Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

What Does Round Robin Reading Have to Do With Being Overweight?

1 Corinthians 1: 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

What Does Round Robin Reading Have to Do With Being Overweight? That's a good question! I used to hate it when I was in elementary school and the teacher would go up and down the rows and call on each and every student to read, one after another. 

Although I didn't know it at the time, I was a decent reader, but when my turn would come to read, I was get so nervous that I quite often made foolish mistakes. I lost my confidence in my reading and thought I was a terrible reader, but I really wasn't. I would end up overeating out of humiliation for looking foolish and anger for the teacher putting me on the spot that way. I didn't realize, at the time, that I was turning to food as a false god to calm me in times of stress, anger, etc. instead of turning these feelings over to Christ's very capable hands.

Similarly, it's sometimes difficult to defend our faith when there are people trying to put us on the spot, trying to make us look foolish. Even if we look foolish in explaining our faith, that doesn't make our belief in Christ is foolishBut God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Continuing to Process These Feelings

1 John 5: 4 for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is related to the Dec 19 and 21 posts on this blog where I continue to prayerful contemplate this topic. This is the last paragraph of the previous post:

God made the chubby girl I used to be and He made me Children of God and we are lovable and need to know that! He was there for me when I was the chubby girl, but I wouldn't listen, because I felt so terrible about myself I couldn't hear. He shows me now, that He's here for me as I heal from this. He wants me to know that I'm not abandoning the chubby girl that I used to be, but I'm trying to help her to know that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of Godbecause God loves us just the way we are regardless of our weight, ethnicity, sexual preferences, financial status, or possessions we own. He loves us whether we are in a socially acceptable body or whether we still having lingering feelings of being the chubby kid that others took advantage of. Christ has a heart big enough for all our pain, past or present, and sees who we truly are inside-Children of God!!! I realize that it's important that I thank God for loving me even when I can't love myself.

I think that although I feel protective of that chubby girl I used to be, I didn't realize that I'm also angry with that chubby girl I used to be, like it's all her fault for the negative things that happened in my life, but it isn't. She-I was naive and vulnerable to what I thought others wanted of me. I didn't listen to the instincts that Christ gave me and didn't draw healthy limits to what I was willing to tolerate, for fear others would disapprove of me or pull their affection away. I can no longer blame that chubby girl inside me, because we are one in the same. God overcometh the world: and this is the victory and He can overcome the pain in the past and the present, if we let Him...and it's time I did!

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Maybe I Need to Know What This Is About...

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

This was the way the previous post ended:
 I can't explain it all, but I've had to turn this over to Christ's very capable hands, because I don't truly understand all of it, but He does! He calms those fears and insecurities and allows me to feel O.K. and not guilty in my thinner body. I can't say for sure, but it's like I may feel I've abandoned the chubby girl I used to be and have left her all alone.

All I know, is when I ended the blog post with this, I felt like crying. You would think that after living in a thinner body for over 30 years by putting my food, body and eating into Christ's very capable hands, I would have come to terms with these things by now, but obviously not. That's why it's so amazing that Christ shows me the things that I need to know about my life at the time I need to know them! 

It might explain why I wish I could go talk to heavy kids and tell them that Christ loves them just the way they are! Maybe I thought I had to be thin to be lovable, to be worthwhile, to be deserving of decent relationships. I'm uncertain, but will continue with this. I do know that the chubby girl I used to be didn't feel lovable, worthwhile or deserving of decent relationships and put up with "garbage" she shouldn't have. That word "garbage" covers so much. The thing is, the chubby girl I used to be thought any kind of a friendship was better than no friendship. She felt that any kind of a relationship was better than no relationship and that's NOT TRUE. 

God made the chubby girl I used to be and He made me Children of God and we are lovable and need to know that! He was there for me when I was the chubby girl, but I wouldn't listen, because I felt so terrible about myself I couldn't hear. He shows me now, that He's here for me as I heal from this. He wants me to know that I'm not abandoning the chubby girl that I used to be, but I'm trying to help her to know that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God, because God loves us just the way we are regardless of our weight, ethnicity, sexual preferences, financial status, or possessions we own. He loves us whether we are in a socially acceptable body or whether we still having lingering feelings of being the chubby kid that others took advantage of. Christ has a heart big enough for all our pain, past or present, and sees who we truly are inside-Children of God!!! I realize that it's important that I thank God for loving me even when I can't love myself.

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Embarrassed About the Way I Looked, but Not the Way You'd Think

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

God allowed me to lose 80 pounds of weight that I had carried around for years. I tried many diets, but only lost weight for a little while and then gained it all back, plus some! It wasn't until one day when I gave up on the diets and told God that I couldn't do it anymore and that if He wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it, because I couldn't, that's when my life changed.

I wasn't expecting this change and was surprised when it happened. Christ took away my desire for large amounts of food, sugary and high carb foods. I didn't do it, nor did I expect this to happen. I've prayerfully wondered why it happened when I was really giving up. Then, the feeling I got was that when I gave up controlling food and things in my life, I was then able to give control over to Christ.

When I lost the weight, I was embarrassed about being thinner. It may seem strange in that, I had prayed for years for God to help Me loose the weight, help Me be thinner, help Me...but that was in my control mode. I wasn't asking God to take care of these things, I wanted Him to help Me do them! Anyway, I found that I felt uncomfortable with the attention I got with being thinner and chose to wear my baggy clothes instead of ones that would show the weight loss. I can't explain it all, but I've had to turn this over to Christ's very capable hands, because I don't truly understand all of it, but He does! He calms those fears and insecurities and allows me to feel O.K. and not guilty in my thinner body. I can't say for sure, but it's like I may feel I've abandoned the chubby girl I used to be and have left her all alone. 

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

I Wasn't Wasting Food, Was I???

Matthew 15: 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

It surprises me, when it shouldn't that people ignore the big things they do against God's will, but worry about little things like whether they wash their hands or not before they eat. The reason I shouldn't be surprised is I've done the same thing, but in different ways.

No, I haven't murdered anyone or been unfaithful, but I've done things and rationalized what I was doing in order to minimize it. One of the most agonizing Life Lessons Christ had for me was when I got after my young daughter when she was going to share three green apples with her friends. I got angry with her telling her that there wouldn't be enough for the family if she gave them to her friends. She felt wounded by my anger and returned outside to her friends. It was the realization that Christ gave me that I hadn't wanted those apples for my family. I wanted them for myself, because they were my favorite food! 

When the kids were little, if they didn't eat their food, I would help them clean their plates. I wasn't wasting food, was I? There were even times when they just stopped eating briefly, but I told them they were done, when in reality, I wanted more of whatever food was on their plates. I'm ashamed to say these things, but feel it's important to be honest with blog readers. Fortunately, Christ has healed me from these vices and uses them to help heal others. He can do the same for you, if you let Him!

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

I Was Finally Chosen

Acts 22: 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

I used to hate sports starting in elementary school. They would choose two team leaders who took pride in only choosing the very best of classmates to be on their team. I was generally left as one of the last ones. I felt like they were thinking, "I hope I don't get chubby Debbie on my team." It hurt!!!!

I wasn't chosen to go to the birthday parties often. Fortunately for me, I was oblivious to most of the birthday parties, so it wasn't as painful as it could have been. I'm not a big fan of kids bringing their birthday party invitations to school to hand out to all the "chosen friends"' leaving the others to feel left out, unliked!

In high school sports, it was the same way. I remember people yelling at me if I didn't hit the soccer ball to the desired place or it hit the net. It was similar with badminton and other group sports. The only time I enjoyed a sport was when they had "Flex Days" and a good friend and I would count how many times we could hit the birdie over the badminton net. These experiences have left me reluctant today to enter into any type of physical activity where I feel I might receive a less than supportive response for imperfection. Fortunately for me, I have been chosen by God and He picks me for His team and He's chosen you, too! 

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

What Does Santa Have to Do With a Post About Christ?

John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. 7 If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye shall know Him, and have seen Him.

What Does Santa Have to Do With a Post About Christ? Well it has to do with truth. When I was in second grade, my teacher told me the truth about Santa. I went home in despair and cried and cried and cried! My mother tried to console me and tried to help me make some sense of this, but I was angry with my teacher for telling me this. I didn't think it was her place to tell me the truth. As a child with the starts of compulsive overeating tendencies, I probably ate, because that's how I dealt with my anger rather than turning it over to Christ's capable hands, like I try to do now.

The thing is, I now value truth, because that's how I have a firm faith in Christ. Our Christian faith is built on truth, shared by people who predicted Christ's birth 100's of years before he was born. Thousands of people of all walks of life witnessed the many, many miracles that Jesus did, so people would know and believe the truth that He Is the Son of God. Jesus even predicted His betrayal, Crucifixion, death, and resurrection long before it happened, so people would know our faith is based on truth. Over 500 people saw Christ after He arose from the grave, so people would know our faith is based on truth

I get concerned that there are some, children, youth, and adults who possible get confused about the tale of Santa and think that their faith in Jesus is a tale, as well. They need to know that there is lots of evidence about Jesus being the Son of God. Just read the blog: How to Know Jesus Is God's Son which has lots of Biblical evidence from eye witnesses.  Just read books by J. Warner Wallace: Cold-Case Christianity for Kids or Cold-Case Christianity (for Teens and Adults) which has even more proof by witnesses, not just Christians. Also, view the movie by Lee Strobel: The Case for Christ and his books for adults and for kids.

Be prayerful if telling your children about Santa is setting them up to some day be uncertain about the truth of Christ being our Savior. If you choose to tell them about Santa, make sure you're prayerful about how you share it. You don't want them some day doubting the real truth about their Savior, Jesus Christ, the true reason we have Christmas!

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Hearing the Life Lessons

Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

There was a period just before Christ allowed the 80 pound weight loss and throughout the years after, that He will sometimes have Life Lessons for me. Lots of them have to do with my personal life, choices, etc. But, some have to do with my eating, because food had become a false god to me. God showed me that I was turning to food in times of stress, joy, sadness, instead of turning to Him at these times.

One of the Life Lessons He had for me was about the quantities of food I had been eating. I'm a visual person and when I have smaller portions of food on a normal sized plate, it could make me feel deprived. When I use a salad plate, it looks like I have plenty of food on my plate, which I do. Plus, it satisfies that sinful desire to have a full plate of food, whether I need it or not!

I read that lots of times when people eat, it's because they are really dehydrated and really need water or milk. I prayerfully contemplated this, because not eating tips are sound for my body, but this was. I started getting water or milk when I had that urge to eat more things, when I know I had already had a full meal not that long ago. It has helped many a time, but I have to admit, there are those times when I don't want to listen to the Life Lessons and just want to eat a plateful of something that's not good for me. Sometimes, I give in to these temptations, but when I truly hear the Life Lessons Christ has given me, I put these desires in His capable hands and He takes them away from me and He can do it for you, too! 

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

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