HI, my name is Tiff. I\u2019m 18 years old and I\u2019m a recovering anorexic.<\/p>\n
What an introduction\u2026in fact, not really how you\u2019d expect someone to introduce themselves.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m writing this from a hospital room \u2013 my 4th hospital admission due to anorexia. And I\u2019m determined to make it my last. What happened on the previous three admissions? Didn\u2019t they work? Well\u2026let\u2019s just say that after each admission came a series of relapses, each one worse than the previous one. But\u2026this admission, it\u2019s different. This time I\u2019m realizing that my eating disorder doesn\u2019t define who I am \u2013 all the lies my eating disorder has been telling me; that I was fat, unworthy, and worthless etc\u2026all those are just lies.<\/p>\n
You see, God created us in His likeness. He wouldn\u2019t create something worthless or without beauty, right? It\u2019s a lot like something my dad would often say whenever my younger brother, Stanley, and I would tease our little sister, Melody. By calling Melody \u2018dumb\u2019 or \u2018weird\u2019, we\u2019re not only insulting her, but we\u2019re also technically insulting her parents. Because it\u2019s the parents who bore the child, hence the child would be born in the likeness of his\/her parents\u2019 right? So when we put down ourselves, calling ourselves worthless and ugly\u2026are we also insulting God? After all, we are all created in His likeness.<\/p>\n
*I really hope that analogy made sense\u2026.*<\/p>\n
Anorexia and faith. They\u2019re fundamentally incompatible right? Is it possible to be led by the morals of both?<\/p>\n
The answer is simply: NO.<\/p>\n
A very common remark made by people with anorexia is that it stems from the need for control. When you feel as if everything in your life is going out of control \u2013 work, school, family etc. \u2013 you urge to get a grip of something\/anything you can control. That would be food; and your entire mind is set on it.<\/p>\n
Faith on the other hand contradicts the \u2018morals\u2019 of anorexia. God calls us to surrender ALL control over our lives to Him for His purpose (insert bible verse). Now you see why anorexia and faith cannot co-exist.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to try my best to describe anorexia in a way that is hopefully easy to understand. Anorexia is a manipulative illness, like a clingy \u2018friend\u2019 that demands your full attention. Slowly she sneaks into every little part of your being \u2013 before long she has completely taken control of you. Anorexia has now become the only thing you know in life \u2013 a false god you worship not by choice, but rather out of fear of disobeying her. She insists that she is all you need in life to be happy, your only friend. Anorexia feeds you lies day after day, distorting your thoughts and your entire view of the world.<\/p>\n
Now, Anorexia\u2019s plans and God\u2019s plans differ a WHOLE lot. When a huge part of us has been taken control by anorexia, it challenges the idea that God is truly the only one who can save us \u2013 if only we choose to surrender all to Him. But to surrender all to Him is \u201cimpossible\u201d\u2026at least according to Anorexia\u2019s morals.<\/p>\n
Here I am, 18 years old and stuck in the body of a little girl. Through all my hospital admissions, I\u2019ve come to realise that God had been trying to lead me out of that \u2018little girl\u2019 state and into His purpose for me in life. Yet each and every time, anorexia would grab hold of me and drag me back to a childlike, helpless state \u2013 I\u2019d relapse. I wasn\u2019t a child of God, I was a scared, helpless and insecure girl, scared of growing up. Now I am slowly beginning to break free from anorexia\u2019s grip upon my life \u2013 and truly start to see myself as a child of God, His daughter.<\/p>\n
God doesn\u2019t want us to suffer. Anorexia does. Choosing recovery and letting go of anorexia was (and still is) going to be one of the hardest decisions in my life. But the reward at the end? Reclaiming your relationship with God, and His unconditional love. God never had and never will leave your side. He is ALWAYS there waiting for you to return to His side with open arms.<\/p>\n
HI, my name is Tiff. I\u2019m 18 years old and I\u2019m a recovering anorexic. What an introduction\u2026in fact, not really how you\u2019d expect someone to introduce themselves. I\u2019m writing this from a hospital room \u2013 my 4th hospital admission due to anorexia. And I\u2019m determined to make it my last. What happened on the previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[183,193,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}