I remember well the back-to-school mix of emotions that would fall upon me as summer wound down; I remember the anxiety of seeing people for the first time in months, feeling dread in having to abandon the summer routines I had created for myself, and the discouragement that my summer hadn’t panned out in the perfect way social media portrayed others. 

One summer that sticks out is the one before my senior year of college. I had spent the majority of that summer working hard at recovery and I spent some time in a partial hospitalization program after having already taken off a semester for residential treatment.

In my bubble of that "safe" and recovery-focused world, I felt good. I was proud of the progress I had made and I was excited for the school year to come…until I stepped back on campus. At my dorm, I was greeted with silent reminders that my break hadn’t looked like others'. I was faced with the challenges of living in recovery while...

Eating Disorders Day of Prayer: Comfort Received and Given

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” -2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 NIV

Broken But Not Helpless

I was on my knees, face on the floor, sobbing; a loved one was in the throes of an eating disorder, and I felt helpless to do anything about it. I cried out to the Lord, “What can I do about this?”, and the clear answer was, “You can pray.” I wanted to fix it, just make the problem go away. But I couldn’t, and I believe this was the Lord’s way of making me totally trust in Him. So, during this time of “helplessness”, I realized I wasn’t truly helpless, but instead, I had some of the most powerful tools available to me: prayer and God’s Word.

God Uses Our Trials...

Moving your body and eating can be worshipful when motivated by freedom, not shame. And living in freedom isn’t about ignoring or neglecting our bodies but shepherding them with grace and love.

Instead of moving and eating to become someone new, what if you move and eat to come home to yourself?

Consider the story of the prodigal son. He left home and spent his inheritance on things that didn't satisfy or last, only to be let down, experiencing a new level of hunger, and feeling remorseful about his choices. Then, a severe famine hit the entire country, and he was in desperate need.

He found a job feeding pigs and hit a new low when his hunger became so great that he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating. He dreamed of coming home, pleading for his father's forgiveness and acceptance.

One day, he headed home. When his father saw him coming, he was FILLED WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION, ran to him, threw his arms around his neck, and embraced him!...

Welcome to the FINDINGbalance FREEdom Blog!

Today, we’re doing a “soft launch,” which means we’re putting it out there but not everything is final for this space. Currently, there will be two blog postings a month, each one alternating with our Old School Food Freedom podcast, and we hope to have more frequent releases as time goes on and as more bloggers join us.

We have writers from across the world, of all ages, ED experiences, recovery experiences, and life experiences! They’ll be writing from a place of hope, about enriching your relationship with God and encouraging you in your walk to FREEdom. As one of our prayer group leaders said, “May the Lord use each one to help others heal and strengthen their faith walk”, and that's why we're here.

If you, or someone you know, love to write and encourage others, please send them this link to our Blog Ministry Guidelines. This too is a work-in-progress as we...