Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
The two friends talked…and talked…and talked. It quickly became clear that they were obsessed with exercise. I couldn’t help but feel depressed as they described their workouts and their sore muscles. I secretly wanted to ask them, “Do your entire lives revolve around exercise?” Obviously, I held my tongue. It wasn’t my place to ask them that question. And frankly, I could ask my high school self the same one.
Even if you're not currently recovering from an eating disorder, I hope this conversation encourages you and reminds you that singleness can prepare you for dating and marriage. It's an opportunity to examine your own priorities and to determine what priorities you want your future husband to have so that—together—you can honor God in your marriage. You can listen to my conversation with Chrissy here.
In last week's post, I shared a couple important questions to ask yourself about your mental health struggle. I mentioned that even though I’m not an expert on this topic, I do have personal experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I may not know every detail about your mental health struggle—perhaps anxiety, depression, or OCD—but I do know you can move forward. Here are a few more questions to consider as you decide how.
While I’m not an expert on mental health, I understand mental health struggles on a personal level because I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If you have a mental health struggle but don't know exactly how to navigate it or manage it, this post is for you! I hope you'll find these two questions helpful as you determine the best way to move forward.
As a former anorexic, I know how prevalent the topic of health is in our culture. For about two years, I devoted myself to "being healthy" because I thought my body was gross, not good. But rather than becoming satisfied with my body as I lost weight, I developed an eating disorder and have spent the past several years recovering from it. To help you avoid falling into the trap that I fell into, I want to point out two lies you may be believing about health.
Real Recovery: What Eating Disorder Recovery Actually Looks Like is officially two years old! But this isn’t just a celebratory post; it’s also an advisory post. Really, this post is my encouragement to you to start your eating disorder recovery journey. But I want you to know a couple specific things—things I discuss in Real Recovery—as you start this important journey.
Because I don't like my body. Honestly, I haven't for a very long time. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly fine and is completely healthy. Yet it's still so hard to accept the body I have. Maybe body acceptance is a challenge for all of us as women. Because I don't like my body. Honestly, I haven't for a very long time. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly fine and is completely healthy. Yet it's still so hard to accept the body I have. But isn't that just part of womanhood?
My physical recovery was fairly quick, but it has taken (not took, but has taken) years for me to recover mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Because honestly, my eating disorder took a much bigger toll on my mind, heart, and soul than on my body.
I'm so excited to share an episode of The Boundless Show with you today! This podcast is part of Boundless—Focus on the Family's young adult ministry. I recently chatted with host Lisa Anderson during the podcast's "Culture Segment" (which is about 30 minutes into the episode) about eating disorder recovery. I want to thank Lisa for having me on the podcast; I had a blast! To listen to the episode, head over to Boundless! Also, if you want to get a free copy of my book Real Recovery, you can make a donation of any amount to Boundless by clicking this link, which will take you to a Focus on the Family donation page.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 