9/29/11

"Redeemed From The Pit" Now Available to Order!

Calvary Press has just released my book, "Redeemed from the Pit: Biblical Repentance and Restoration from the Bondage of Eating Disorders" under their new imprint, Interior Publications. It is available for sale on the Calvary Press website, and within a few days will be available through their vendors (including Amazon.com). Just in time to promote at the NANC Conference, I am pleased to see the results of the last several years' work come to fruition at long last. Below is the publisher's description, and the Foreword, written by Martha Peace:
NEW! Check out our eBooks for download!

HAVE YOU FALLEN INTO THE PIT?

HERE'S HOPE!

REDEEMED FROM THE PIT
by Marie Notcheva

• Up to 3% of ALL adolescents in the United States have symptoms of bulimia.
• 5-15% of ALL adult women show the same signs.

Are you one (or do you know someone) of the literally thousands who suffer from an eating disorder, most likely bulimia? Do you see yourself as fat and unattractive? Do you feel as though you don’t “fit in” and suffer from periods of deep depression? Has binging on food and then purging become a daily part of your routine?

HERE IS HOPE!
Drawing from her own experiences with the disorder, author Marie Notcheva shows you how to overcome this life-destroying habit. No, not by some contrived “self help” system—but by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ! Notcheva believes that the person suffering from an eating disorder is not a victim of a “disease”; it is not something that has befallen them or has been thrust upon them. Rather, the bulimic became so by a series of choices. They chose to feel a certain way about themselves. They chose to start on a path of behavior that leads to a destructive habit.

Likewise, those suffering from bulimia can start making correct choices. They can make the choice to believe that their behavior is sin, not a disease. They can believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and that by trusting in the sacrifice of Christ for sinners, they can have new life—and that they can have victory, not only over bulimia, but over the greatest threat of all: eternal destruction.

This book may indeed prove to be a “life saver” to many. It will certainly give tremendous hope to all who read it.

FOREWARD BY MARTHA PEACE

Since Mother Eve fell into sin, almost all women, Christians or not, have desired to be beautiful. Different cultures, over time, have defined beautiful in different ways. Remember the bee-hive hairdos of the 1960's? Ancient Roman women thought that beautiful, too! Well, the bee-hive went out and thin came in.

Today, we are greatly influenced by the media to think that the only truly beautiful women are thin; very thin. We want to look like the movie stars, news anchors, and models that are almost always super-slim. I once heard about a movie star who on a very long air flight refused all the meals. On occasion, however, she would become so hungry she would insist on something to eat, eat two bites, and refuse the rest. She was thin and she was beautiful, but I wonder if her almost-starvation diet was worth it in the long run. She struggles with anorexia. Another may not starve herself; in fact, she may often be gluttonous, but maintains her weight by throwing up after the meal. Sometimes her compulsion is repeated several times per day. She struggles with bulimia.

It was forty-plus years ago in nursing school that I learned about eating disorders. As I recall, it was the first time I knew that eating disorders existed. Both were said to be psychiatric diseases and both, especially anorexia, were difficult to treat. What must have been rare back in the 1960's is now, for many, a common practice. The quest for beauty which likely began with Mother Eve has not gone away. It is still labeled a psychiatric disease and anyone struggling with an eating disorder knows what Marie Notcheva means about being in the "pit" and "in bondage."

Redeemed from the Pit: Biblical Repentance and Restoration from the Bondage of Eating Disorders is a gift from God to those struggling and to those helping someone struggling with an eating disorder. This book maintains a high view of God and an accurate view of man. It is written in an engaging style and entwined within it is Notcheva's own personal struggle and how God granted her repentance and real freedom. As a biblical counselor to women, I am looking forward to using this book to help others. Read it prayerfully and thoughtfully. You, too, can, by God's grace, be truly redeemed from the pit!

Martha Peace Biblical Counselor and Author of The Excellent Wife

Price: $21.99
ISBN: 978-1-879737-78-5

order



9/23/11

"Redeemed from the Pit" About to Go Live...

This week, I received the cover of my book from the publisher:
























The book will be "live" within the next couple weeks for purchase on Calvary Press' website: http://www.calvarypress.com/home.asp

9/22/11

Devotional from Barb Winters: "Tortilla Chip Revelation"

Worship the Lord your God, and his blessings will be on your food and water. Exodus 23:25 NIV

I almost ate a tortilla chip from my daughter's plate.

"So what?" you may ask.

God gave me a directive: Eat a special diet for one week. The simple act of reaching for the chip indicated I was on auto-pilot. My routine was second nature. I thought little before popping my favorite foods into my mouth.

God gave the Israelites a directive before reaching the Promised Land: Do not bow down before their (the enemies') gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Had I fallen before my god? Had food crept in and become a god in my life without my realization?

Misleading influences casually slip through the cracks into our lives - a television commercial for Pizza Hut, a church potluck with Mabel's famous chocolate pie, a candy bar fundraiser for the local sports team. Before we know it, we're knee deep in extra calories and foods to which God previously said, "No." We are in enemy territory worshiping their gods.

We can allow our focus to shift from God to food, succumb to the world's way of thinking, and begin justifying improper eating habits. However, our justifications are invalid. And this path leads to destruction - physically and spiritually.

Pause and evaluate God's directive for you in the area of eating. If you find yourself in the position of justifying improper eating habits, demolish those beliefs. Take captive your thoughts, and replace them
with truth.

God's directive to the Israelites came with a promise. If they worshiped God, and God alone, He would bless their food and water. This principle is true for us. When we worship God, He will direct our eating and, subsequently, bless our food and water.

Lord, I desire to worship You, and You alone. Show me if I justify eating improperly. Take my thoughts captive and speak truth into my life.












Barbara Winters and her husband, Don, have four children, Kevin, JT, Kenneth, and Melinda. Barbara home schools her children and encourages her husband in his pastorate position. Barbara writes a column on the characteristics of God for Lucid Magazine atwww.lucidmagazine.com, has several articles available for purchase at Churchmouse Publications, and writes two blogs: http://foodliesandtruth.blogspot.com/

9/16/11

Sobering Reality

Yesterday, I did an interview and shooting sequence with The 700 Club about my repentance and transformation from anorexia and bulimia 8 years ago. (More on that in another post...I'm very glad I did it, and hope God uses it to touch someone's life.)

Just now, however, my thoughts are going back 6 years in time, to the very first woman I shared my story with...a lady named Lori, who was then beginning her 20th year in the grips of bulimia. Well below a normal weight, she was carrying a child and was frightened of how her eating disorder would harm the baby.

She delivered a 3-pound baby boy, 10 weeks prematurely. Fortunately, he had no major complications, but, despite her desire to turn around, her eating disorder and excessive drinking continued unabated. She lost her health, her teeth, and her marriage to bulimia.

Today I learned that Lori has died.

I had shared the Gospel with her several times, and she claimed to be regenerate. I hope against hope that Lori was not deceived, although she was in much deception and there was no fruit in her life. In 2009, one of the last e-mails she wrote to me included this excerpt:

I know that this bondage I am in is a demon. Ed has gotten me no where in life. Just more problems. I am scared about all this kidney stuff going on. Dr. told me that if I don't start dialysis, that I won't even make it to a transplant. That is scary to hear. Ed has gotten a LITTLE bit better. Since I have been in ***, I have put on 10 lbs, so that is something to say. The thought pattern is still there though. Can't seem to shake that.

2 weeks ago, I had a prayer group pray over me at my church. Then, the week after that, the same ladies, plus 5 other people, plus the priest all met to do a prayer/healing service just for me. They prayed over me for an hour. I have to get my blood drawn once a week, plus get a procreate shot once a week. Well, 2 days after they prayed over me, my blood levels were significantly better!!!!!!!!! I'm not out of the woods, but there was a drastic improvement. I am not expecting a miracle healing from God. i will take whatever He gives me. Like the priest said.......don't have any expectations on what kind of healing I will have. I just opened my heart to Him and let Him do the rest.

I annoint myself everyday with Holy Oil that my mom got from Lourdes France. Also I have some Holy Oil from St. Perrigren. I use both of these daily on my kidney's. I swear, God is keeping me safe thru all of this.

This was after several YEARS of evangelism and counsel from me, both via phone and e-mail. My heart is broken for a life so young, so full of promise, utterly destroyed.

Lori did not really think her bulimia would kill her. She always believed that if she could get a little more clever; keep it in check "just a little bit more", she'd be okay. Or at least get people off her back. Ultimately, her organs gave out and so did her strength.

Please realize, if you are in this situation, there is STILL HOPE for you. God's transforming power and gracious gift of repentance are always freely available - you need to start TODAY. Are you whole-hearted in your determination to walk away from bulimia? E-mail me if you want to talk more.

9/12/11

C.S. Lewis, Bulimia, and Pornography

Great post from Brad Hambrick and shared by the Biblical Counseling Coalition....apparently I'm not the first to draw the parallel between lust and eating disorders. Whenever we seek pleasure for pleasure's sake, we are operating outside of God's will...and will wind up emptier and more despairing than before.

“The Christian attitude does not mean that there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to get the pleasures of taste without swallowing and digesting, by chewing things and spitting them out again (p.105).” -- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

This quote alludes to a connection between bulimia (the desire for food but not calories; chewing but not digesting) and pornography (the desire for closeness but not vulnerability; having but not belonging). But as the parallel is developed, it should be construed as the male (lust) and female (body image) version of the same problem. In recent years the struggles of men with eating disorders and women with pornography have both risen significantly.


Read the whole post here:

9/6/11

Are You Blaming Your Sin on a "Disease"? (Tim Conway)

He's right.

Updates and recent developments...

Dear Readers,

Apologies for my online absence of late. I returned from Albania two weeks ago, yet am still easing back into the flow of studying, NANC writing and counseling preparation. I am in the final course ("Casebook Studies") with the Institute for Nouthetic Studies, after which I will submit my completed NANC exam and begin supervised counseling. Yay!

Speaking of NANC, the annual conference is fast approaching. My friend Martha Peace is teaching a workshop on counseling anorexia, and I am very much hoping my book will be out by then....the publisher received the galleys just over a week ago, so we shall soon see.

Next Thursday, Sept. 15, The 700 Club is coming to my home to interview me and film my testimony. I am excited, but nervous at the same time! Hopefully by the time the show airs, my book will be out and viewers struggling with bulimia, binge-eating or anorexia will have that as a resource to turn to. God uses the weak and foolish things of this world...myself included.

Interestingly, while I was in Albania (as a camp counselor at a Christian youth camp), the subject of my counseling and writing came up. One of my British counterparts was interested in counseling, and mentioned to me that a young relative of hers struggled with an eating disorder. While I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, I WAS shocked when the girls told me that many of their peers in Albania struggle with weight and body-image issues. I suppose the struggles teenaged girls face are somewhat similar throughout the world; and, in Europe, young women tend to be exceptionally thin...which provides additional pressure to those who are not so naturally. One of the girls asked me, "Is is possible for your book to be translated into Albanian? This would be very helpful to the girls here..." Hmm...guess there's nothing truly new under the sun.