"Crave" Week 5

Hello first Monday of August AND 5th week of "Crave". It's truly flying by for me. Here's to another week, praying for God to move deeper and work in our lives even more than last week. Make sure to check out Crystal & Rebecca's pages, as well as link up at the bottom to join up. It's a pleasure to have you as always.

Chapter 7: "I'm not Defined by the Numbers"

I feel like this chapter is so crucial for any believer, struggling with an addiction or not. While the title of the chapter led me to believe that it would be about the importance of knowing who we are in Christ and finding our worth and value in Him instead of the number on the scale or on the tag of our clothes, but oh girls, it was so much more than that.

She focused on Isaiah 45:2-3, some well loved verses for me personally. However she added her own words of kind of "filling in the blanks" and I found it huge for me personally. I really do urge you to do the same in your own life this week. Find some time where you can get away with just you and God and let Him reveal these places in your heart that you're needing to surrender. How could you fill in these blanks like Lysa did? Here's what she did....you change the italicized parts to be your own.

"I will go before you...I (God) knew this comment would be made in exercise class this morning.
...and will level the mountains...and that's why the Holy Spirit prompted you to remember these exact verses, even if only faintly, to protect you from what could have been a huge hurt to your heart.
I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron...I will break through the lies that could have imprisoned you and made your doubt your true worth.
I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places...In the most unlikely places I will bless your efforts and reward your perserverance with small indications of your victory.
...so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name"...I love you, Lysa. I loved you when you weighted almost 200 pounds. I loved you at 167. I love you at 150. I love you and no number on the scale will ever change that. I'm not taking you on this journey because I need you to weigh less. I am taking you on this journey because I desire for you to be healthy in every sense of the word. I know your name, Lysa. Now, rest in the security of My Name and all that it means to your identity. (Isaiah 45:2-3) (71)

Chapter 8: "Making Peace with the Realities of My Body"

Ok anyone else totally cringing as Lysa describes the situation in high school when the boy she had a crush on made note of her "tankles". Ahhh I was totally wanting to crawl under the couch for her! But we've all been there in one way or another right? Kids are so mean. Adults are too sometimes, but middle school/junior high is specifically so difficult during such a tender, heart-shaping, period in our lives and sometimes we never forget those words. We all have those moments right? For me it was middle school, smack dab in the middle of the awkward years (somedays I'm fairly sure I never outgrew it though). I still vividly remember the outfit. I had wanted overalls for years guys. Years. For one reason or another I hadn't gotten them. Then finally I landed on the perfect pair, they were short overalls (not too short though, just perfect) and they were covered in a brightly colored print of tropical fruit all over them. Looking back today, I kind of giggle at that image. It was just as hideous as I'm sure you're picturing it to be-don't apologize for the laughter. However, I loved that pair of overalls. Maybe it was because I waited years for that pair of overalls, maybe I was just real into tropical fruit that year? Who even knows. But I felt good in those overalls. Real good. So when I hit the playground that day after lunch I was felt punched in the stomach when a random girl that I hardly even knew said to me something along the lines of a bowl of Fruit Loops throwing up on me.
I'm laughing today. But I was devastated that day. I looked for the nearest hole to crawl in until atleast high school graduation. I figured I'd reconsider for the college years depending on how far of a school I could find.

Maybe you never had a boy call your ankles "tankles".
Maybe you never owned a pair of "Fruit Loops vomit overalls".
But there's probably been something. Right?

And while the thought of it all, and the thought of all the heartache that is in our young people daily, and the thought that maybe today a girl wore a hideous outfit like mine and got made fun of for it and is crying looking for that hole too-well, it makes me want to head to our local middle school and set up a "hug booth" and just sit there 24/7. Hugging broken hearts, consoling bad hair days that feels like nothing else matters, loving on the girls who got told they were too big for the cheerleading uniform. I just want to sit down and cry with all of them and promise them...sweet girl it will get better...there is more than this, I promise. I can't do any of that though. But I find hope in knowing that maybe-just maybe-God is allowing these hurtful situations to bring us something better. Something bigger than overall's and "tankles". A reminder that to Him, we are perfectly and wonderfully made.

"The body God has given me is good. It's not perfect nor will it ever be. But it is a gift for which I am thankful." (82)