Thankful Thursday (& Giveaway!)

Hey Friends!!

Happy Thursday!! Today I am THANKING God for many things...including an amazing adventure this week!

Although my adventure made my life a bit more "full" ~ thanks to the two Grandma's, my wonderful husband, and my sweet friend Jill ~ I was able to participate (thank you Mom, Jackie, John, and Jill!).

Are you curious what it is?? :)

Well, a few weeks ago, I was selected to participate in the taping of a Bible study by speaker/author Lysa TerKeurst. Although Lysa and her Proverbs 31 team are from Charlotte, North Carolina ~ Zondervan is the publisher of this new project, so the Bible study taping took place right in my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Woo Hoo!!


Lysa's latest book is called Made to Crave, and will be released this December.


To tell you a bit more about the book, Lysa shares "my deepest desire is for women to understand that we were made for more. We were made to crave God, not food. And it is possible to quiet the daily battle in our minds."

Lysa recently lost 25 pounds and 26 inches, but more importantly, she has experienced the peace and power of Jesus in new, magnificent ways.

She also shares, "I knew I would be successful one day when I could stand on the scale and feel peace no matter what the numbers said. This journey is not a diet, it’s a spiritual commitment."

Peace no matter what the number on the scale ~ I love it!! (Can I just tell you ~ this is going to be one AMAZING book. I can't WAIT until it comes out!)

So Tuesday morning I showed up at Wellspring Church with an assortment of different outfits and a lot of curiousity about what to expect. My job was to be one of 20 women sitting in the room drinking coffee while Lysa taught from her new book. (Tough job, I know).

Not only was it a HUGE blessing to hear Lysa's 6 different anointed teachings, it was a true gift to meet a number of amazing, Godly women during the production days.

What fun to sit around and share our dreams, hopes, desires, and passions. I am so thankful to have participated in the Made to Crave teachings! What a blessing! :)

Here is a picture of our group after the final teaching session.....

(Lysa is in the front in the red jacket. Can you find me in the back in blue??)

Lysa posted a number of great pictures from the taping here.

To celebrate my adventure, I'd like to share with a dear *She Sparkles* reader a personally signed copy of Lysa's current book, Becoming More than A Good Bible Study Girl.

To Win my Lysa TerKeurst Giveaway: Leave a comment in the comment section answering this question:

What would you like to win Lysa's book??

Extra Entries:

•Follow *She Sparkles*
•Subscribe to *She Sparkles*
•Add my *She Sparkles* button to your blog
•Tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post

Please be sure to leave me a comment to let me know your extra entries.

RULES: Starts today, Thursday, September 2nd and ends Sunday, September 5th at 9 PM. Winner will be posted on my blog during the week of September 6th.

If your email address is not connected to your ID, please leave your email address with your comment or email it to me at cindy.bultema@gmail.com with the subject "Giveaway".

I am also so THANKFUL to share *She Sparkles* with you, my dear bloggy friend!! What are you thankful for today?? I'd love to hear from you!!

Sweet blessings to you ~

Our Thought Closet

It's early morning. My coffee pot is dripping and the iron is warming up. Soon I will be heading out for a full day of adventure (more details to come...). But before I get dressed, today, once again, I am making a conscious decision to be intentional with every thought I allow in my mind.

Jennifer Rothschild's Bible study Me, Myself, and Lies (it's awesome!) encourages us to think of our thought life like a closet. And our thought closet is designed to host the mind of Christ. We cannot allow it to become cluttered with wrong thoughts or words or ill-fitting labels.

So, what's hanging in your closet??

For many years, my closet was filled with rags and hand-me-downs labeled "Not good enough", "Unloved", "Rejected". And then I met Jesus. He ripped down the old rags (that were never meant for me to wear), and traded them for beautiful, glorious garments designed just for me. "Loved", "Beautiful in His Sight", "More than enough", "Redeemed" now hung in my new and improved thought closet.

Unfortunately, every once in awhile, I pick up an old rag and bring it in. I walk past a magazine with a mom of 8 in a bikini on the cover (although she had a tummy tuck!) and add "not good enough" and "unlovely" to my closet.

When did I start allowing the world's standards to define who I am??

I must not allow that old rag to hang in my closet for even a moment. One smelly lie can start stinkin' up my whole thought closet. It must be removed. Confessed. And replaced with God's Truth.

Today I choose to fill my thought closet only with Truth. I will meditate on Colossians 3:12 and clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I will live on guard to the enemy and his schemes. I will ask God to help me keep my thought closet clean and orderly and pleasing to Him.

How about for you?? Are there any old rags hanging in your thought closet that need to be tossed out? Is it time for a new garment....or maybe a whole new wardrobe? What's hanging in your closet these days??

Let's pray...Oh Lord, please give us the mind of Christ. Help us to meditate only on Truth...the Truth of Who You are and the Truth of who we are in You. Reveal to us any old rags need to tossed out and fill our closets only with Truth. Protect us from the lies of this world and keep our eyes focused only on You. In Your Strong Name I pray. Amen :)

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! Have a wonderful, Word-filled day!!

Thankful Thursday: Breath

Hi Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!!

I'm so THANKFUL I made it through a LIVE radio show discussing body image, addiction, and freedom! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement! (If you missed the show, you can listen to an archived copy here)

Also, I'm thankful to announce the winner of the Priscilla Shirer One in a Million book is Jen from Big Binder. Congratulations!!

And for today's Thankful Thursday post... John and I went for a long walk last night, and unfortunately, I struggled with my breathing and almost had to go in for a breathing treatment. Yikes! Today I am THANKING God for the gift of breath!

Enjoy this post from last summer. After last night's episode, it's exactly what is on my mind today...

I failed my test. My breathing test, that is.

I knew failing the test was inevitable ~ for the past few years I've really struggled with my breathing. I find myself wheezing and coughing all night long. I can't walk my dog around the block without losing my breath. When I speak at events, I have to keep an emergency inhaler tucked in the podium. My kids ask if I have an inhaler before we play outside. I've given up running. My breathing struggles have limited and restricted my everyday life.

When I went to the doctor, he told me it was asthma. Asthma?? I'm 40. How in the world did I develop asthma? The doctor gave me specific prescriptions and instructions to manage my asthma ~ take Claritin every morning, use a Flovent inhaler every day, and only use my rescue inhaler in case of emergency.

What did I do? I used the Flovent inhaler...a couple of times. I took the Claritin...for about 3 days. And then the Flovent and the Claritin sat on the shelf. I relied on my rescue inhaler too often. I missed out on fun opportunities and adventures. I accepted my new restricted lifestyle and thought I'd be stuck this way forever.

When the day came last month to take a new breathing test, I knew the results would not be good. The doctor asked if I was following his specific instructions. Was I using the Flovent? No. Claritin? Not really. The prescriptions were filled and ready to go, but they were both sitting on the shelf unused.

I came home with a resolve this time to do what the doctor had told me to do. I put a chart by my bathroom sink. I used the Flovent. Check. I took the Claritin. Check. Soon my chart was filled with check marks ~ and low and behold, I could run! I could play! I could breathe!

As I've been reflecting on my breathing journey, I've thought about other areas in my life where I leave things "sitting on the shelf". I wonder why I struggle with defeated thinking, or with fear, or feeling not good enough ~ but upon closer inspection...realize I've not followed God's specific instructions. Truth is left sitting on the shelf.

Scripture is clear we have been given everything we need to live the full life in Christ. Everything we need. But we need to do our part too. Having the prescriptions filled isn't the same as taking the prescribed dose each day.

I must faithfully put into practice the specific instructions given to us through the Word. I must spend time in God's presence. I must refuse to accept a life filled with fear or defeated thinking or guilt. I must be intentional about the renewing of my mind. It's not enough for me to have a verse written on an index card ~ I must put Truth into practice!

How about for you? Are you experiencing all that God has for you?

Or are you allowing worry or unforgiveness to steal your joy?

Are you allowing fear to rob you of peace?

Are the lies of the enemy ("you're not good enough, or thin enough, or _______ enough") limiting or restricting your everyday life??

May I encourage you to put Truth into practice! Please don't leave His Words to you sitting on the shelf. Spend time daily allowing His Words of hope to bring healing to your current condition. And before you know it...you'll be running and playing and breathing like never before!! :)

Can I get an Amen??

Enjoy this Thankful Thursday, dear Bloggy Friend!! What are you thanking God for today?? I'd love to hear from you!!!

My 'Body Image' Journey: On Live Radio

THANK YOU, dear friends, for praying me through my radio broadcast today!

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to share LIVE (can anyone say, huge butterflies!), yes LIVE, my journey with body image, food, addiction, and FREEDOM! My hope is that God will use my story (His story) for His Kingdom purposes and glory!!

A HUGE thank you to my friends who listened and e-mailed me right after with words of encouragement. What a blessing! (You are right, dear April, we will not allow the enemy to creep in with doubt!)

And also a huge THANK YOU to Lucy Ann Moll, host extraordinaire, for creating a welcoming and safe environment to share God's transforming Word with her listeners and answer her insightful questions.

If you would like to listen to an archived copy of the hour long interview, the link is here. Enjoy :)

And if you listened today and are visting *She Sparkles* for the first time ~ WELCOME!!

My hope is that this blog would be a source of hope, truth, encouragement, and joy! My greatest passion is sharing the liberating TRUTHS of God's Word with others! I am also a dedicated wife to John, and fun mom to 4 amazing kids. I LOVE living life to the absolute FULL! :)

Also, if this is your first time at *She Sparkles*, here is a brief recap of my body image journey....

My weight has been a life long issue for me. For as long as I can remember, I've felt not thin enough. Or pretty enough. I believed the lie no one would ever find me beautiful. (Recap here

)

My weight struggle came to an all-time high when I was pregnant with my eldest son Jake. I was alone. Soon-to-be a single mom. And I ate my stress, pain, fear, and shame (and anything else someone would feed me!).

Here is a picture of me on July 15, 1994 ~ the day Jake was born. (When Jake was little, when he would see this picture he would say, "Oooh, Mama Biiiiggg!" Yep, Mama was big!)

By Jake's 2nd birthday, I lost all the weight, and more. See pic below...

Even at the weight I was above (wearing a size 4 dress), I still felt not thin enough. Or pretty enough. Or that I could ever be beautiful.

I didn't eat a piece of Jake's birthday cake that day because I felt so unbelievably fat. It was empty, defeated living.

Thankfully, soon after Jake's 2nd birthday, I met Jesus (woo hoo!) ~ and my life has not been the same since!!

In His great mercy, Jesus has not only given me a new life, but a NEW MIND!! I now have the mind of Christ! And over the past 15 years, I've been very intentional about filling my mind with the TRUTH of who GOD says that I am!

And even though I no longer wear a size 4 (picture below is from a few weekends ago), I now walk in Truth and freedom and joy!

My greatest desire is to be a voice of TRUTH in my own life, and the lives of every single person I come in contact with (my friends, family, neighborhood, community, on-line, and more!).

I will not allow my words to others feed into the lies we receive from the media and the world, about where TRUE BEAUTY and WORTH comes from ~ so help me God!!

That's why I'm declaring my life to be a Fat Talk Free Zone! I recently came across the Reflections Body Image Program. I love what they are doing to teach women to pursue health, well-being, and true beauty!

In case you are wondering "what is fat talk, anyway?" Here's how the Reflections Program describes it...

Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.

Examples of fat talk may include: “I’m so fat,” “Do I look fat in this?” “I need to lose 10 pounds” and “She’s too fat to be wearing that swimsuit.”

Statements that are considered fat talk don’t necessarily have to be negative; they can seem positive yet also reinforce the need to be thin – “You look great! Have you lost weight?”

Sorry, Satan, you may try your sly and subtle tricks with us ~ BUT NO MORE! We will live and stand and walk in TRUTH, right girlfriends??!!

And the TRUTH is that our God does not talk "Fat Talk" to His dearly loved children!

The official "Fat Talk Free" week isn't until the fall of this year, but let's declaring our live to be Fat Talk Free....Lord willing, from this day forward!! Anyone with me??