No Need For Despair (give away alert)

I personally do not believe that we can really ever feel beautiful without a solid trust in God. With God we can begin to see opportunity within difficulty, not despair. Despair has defined my weight loss journey for most of my life. The extra pounds trigger feelings of anxiety, depression, panic, inferiority, and worthlessness. That in turn brings me to depair and the need to want a quick fix ... a solution to my problem.

With God, there is no need for despair. Traveling with Him means we don't need to feel any of the negative feelings I mentioned above. With Him, we can see an opportunity. An opportunity to grow stronger, allow Him to empower us, to display our faith, to learn a lesson, to become disciplined, to learn about forgiveness, and then to teach others what we've learned along the way. God can do a mighty work within us. And that's beautiful.

I'm so excited about my next give away. When I created this blog almost 2 months ago, I wanted to help others, but I also wanted to help myself. I prefer to journey with friends, not alone. I named the blog "I Am Beautiful" because I know that the Lord does see beauty when He looks at me. I want to remind myself of that when I'm not feeling it, which admittedly is a lot. That is my struggle. So imagine my excitement when last weekend I was walking through the Proverbs 31 Ministries resource room and spotted a book with this title: I'm Beautiful, Why Can't I See It? . I work at Proverbs and I have never noticed this book! I immediately grabbed it off the shelf and within an hour I had been drawn to reading it. I didn't want to put it down. I decided I wanted to share it, so I'm giving it away.

This book is by Kimberly Davidson. "If you are constantly thinking about food, dieting, exercise, and weight, or perhaps are just an 'occasional' binger or purger, this book is for you." "This effective, proven, step-by-step 13 week healing devotional study is for anyone struggling with unhealthy patterns of eating and body image issues, including eating disorders (compulsive overeating, bulimia, and/or anorexia)."

Have you ever looked in the mirror and seen "repulsive", "fat", or "stupid", even though friends tell you otherwise? I have and sometimes (actually often) I still do. I've yet to talk with a group of women where the majority of them don't feel the same way. That's why I love this book. I will be sharing insights from this book to help combat those feelings, with God's help of course. If you post a thought, comment, encouragement, your goals, or struggles on this blog anytime between today and March 20th, you are entered to win a copy. And you can be entered up to once a day. Each day you post, I'll put your name in the drawing. The more you post, the better your chances to win.

Looking forward to traveling on this beauty journey with you. No more despair ladies. Let's look at this as our time for an amazing opportunity. I am feeling beautiful already! What about you?

Beautifully Blessed,

Melissa

***Recap: Give away begins today. Post on this blog anytime between today and March 20. Your name will be entered each day you post. I'll draw the winner's name the morning of March 21st. The winner will be mailed a copy of the book I'm Beautiful, Why Can't I See It? by Kimberly Davidson, an $18.99 value. Good Luck! I can't wait to hear and gain insight from you!