will try doing that! Thanks. Also, Lynn thank you for the reminder to stop and speak truth to our body and spirit at all times instead of living with a lie that is leading us in a bad direction. Thanks.
Thanks Heidi for your reflections on Barb’s Day 12 study. I especially like when you remind us that there is joy in the process of working through this struggle and in being willing to fight the battle. I had to think about this a little and I realize that much of the joy comes from clinging to God. Although it is hard, we have the privilege of letting God lead us out of the wilderness into freedom. There is great joy in this hope. Thank you.
Yes, Lisa!!! Exactly! The joy that we get IN this struggle comes as we cling to him and come through the challenge, having a deeper intimacy with him as a result!
I am struggling with my second boundary of eating without distraction. I find myself wanting to eat after we put my daughter to bed at night–and I want to eat in front of the tv. We don’t even watch much tv but when I do I just want to eat. I’m also having a hard time with allowing myself to legalize all foods.
Christina – I have very similar struggles, it’s like reading my own journal entry – good food/bad food, eating in front of the tv (we only watch it at night after kids are in bed) at night – this is my hardest boundary to stay in. I have decided that when I am in a struggle with one of these, I will pray for you specifically and also for Heidi and this group.
Thank you, CMK! Would you be interested in being my accountability partner? Pray about it and I will too. It’s ok if you don’t. 🙂
Christina – what a great idea to consider! I spoke with Heidi today and she is going to email my address to you. I will be in prayer about it and we can “talk” in the next few days. Thanks for thinking of it!
Thank you SO much! I covet your prayers as I am sure we all do. 🙂
What are you doing about these struggles, Christina? Can you renew your mind first…as a boundary…as soon as you put her down? Like have a mini-quiet time? Just telling yourself the truth about food at that time? And legalizing all foods is another thing to renew your mind about, too. Has that worked at all?