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Beauty In Christ - The Book

Freedom From Idolatry of Body and Food

What I Learned From A Week of House Sitting

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A week of house sitting taught me that I don’t like solitude as much as I thought I did.   Since I was about 15 or 16, I often isolated myself because I felt ashamed of my struggle with an eating disorder.    But then, the Lord really drew me out of that isolation, and I started to love the fellowship around food again; I started to love being around my family and not feeling ashamed of food or my body.  

House sitting taught me another layer of why I LOVE solitude, but I don’t love it all the time.  

If you look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, He did go aside into a desert place to  be alone with His Father, but He didn’t do that for the majority of the ministry that’s recorded in the gospels.  

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Why It’s Okay to Not Be Productive (Episode #96)

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“Productive?”  It’s a buzz word that many of us love, but it can also become an idol.  I TOO often have found myself thinking that I always have to be going, producing, working, and never still.   Yet the Lord WANTS His beloved children to sleep (Psalm 127); the Lord wants us to be still (Exodus 14, Psalm 46), and sometimes that means not being productive.  

Some days that looks like being on the couch, reading, praying, going aside into a secret place to be with the Lord.  

That’s why I’m talking about ‘productivity’, the Sabbath, and why it’s really important to rest even if it feels like you shouldn’t be resting.

(Note:  You may hear me talking to the dogs I’m babysitting in this podcast.   Ignore the sound effects.  :D)   

I talk about: 

  • Why resting can be selfish but it doesn’t have to be
  • Why humans needs rest
  • Why rest reminds me that God is powerful and I’m not 
  • What Jesus did when He went aside to rest
  • Why rest fuels you for service 
  • My favorite forms of ways to rest 
  • Rest doesn’t have to be complicated ‘self care.’Scripture Passage References:

    Luke 10

    Isaiah 40:28-31, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’  

    Psalm 127:1-2, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except theLord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

    Deuteronomy 5:14, ‘But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thymanservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservantand thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.’    

    Sometimes rest can be: A simple short walk
    Baking cookies 
    Reading a book
    Watching a fun cooking show
    Reading your Bible and journaling Bible verses
    Listening to a favorite podcast 
    Laying on the floor and just thinking about God’s goodness
    Napping on the couch 

    There is no WRONG thing to do while resting.   

    So I’m encouraging you to take some rest, take some quiet time today, and remember that the Lord GIVES His beloved sleep and renews their strength.  

    Do you ever struggle with feeling guilty when you’re not ‘being productive?’

How to Receive a Compliment (Thinking Out Loud)

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Acts 20:33-35, ‘I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  

Paul amazes me.  He didn’t covet or HAVE to have praise from other men.  All he lived for after Christ confronted him on the Damascus road was to please Christ.  For this brother, to live was Christ.  To die was gain and to be with Christ.   

That’s why I picked this passage here from Acts 20:33-35.   Paul didn’t covet anybody else’s stuff.  Yet people ministered to him; different churches ministered to him throughout his ministry of Christ.   And he didn’t refuse their ministry.   He didn’t refuse their love.  Look through his epistles, and you’ll see how thankful he was for their love.

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When Recovery Requires a Complete Break from Exercise (Episode #95)

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Sometimes recovery doesn’t just require less exercise. Occasionally it requires a complete, total break from it.  As I’ve met more and more girls and women that have struggled with eating disorder or disordered eating patterns, I’ve noticed that there is something really crucial about either taking a complete break from exercise or greatly reducing your exercise load.  

That’s not quite my story, but I’ve had to say, ‘No’ to a lot of distance running and heavy cardio as part of recovery.   Honestly that’s not easy when you find exercise enjoyable.    For me exercise was always fun; I didn’t find it a complete chore, but the amount I did was too taxing on my body.   

It also turns out that exercise can be more of a stressor than a ‘de-stressor’ especially when you’ve lost your period.   I didn’t figure this out until I began reading from Robyn at the Real Life RD.   

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