Why Eating Boundaries Feel Scary

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hi, and welcome to our podcast, Revelation Within on the Go. I'm Heidi Bilesma Emerson, one of your hosts, and the owner and lead coach of the Revelation Within Ministry.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach, and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within. We are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

So glad you're here. Yeah, thanks for joining us. Well, I have an idea. Okay. What's your idea, Heidi? How about if today we talk about eating?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Well, I mean, I just ate, so I'm really not hungry. I'm not either. So how about eating boundaries? Okay, eating boundaries, let's do it. We we got this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

And I don't mean eating boundaries because boundaries probably wouldn't have any flavor.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

No, not that kind. Not eating the boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

No. And really the thought of talking about eating boundaries, I can imagine some of you listening might be like just tightening up. Your whole body might be responding to boundaries.

unknown 1:30

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Absolutely. I mean, for anyone who spent years dieting, I did that. Heidi did that. Get it? That's us. And eating boundary may sound like another rule or restriction. Oh, I hate that word restriction. Yeah. Um, another way to measure ourselves, you know, another opportunity for succeeding or failing and nothing in between. It's a win. I've lost. It's gone. It's so blown up. Oh my gosh. Another voice saying, okay, you can eat this, but not that. You can eat it now, but don't eat it then. You must stop at exactly the right moment. It just goes on and on. Have this portion, not this one, you know, this, and then what day of the week and how old are you? And oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

What time of the day it is, certain windows.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Yeah. It's just it can make you nuts.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah. And we're not gonna go there today. We're just not. We're not. We're gonna do something different. We're not interested in recreating a diet plan. Oh, whether things yeah, exchanging one set of food rules for another or turning eating into a spiritual performance. Ooh. But we thought it might be helpful to explore whether grace-filled, clear grace-filled boundaries can help us experience greater peace and freedom with the food that we eat or don't eat. I mean, it might be good to talk about it, not just avoid the topic altogether. Yeah.

Hunger And Satisfaction As Bookends

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah. Back in the day in Thin Within, we often described the basic eating boundary this way. And I found a lot of help with it. Begin eating when you're physically hungry. And stop when you're physically satisfied. Or in the language many of us use for years, of course, you can eat between zero and five. Zero is physical hunger, five is satisfied physically. Physical hunger, though, marked like the start of the eating experience. And physical satisfaction marked the end. It wasn't as clear-cut as that necessarily, but it helped a lot. The clarity really helped a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Yeah, this is making me want to sing. Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. It is. And this is where I started. This is where you started. And it is a good place to start. You know, that simple boundary or those simple boundaries gave us something to notice in our bodies. Rather than following a clock or a calorie count or a food list or someone else's instructions, which, you know, like I said, I mean, I did that for decades. We began paying attention to the body God had given us something that was totally foreign to me. Am I physically hungry? What does that even feel like? Have I even waited for hunger in years? And then as we ate, have I had enough? And how do I know? How do I have any idea what enough is when I haven't listened to my body's signals for so long?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Yeah. Over time, Christina and I, when you know, just about, I don't know, three years ago or so, we developed the five intentions of spirit-led eating because we really wanted eating. Um, for us, it needed to be more relational. And we knew that we had benefited from that. And so we wanted to kind of offer that approach to those that God gave us to serve in this ministry. We didn't want the experience to be reduced to monitoring numbers on a hunger scale, even though that's very helpful. I mean, really, to be honest with you, for years, uh, when I was doing thin within and and you were doing thin within, I had to get away from the number approach anyway. And it am I hungry? I will eat. Am I no longer hungry? I will stop. That was like I had to make it super simple. And to be honest with you, it still is that way for me. But we want to really encourage you all and us as well, of course, to invite God into the entire process. Um, sometimes, to be honest with you, though, as I look at how people respond to the five intentions of spirit-led eating, I wonder if they seem less clear than that boundary of zero and five, of hunger satisfied. Am I hungry? I'll eat. If I'm not hungry anymore, I'll stop. You know, so we that's what we're addressing today, sort of.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Well, and I have to admit, the numbers are easier for me. I've always really liked the numbers, and I like thinking, you know, I'm about halfway full or whatever it might be. I I've used the numbers ever since I started, and that's been really helpful for me. Good. So yeah, so it's good. Both ways are so, so good. Back to the five intentions. Five things can be harder to hold in our minds than two. Yeah, that's true. Well, that that might be something, and especially in the moment, you know, when we're tired, hungry, distracted, emotional, when we're hurried, we might not really remember all the words, kind of all of the five.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Right, right. So the question is did the five intentions of spirit-led eating that we designed and came up with prayerfully, mind you, um, didn't replace the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction? No, I don't believe they did. We never intended it to be that way. Um, in fact, two of those five intentions refer to waiting for hunger, and one of them refers to stopping at just enough. So I believe the five intentions help us to understand how to walk with God within those physical boundaries. And and whether we call them our boundaries or not, it's totally up to you. I have always suggested, and I still do, if this isn't something that you're clear about, it's gonna make you crazy. So ask God, Lord, do you want me to eat with this boundary? Do you want me to wait for physical hunger before I eat? Do you want me to stop when I've had enough and I'm maybe I'm no longer hungry, or I have that comfortable feeling of just enough? Ask him about it. I think he loves answering that question. Yes, yes, so here is a simple way of saying it. Hunger opens the meal. Here we go. Just enough closes the meal. Yeah, that's good. That's simple. And the Holy Spirit leads us through everything in between. He also leads us before and after the meal, of course. Like even while we busy ourselves with other things, he is the one who leads us. That's why it's spirit-led eating for sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Yeah, I like that. That is so clear. The kind of the open and closed. I'm picturing a little open sign and a little closed sign, flip it over. Okay, we're done with that meal. Um, hunger and satisfaction are the physical boundaries. Yeah. The intentions describe the relationship, choices, and attentiveness that can happen between those two points.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah. So so let's walk through the five intentions in very simple or simple language.

Five Intentions Made Easy To Recall

SPEAKER_01 9:23

The first intention is that I'm gonna busy myself as the Holy Spirit leads until I prayerfully sense a hunger signal, a physical hunger signal. And we can summarize that with one word. Here, give this one a try. Wait. Wait. It's like, oh, wait, yeah. So I wait simply for my body to ask for nourishment. Now I have to just express a caveat because my mind might ask for something, and I might think it's my body asking for nourishment, or my heart might ask for something, and my I might say that, yeah, my body needs nourishment. So I want to really get honest with the Lord and ask him, show me, is this my body needing to be nourished right now?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Right. Looking at food food like fuel, really. It's like, do I need fuel right now? Am I on empty or not? Yes, exactly. What does my little gauge say? Wouldn't it be nice if we had a little gauge? Yes, yes, like in the car. Okay. Waiting does not mean anxiously monitoring the clock, uh, which I've done. I've done that in the past, where it's like, okay, uh, five minutes have gone by and I'm not hungry yet. Let me check in. But I mean, in the beginning, you kind of maybe have to do that because it's so foreign. But, you know, monitoring the clock, we don't want to be doing that, or repeatedly checking our stomachs. You know, we want to be busy with our lives and having our minds on other things. We want to live our lives during that waiting time. And so we engage with people and we work and we rest and we take care of our responsibilities and joys that God has given us until hunger gently gets our attention again. And it usually starts out gentle, and then over time it's not so gentle.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yes, yes. And that always makes me think of um the year that my mother-in-law allowed a feral cat to give birth in her backyard, and the kittens were born and learned the ways of grandma. Grandma would give food if they came to the door and mewed and mewed and mewed and mewed and mewed. And it's like hunger, real hunger, once we've ignored it a while, if we do, is gonna get our attention and not give it up. So, anyway, the second intention is that I'm going to invite the Holy Spirit of God into my meal with gratitude and praise. How fun is that? Yeah, I mean, really, my hunger can be a reminder and an opportunity to connect and worship the Lord of this universe. And one simple word for that is welcome. Welcome. Yes, I love that. I welcome God into my eating experience. You'll hear Christina and I talk all the time if you haven't been around us for a you know at all. Um, we do we talk about inviting God into everything, and definitely want to do that in our eating experiences.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Yes, um, and you know, this doesn't have to be a long formal prayer. Um, it may be as simple as, thank you, Lord, for this food. Help me to be present, show me what my body needs. Thank you for caring about this part of my life. And you know what? He does care. He does care, just in case you're wondering. Does he care about this seriously? I mean, is it a big deal? He made our bodies, he knows exactly how they run, what they need, what the perfect fuel is for Heidi, what the perfect fuel is for Christina, and for you all, and for you all. And he also knows that for many of us, this has been an issue that has caused discouragement and despair and confusion and you know, sadness, like our whole lives. So he he cares so deeply about what hurts us, what's difficult for us.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Yes.

Choosing Food Without Moral Scoring

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And he's passionate for our joy as well. Um, okay, so the third intention is that I'm gonna choose food in a just right-sized portion, but get this it's going to delight my taste buds. You do not have to say it's probably tasteless. Yeah. And and so it delights my taste buds and helps my body feel energized and strong. So if there are foods that my taste buds just get so excited about, but I feel miserable afterwards, my joints ache, I get a headache about yeah, no, you know, other body parts other than the taste buds do get to vote. And that's important. And so the simple word for this intention is choose. Yeah, that's good. I make a thoughtful, prayerful choice, of course. Not a perfect choice necessarily. I mean, that might not happen. Not the choice that somehow earns me points. I just don't think there is a point system. Oh, I guess there is for some diets, but not with this approach. Not with this approach, no, and not the choice that proves I am good. I'm doing air quotes good. No, you know what? Food isn't moral, eating isn't moral. No, so it's a choice, though, that considers enjoyment, satisfaction, availability, maybe, and what I know about how my body responds. It's discernment for sure. It is, discerning. And so we wanna, yeah, we want to choose. Yay.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Yeah. Well, and there may not always be an ideal option. That's kind of one of the one of the things is like, well, what if I don't have this? Or what if this isn't in my kitchen? Or what if that restaurant doesn't have this? That's that's okay. I mean, we travel, sometimes someone else has prepared the meal, maybe our cupboards are nearly empty. I mean, what happens to all of us? Spirit-led eating is possible, absolutely possible, even when the meal is ordinary, like a frozen burrito, by the way. Um, or the circumstances are imperfect. That's okay. This is so flexible, so flexible. That's one of the reasons that I love it so much.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Yeah, definitely. I have to give you all who are listening just the inside scoop on that inside joke that Christine and I just laughed about the burrito. I did a little how-to segment once on how to have what we call the ideal meal experience. And I was lacking the perfect foods in my home at that time. So I pulled out a frozen burrito, heated it up a little bit, added cheese and heated it up some more, got some salsa, and proceeded to enjoy that frozen burrito more than you can imagine. It was yummy, and I had my ideal meal experience with my frozen burrito.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Well, and just in case somebody someone is wondering, what what's the ideal meal experience, Heidi?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

You tell us. You do it so well.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Well, basically, it's looking at these five intentions and sitting down to a meal anywhere, anytime. It could be a picnic, it could be a wedding, it could be at a restaurant, it could be in your kitchen, could be by yourself, could be a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

A dance recital.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

A dance recital. Exactly. It could be anything, but you are intentional. You're inviting God in, you're waiting for hunger, you're stopping it satisfied, you're following those intentions, not perfectly. Maybe you're only focusing on one, and that's okay too. But it is a sweet, sweet time to practice this, to practice eating within life-giving boundaries. It's actually so much fun. And you can keep a running list of all the situations, for example, you know, popcorn at the movies or um an ice cream shop visit or whatever. You can keep a running list of the places where you have had an ideal meal, and it's so encouraging. It's so much fun to do that.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Yeah, thanks.

Eating With Presence Not Distraction

SPEAKER_01 18:05

All right, so the fourth intention is that I'm gonna create a peaceful eating experience. And how do I do that? I'm gonna be present with the food and I'm gonna reduce distractions where possible. Now, the the more important law is love. So I'm not gonna tell the kids, go hide in your bedrooms while I eat this frozen burrito or whatever.

unknown 18:27

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

But I want to be present with the food, reduce the I don't want to intentionally turn on the TV while I'm eating or grab the cereal box that I've read 962 times in the last month. Instead, I want to just be present to God and to my food because this is yay, it's an eating occasion. And our simple word for that is attend. Just attend to the meal. I'm gonna notice the taste, I'm gonna notice the texture, the aroma, and the experience. I'm gonna notice the people around me. I'm gonna notice my body's physical signals. I'm not merely trying to finish the food while my attention is somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Oh, that's good. That's so good. I love this putting one word with each intention. This is great. So the other thing is this this doesn't mean that we can never eat while talking with friends or enjoying a family meal. And I kind of mentioned that in my ideal meal description where it could be a baby shower or anything, it doesn't have to be you all by yourself, you know, on the top of a mountain or something. I mean, it could be, it could be that could be really cool, but no, it doesn't have to be at all. It can be the frozen burrito in your kitchen. Presence does not require silence or isolation, not at all. Uh, a lot of people like to start that way, but you don't have to, not at all. It simply means that we've not abandoned the experience completely, we remain available to notice. Yeah, it's quiet enough to notice. Sometimes the situation is busy, but we have quieted our minds. Right. Right? I mean, all those years, Heidi, that you know, I had kids at home. I did too. I know kids at home. I know, but when I did it, I mean, when my kids were little, I didn't know anything about this. It was when they were school age, and my youngest was like telling jokes and falling out of her chair. I can still see Maddie doing that. Oh my gosh, she has to do it. She was so silly, she was so much fun, but and all the stories, and then they all turned into teenagers, and all of a sudden we had all these people around our table and eating in our kitchen, and we were making meals for like 10 kids at a time. And yeah, so I really had to practice having that peace in my mind, being intentional about my thoughts because the situation was a little bit crazy, but yeah, lots of fun too. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

So the fifth intention is that I'm gonna stop eating before my stomach is full, and we call that the peaceful place of just enough. Yeah, and the simple word is stop, just stop that makes sense, yeah, yeah. Not because food is bad, it's not. There's no more moral thing going on here, not because I'm afraid I'm eating too much, not because stopping makes me righteous. No, I stop because my body has received it's just simple, has received what it needs, and it continuing would really move me beyond physical peace into discomfort, potentially. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Said that so well. Thank you. All right. So let's go back over these words because I really I love this. I love that there's one word for each one, and this is this is gonna help us to remember. The five words are wait, welcome, choose, attend, and stop. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Or here's another way of thinking of it. If you're somebody who does better with like little phrases, begin with hunger, eat with God, and end with just enough.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yeah, and that's it. It's so simple. Is it easy, Heidi? Is it easy? No, no.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

But it works, it's fun, and yeah, we can have hearts that are delighting in the Lord instead of anxious about should I be eating? Should I have that or this? And is it time to stop? We want to just just rest in Him. He is a God of peace. He brings peace, He gives peace.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Yeah.

Body Signals And Spirit-Led Wisdom

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Oh, I love that. So, okay, somebody might be wondering if I'm following physical hunger and satisfaction, is that really spirit-led? Or am I just following my body? What do you think about that, Heidi?

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Yeah, and sometimes I've heard people follow that question with, because after all, our bodies are fallen, and we won't even go into the theology here about that. But those of you that know what I'm talking about can add that to the layers to it. It's really an important question. Sometimes we speak as though the body and the spirit must always be in competition. And here's good news they aren't. God designed our bodies with signals. And we've taught this for decades. Our bodies tell us when we're tired, when we're thirsty, when we're hungry, when we're in pain, when we're tense, cold, warm, or in need of rest. For me, the in need of rest one comes when I fall asleep when I'm doing something else. Chances are I'm missing an earlier signal. But anyway, paying attention to my body does not have to mean worshiping the body. I don't worship my body. No, no, no. It may be one way of receiving and even stewarding what God has made. Yeah, Psalm 139 reminds us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our bodies are not interruptions to our spiritual lives. No, they are where we live our spiritual lives. I mean, think about it this way: our physical bodies are containers for all the things we enjoy in this world. Spiritually, emotionally, physically, we are carried through life in this body, which God has lovingly given to us to care for.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

And the Holy Spirit, of course, directs us and redirects us at times, right? The Spirit lives in us and is our constant counselor and comforter and friend. He may show us that what feels like hunger is actually anxiety or loneliness or maybe it's a habit, something we've done forever. Maybe it's fatigue or the desire for comfort, you know, and he might remind us to pause, but he can also use physical hunger to say, hey, it's time to fuel up. Let's receive nourishment.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Oh, yeah. You know, spirit-led eating is not less embodied, it doesn't depend on my body less than all the other approaches or whatever. It's actually more relationally embodied. It it incorporates into the approach a relationship with God, with the Holy Spirit. And so we pay attention to our bodies while remaining attentive to God. They work together, it's not either or. Yeah. And I'm so glad.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

I'm so glad. We also want to acknowledge that hunger and satisfaction are not equally clear for everyone. We make it sound really easy, don't we?

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Yeah, I'm sorry about that.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Sometimes it's not that easy for a season. Um, some people have lived disconnected from their bodies for many years. I know that was certainly me. Some have followed restrictive plans that actually dulled hunger signals. I think that was me as well for many years. Others have eaten past satisfaction so consistently that the peaceful place of enough is really, really hard to find. It's like, where is it? It's a new idea, it's a new practice. And what about health conditions? What about medications, nutritional needs? What about recovery situations that make waiting for a strong hunger signal unwise or difficult in some way? I mean, those are all valid things. We want to, we want to definitely put those out there.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Yeah, definitely. And really, to be honest with you, that's why these boundaries that we are offering here should never become rigid laws. It's not a way of gauging if you are good or not or if you are righteous or not. There may be times when a person needs to eat before she senses physical hunger. And if you or anybody you know is on a GOP1 medication, that's probably the case. So you want to invite God into that and He will tell you when it's wise to eat. You might not feel hunger, um, physical hunger, or may feel very different. Um, and so there may be times when wise medical or nutritional support is even needed. God's not standing over us with a clipboard accusing us because our experience doesn't fit a perfect formula. It's just not going to work that way. The invitation is, of course, to walk with God and to grow in awareness and partnership. You know, for instance, we might even pray, Lord, help me to learn the language of this body right now in this season that it's in. So for those of you taking the GLP ones, you might need to learn a new language of your body, and God can help you with that. Then again, you might not ever have touched one of those or any other way of help with hunger signal um diminishment. And you might just be fine. Yeah, I know when I'm hungry, and that's great, right? Right. You might need to pray, help me notice gentle hunger before it screams at me like those kittens at the back door. Help me become familiar too, Lord, with that peaceful place of just enough.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Yeah. So really, this is a practice. It's something we're gonna practice. We're not gonna be perfect at. We're gonna practice, and it's certainly not a performance. No. So that whole all or nothing mentality, the perfectionism, the I'm either a success or a failure, just throw all of that out the window. Yeah, losers. Just um a practice.

Boundaries Versus Rules And Shame

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Give yourself so much grace as you learn.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

And before we wrap up, let's talk a little bit about the difference between a boundary, which we've been talking about today, and a rule. You know, a rigid rule. Most of us know what rules do. They say if I cross a line, I have failed. Right. But a grace-filled boundary is another story entirely. It's a this is the place where I ordinarily experience freedom, wisdom, and physical peace. Oh, yeah, that's so good. Does that sound good? Where a rule asks, did I do it perfectly? Do I win? Do I win? Am I okay? A boundary asks, what am I noticing?

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

A rule says you are good when you remain inside the line and bad when you cross it. Oh, those days.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Those days.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Right. A boundary says you are already loved. This loving limit may help you care for what God has entrusted to you. Oh, I love that so much more.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

I love that. Um, how about this too? A rule often creates secrecy. Oh, awful. Yuck. Yes, I've experienced that. If I believe that I failed, I might hide, minimize, pretend, or promise that I will be stricter with myself tomorrow. Oh boy. It's a awful place to be. But a grace-filled boundary makes room for honesty and compassion. I can say, you know what? I ate before I was hungry. I continued after I had enough. I was barely aware of that being. And none of those admissions changes my standing with God. It's a way to notice and it's a way to discover and learn. It's all covered in grace.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Yay. So, you know, really, the eating boundaries we're suggesting, they are invitations. Invitations. They aren't inspections. We're not inspecting ourselves, and God's not inspecting us to determine whether we deserve approval or not. No. Definitely not. No, you may have heard that is the case, but it's not. We are accepting God's invitation to pay attention. And really, what was Jesus like when he walked this planet? He was curious and compassionate. He wants the same for us. Can we ask questions? Lord, what was happening when I ate so much this morning? I went way past that comfortable place of just enough. And and demonstrating compassion towards ourselves like he does towards us. We want to accept God's invitation to practice kindness to ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Oh, for sure. Yes. Okay. So what happens when we eat without physical hunger? Or what happens when we continue beyond the peaceful place of just enough? What do we do with that?

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Diet thinking may immediately say, you blew it. And it's accusing. It's accusing. You have no self-control. Notice another thing that diet thinking does is it turns something specific, like oops, I slipped, into this big, sweeping, generalized statement. You have no self-control. Now you need to compensate. You're gonna have to go and work out more. You're gonna eat less tomorrow. You're gonna start over on Monday. No, let's just wipe that out of existence. Oh no, no, no, no more. Yeah. Revelation within invites us. We invite you. God invites us into a totally different response. And we call that look and learn. And it's not just look and learn, it's look and learn with the Lord. It's a sweet time. Rather than condemning ourselves, Romans 8:1 is our theme for that. We become curious and we might ask, what was happening just before I ate? Lord, what was I feeling? What was I believing? What did I need? Was I rushed? Maybe distracted, tired? Were the kids being brats? Am I low? Yes. Was I angry or overwhelmed? Was I afraid that somebody else would get the good food before I could get to it? Was I eating because everyone else was eating? Was I trying to prolong pleasure? Was I simply unaware that I'd already had enough?

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Yeah, good, good, good questions. Crossing a boundary can actually reveal something valuable to us. Uh, we know so many people here at Revelation Within that will say, Oh my gosh, aha! You know, they have these moments, these epiphanies, like that's what was going on. God showed it to me, and now I can heal or I can learn. I can be there with the Lord and look at it dispassionately. Maybe I discover that I often eat when I feel left out. Yeah, maybe that's something, and it could be something that comes up from my past or an old memory or situation. Maybe, maybe I notice that television makes it difficult for me to recognize satisfaction. I'm so distracted. Maybe, maybe I'm waiting until I'm desperately hungry and then eating so quickly that my body can't get my attention. Maybe that's what's going on. Or someone I was talking to recently. Maybe I am waiting so long for hunger, thinking that somehow that's better, so that I can eat like a whole lot more later. And that's that doesn't work either. Empty is empty, no matter how long you wait. Maybe I've been treating every desire for food as an emergency. Maybe it's that. Maybe I mean there's there's a million reasons why we might go to food when our body doesn't need fuel, and that's valuable.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

The point is not how can I make sure this never happens again? The point is what, Lord, do you want to help me to see? And how might I respond differently next time?

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Um, so here's the really, really good news returning to the Lord, looking and learning, does not require like a big dramatic reset. There's no need to wait for tomorrow or Monday or January. Um, there's no need. We return in the very next moment.

No Condemnation Plus A Next Step

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Okay, so where have we landed today? Where have we landed? The five intentions do not eliminate the clarity of hunger and satisfaction, not at all. In fact, uh, if anything, it makes it more clear. The five intentions help us walk relationally with God within those boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

And just remember hunger opens the meal, just enough closes the meal. The Holy Spirit leads us through both of those bookends and everything in between. Or here are our words again: wait, welcome, choose, attend, and stop.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

That's yeah, so helpful. And when we cross an eating boundary, there is no condemnation, no condemnation. There's an opportunity to notice and learn, to receive grace and return.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Food is not the only place where loving limits can protect peace. In a future episode, we're gonna kind of broaden the conversation a bit and talk about boundaries around social media, diet, and body transformation content. Um, we're gonna look at all of that rest, time, counterfeit comforts. We're also gonna explore what scripture reveals about God's purpose for boundaries because that's where it gets really good.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Yeah. So until then, consider bringing this question to God. Lord, how might the boundaries of hunger and just enough become invitations to walk more closely with you? Thanks so much for joining us. We are so glad that you've been here today, and we would love to invite you to join us for our next episode of Revelation Within on the next time.