Food

Today I ate lunch with five gals that I just met (except one that I had met before). Each of the girls had some sort of disordered eating...such as anorexia or bulimia. The meals are carefully proportioned and well thought out. One of the gals ordered a pasta dish. To her it looked like a mountain of food. A mountain too big to tackle. To someone with an eating disorder every meal is like climbing a mountain. Some days and some meals look like Mount Everest.

Every one was very encouraging to her and gave her many reasons why she should finish it. They cheered her on and gave her hope. The conversation was supportive yet it also showed how intense eating can be for someone with eating disorder behaviors.

I didn't say much. I listened. And I understood. I knew her every thought. I understood her every fear.

Later, as I was thinking about it, I knew what I would say to her if I could rewind the day and redo that moment.

I would tell her that it was okay and that some day it wouldn't be so hard to look at a plate of food and she wouldn't analyze every moment of the meal. I would tell her that eating disorders change the way we look at food. I would tell her that God created our bodies to be tools to do the things he created us to do. In order to do those things we have to put fuel in our bodies. There has been a huge disconnect between what food is and what food isn't. There is a disconnect between what our bodies were created for and how we view our bodies. This disconnect confuses the way we think. It gives the enemy an entry point and he has a handful of tricks up his sleeve to lie to us.

I would tell her that eating food is the process of putting nutrients in our body so that we have the energy and the mind to be move forward in our gifts and talents. I would tell her she is more valuable than she believes that she is and to value her self worth she needs to eat. Satan lies to us. He creates confusion. He takes something God created for good and tries to make it seem wrong. Why would God create food to be a negative thing? He didn't. Satan wants us to believe it though. God gave people manna everyday so that they would have energy and fuel to go where he wanted them to go. Manna was food that was meant to sustain people for each day. Every day they were given just the right amount of manna. God knew they needed food to fuel their bodies so that they could follow through with His plans.

I would tell her that God values her just as much as he valued the people he sent manna to. The enemy doesn't value her...he just wants her to think she is unworthy of taking care of herself.

I would tell her that the food on her plate isn't the enemy. The enemy is in her thoughts which makes that plate of food look like a mountain when in reality it is a bridge. It is a bridge to help her use her gifts and talents that were thoughtfully picked out just for her. It is a bridge to make all of the intricate parts of her body that were knitted together by our loving God work as he intended. It is a bridge to walk the path to the life she was created for.

I would tell her to know that it's okay that it seems hard...but to fight to cross that bridge and to fight for victory because God has so much more for her than to see a plate of food as a mountain or a negative moment. God made food. God created our bodies to need food. God created our body different than the girl sitting next to you and He did it with great thought.

And I know there might be a certain person reading this who is going to tell me later to remember this for myself... :)

We need to remember that God created us to live a life that honors him....in all we do...that includes taking care of our bodies.

In love,
Teresa