I just wanted to let you know that the group moderator
will be out of town for a week and a half. I'll miss
you guys.

While I'm gone, think of ways we can get others
involved in this group. Do you know anyone who could
potentially benefit from some encouragement? It's a
blind list, so they won't get spammed.

Message for the Day
Do you know today that God loves you and thinks you
are beautiful? That He values you very highly?

As people who struggle with food issues, we tend not
to value ourselves very highly. We frequently have
thoughts that we are fat, ugly - even worthless. And
we often just accept these thoughts instead of
challenging them. We even put our lives on hold,
waiting for things to be "better". We say things to
ourselves such as, "Oh, I'll do that when I'm thin"
because we are so insecure about our weight that we
think we can't do certain things, or that we don't
deserve to.

The path to acceptance of yourselves where we are
today begins with challenging the negative thoughts
that plague us. I've come to challenge every negative
thought that goes through my mind, and put it through
my "God filter". What I mean by that is that based on
what I believe about God, is this really true?

God created us beautifully. That means that YOU ARE
BEAUTIFUL. Yes, even you! He created you - knit you
together. He didn't make any mistakes. Someone once
gave me this analogy about God creating us. It's as
if He painted a picture. He thought about how to form
you, what colors to use - He planned it all out long
in advance and with much love. When you say part of
you isn't good enough or needs to be changed, you are
painting on God's picture, which is already perfect
and doesn't need to be changed. Imagine someone
putting a big streak of red paint on your favorite
painting!

Excerpts from Psalm 139
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and
knit me together in my mother's womb.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter
seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the
womb.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was
recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my
every thought when far away.

You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to
stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it,
LORD.

You both precede and follow me. You place your hand
of blessing on my head.


In order to begin on this path of acceptance, you have
to be unwilling to play the "Change Your Body, Change
You Life" game. You have to come to a place where you
are so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired that
you will try anything to feel better. My prayer for
you is that you reach that rock bottom point if you
haven't already. That may sound like a strange thing
to pray, but once you're at the bottom, You look up,
see God smiling at you, and you can only go up from
there :)

God bless you!!!!! Brenna Kate

=====
"No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his
love has been brought to full expression through us." 1 John 4:12


www.brennakate.com
www.livejournal.com/~brennakate

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