When Truth is Stolen and Lies are Spoken

How do you feel when you find out someone has lied to you? Angry, betrayed, hurt? Those are a few of the emotions I've experienced when the truth has finally come out. But let me ask you how you actually respond when you discover you've been blatantly lied to? Do you confront the person? Ignore them completely? Cut them out of your life? Punch them (yikes!)? Or after these array of emotions do you finally forgive them and then eventually forget about it?

Well, I believe there's one liar we've all been victimized by that's isn't necessarily deserving of our forgiveness. The Bible exposes this invisible liar we all face, and face daily: "He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44b)." Of all the things God could call the devil (the father of evil, hate, destruction...) He calls Him the father of lies!

Are there any lies you've accepted as truth? The lie that you're not beautiful, desirable, worthy? The lie that this world would be better off without you? The lie that you'll never be happy or amount to anything? How about the lie that if you looked like the cover girl of the month everything would be fine and chipper?

As I write in my book "HEAL: Healthy Eating & Abundant Living" (which comes out in Dececember - yipee!):

"Satan is the master deceiver. Subtly he speaks lies that steer us away from the voice of truth. He knows that physical beauty is fleeting but that the strength of a woman who loves God is powerful beyond measure. Obsessions with food and body are impediments to living the abundant life, and the enemy knows this. This is why he will do anything to keep our minds, hearts, and eyes fixed on our outer appearance."

Think about it girls. We live in a blessed country. We have an abundance of food we don't know what to do with. We have the freedom to vote, to worship, to be educated. We can dress ourselves in pretty clothes, have nice things, live a life of comfort, but yet we're still not satisfied and believe we need more! We need to be thinner, tanner, richer, taller. As Maslow, the famous 14th century psychologist would put it, since our basic needs are met, we pursue self-actualization, which when applied to many (but not all!) women pursuing idealistic "beauty" is making us internally ugly, empty, envious and void of joy.

As a nation we spend over $40 BILLION a year on diet-related products alone. Not to mention billions more on beauty products and cosmetic surgery. A total amount I don't doubt we could wipe out world hunger with. So who's behind this madness? Victoria Secret? Cosmo? Nope, guess again - our messed-up, media-crazed, culture is just one of this liar's tools.

I challenge you to respond to the voice who speaks these lies. Give 'em what he deserves. A kick in his tail! Begin to fill your mind, your life with true things. "Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Phillippians 4:8)."

Shut out the noise and call upon your Maker, your Savior, and hear His loving voice. As you do, your true, unfading beauty will grow. Joy, peace, gratitude, and contentment will follow. Wake up to the trash this liar has been telling you. Toss out those so-called "beauty magazines" and turn on the words of your loving Father. The world is craving a taste of your authentic beauty, not the false Hollywood "beauty" that is causing girls to jeopordize their health and question their value, beauty and purpose in this world.

Wake up girls and reclaim the truth!

A Prayer for Honest Health

Loving Father,

Awaken in me a pure desire to be a woman of emotional, physical and spiritual health. Teach me to enjoy the process of tending to, nourishing, and renewing my body. Awaken me to the sight, smell, and taste of foods and nutrients which can provide me with the energy and health to accomplish your will for my life. I rebuke any selfish, insecure or vain desire to match up to the false standard of beauty set before me by this world. Test me God, and know my thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in my relationship with food or my body. Teach me the meaning and fullness of your grace in this area of my life. Lord, I choose to live a life of health, freedom and true beauty for your glory.

The Comparison Game - To Complete not Compete

I recently came across the results of a survey which asked women which area of their lives they are most competitive with their friends. 80% of respondents said they are most competitive with their girlfriends about their weight.

My secret comparison game started back in Junior High, when with my feet dangling off the edge of our pool I stared at the tan naked thighs of my two best friends, back to my own, and back to theirs' again. Seeing that my upper thighs were much wider in circumference, I automatically concluded that in the body department I didn't quite measure up.

As women, comparing one another has become like a survival game for our sense of self-worth. We constantly feel less than, not pretty enough, not stylish enough, not worthy enough. We simply don't stack up against that model in the magazine, that girl in our class, or that hot mom on the treadmill, and so to keep from coming undone, we discount others who maybe the world says do not stack up to us in a certain department.


I can't believe she's eating that. I'm so much "healthier" than her.
She has such a great figure, but she's not that pretty.
I wish I had her legs, but at least I have a smaller waist.


Pretty sad, isn't it?

I imagine it hurts God to tears when His daughters fire invisible arrows at one another, hiding behind false smiles and kind words. "I love you the same," He wants to scream. "You are beautiful just the way you are. You are all equal in my eyes. Don't speak to my daughter that way...I made her. She is fearfully and wonderfully made - and so are you my child."

What comparison games do you entertain with the women around you? With strangers, your friends, your sisters? Behind our smiles, our kind words, our self-assuredness or insecurity we are all fragile. We are all wanting the same thing - to be found beautiful, desirable, understood, accepted, and worthy of fighting for. And so let us disrobe our spirit of competitiveness and put on a spirit of love - a desire to complete one another with genuine words of affirmation giving praise to God for the radiant beauty in others, giving grace generously as our Father does us.

Here are some words of truth to live by:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. -Colossians 3:11-13

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. -Romans 12:3

A Random Blog...

Okay, so I’m sitting in my over-heated apartment working away. I just acted upon what my senses sensed as a “good thing” and dove into a freshly-baked pan of banana bread I made this morning. Not to mislead you - I’m no Betty Crocker. I just read the directions and thankfully pulled it out before it caught on fire.

I wasn’t hungry for it - at all, but I ate it anyway. I just wanted to be “filled up.” Fully acknowledging that I was hungrier for more than what banana bread could feed me, I immediately heard what I call a God-whisper - some inaudible, but very real voice inviting me to “hang out” and just be still with my Maker. Not now God, I’m blatantly told Him as I worked away - I want to get this done!

Sometimes (okay, a lot of times), I’d rather do stuff for God than set aside time to be with Him, or let some lesser pleasure like banana bread try to fill me up. It’s this crazy paradox because what I’m working so hard at is to help young women know their value and to know where it really lies. I want them to know it doesn’t come from the clothes they wear, the shape of their body, their socioeconomic status, external beauty, or what they do. I want them to know who they truly are and who they belong to.

Coming from a family of over-achievers it’s natural for me to search for worth in the work I do - in what I produce and have to place before the world. Achievement (or beauty or personality or I’ll let you fill in the blank) seems to give significance to our seemingly insignificant lives. But my story of brokenness and God’s intervention in the midst of it has taught me better than that. Having been hospitalized for severe depression at age eighteen, I was unexpectedly stripped away of everything I had or appeared to be that the world deemed valuable. Brokenness stripped away my pride, sanity, personality, physical beauty and all I had placed my hope in: college on the east coast, Friday night football games, fraternity parties, and true happiness - someday.

But in being stripped away of everything I had gotten my worth from, I was free to receive my TRUE value. The God that was always there, but I never really knew met me supernaturally and began to free me with a true sense of my value and worth as His daughter. I was introduced to His truth, His living word - the mysterious book we had on our family bookshelf but never opened and the one I studied in my religion class, but never really listened to for myself.

Today, I joyfully walk in the truth of who I am; beloved, redeemed, forgiven, heaven-bound, blessed and made to glorify my Maker and Savior Jesus Christ. Reflecting on my season of utter brokenness, I am gently reminded that our worth comes from Him alone. So I can just relax, stop striving and just be. I think I’ll go do that now. =)

Hungry for Hope Conference

Hey There -

Just thought I would fill you in about an amazing conference I had the privilege of attending last weekend hosted by Remuda Ranch, a Christian eating disorder treatment center. I attended the conference with my friend Debbie who is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and my mentor Judy Halliday (Thin Within).

The conference consisted of several workshops hosted by Remuda staff and Constance Rhodes (founder of Finding Balance). I was impacted by so many of the sessions, but my 2 favorite sessions were called "Heavenly Bodies" and "Hope and Glory." I walked away more equipped and eager to allow the HOPE we have in Christ to fully invade our present - to invade the way we think about ourselves, our future, our body and the world we live in. God isn't done with us yet and He's not going to give up on His creation. So if you're bent over and broken from life (I know I've been there!), I pray that you can grasp on to the truth that you have a HOPE and a FUTURE. That all that is broken will be redeemed.

I also want to formally tell you about the True Campaign - Constance Rhodes (of Finding Balance) and Travis Stewart (from Remuda) have partnered together in an effort to change the culture and end the crisis. Check out their website for some great encouragement! Constance, Travis, Judy, Debbie and I had a chance to meet for a bit and will be talking about possibilities we can partner together! So we'll keep you posted!

Love & Hugs,

Allie

Respect Your Body First

We must first learn to love and appreciate our body before we look to someone else to find it beautiful. This awesome appreciation for for our body opens the door for others to find us desirable and worthy of respect. Like a fast-moving virus or a silly laugh, how you feel about your body is contagious. If you carry yourself and your body in a way that communicates confidence, security and contentment, others will get this vibe and reciprocate it. If you are blessed to become a mother or a mentor someday, you will have the opportunity to teach your daughter (or encourage another girl) to be confident in her own skin, even though some of our moms or mentors may not have been able to do that for us.

As a friend, you can model to your girlfriends how to love and find beauty in their own bodies by finding beauty in your own. If you walk and talk like the body beautiful daughter of God you are, you can liberate the women around you from the bondage of negative self-image. How can we expect our boyfriends, husbands, children and friends to cherish us if we don’t see ourselves as worthy? God has already called your body “good”. You are the crown of His creation and He wants you to walk in this truth and communicate it to the world around you. So walk tall and carry your body like the temple of God it is. If we are going to change the ways of this world, it has to start with us.

Let's do it!

*Excerpt from HEAL: Healthy Eating & Abundant Living by Allie Marie Smith & Judy Halliday (Coming December 2008)

Inner Beauty Exercise!

I think I was around the age of twelve when I started visualizing my ideal body. It resembled the tall, lean and rock hard physique of Gabrielle Reece (minus about four inches in height). I remember cutting her out of a magazine and coveting those tan legs, washboard abs and lean biceps as my own. Twelve years later (yes, I’m a very stubborn, slow learner!) I’ve realized that this hasn’t gotten me anywhere. As far as I know, my physique hasn’t yet been compared to Laird’s bride and the color of my skin can be more likened to a bar of ivory soap.

I recently came across one of her ads and admit that I felt pretty envious of her statuesque frame. And while I was tempted to run about five miles and do a plyo-metric workout in the sand in addition to the exercise I'd already done for the day, I felt God's gentle touch convincing me to do otherwise. So, I did something new! I closed my eyes and imagined myself more beautiful within than ever before. And as I did I couldn't really make out what I looked like, but I "saw" or "felt" a radiant glow that overpowered my external beauty. I felt alive, whole, and eager to love others. During this "inner beauty workout" as I called it I was so focused on filling others up because my heart was filled to the brim with God's love. "We love because He first loved us." My spirit of striving subsided and I was able to rest secure in God's presence.

So God has been teaching me, and slowly I've been listening. While I still have an affinity for fitness and sports (confession: I daydream about being on American Gladiators someday!) I'm realizing that envying other women's bodies for my own isn't going to get me anywhere. Rather, as I allow God through His Holy Spirit to refine me from within I am transformed into the person He desires me to be (in body, mind and spirit) for HIS GLORY, not my own!

Have you gotten your inner beauty exercise today?

Facebook Ads Driving You Up the Wall?

Okay, so I'm getting really fired up (not in a good way) about all the ads that flash in front of me everytime I'm on facebook. I'm so fired up that I almost created a whole facebook group called "Facebook: Take down Your Diet Ads!" or something with a little more pizazz. I mean that's what our generation does when we want to change the world, right? We make a facebook group! Haha...

I know fb has way too much information on all of us, but is our BMI index one of them? Have weight-loss companies gone so far that they've resorted to the "muffin-top" ad campaign. Come on people!

Gggrrrrrrr......

Time to HEAL Promo

HEAL Photo Shoot

Last week we gathered a bunch of the girls in HEAL from Santa Barbara to take some photos for our upcoming book. We were in the search for the perfect cover shot! Our amazing photographer was Jessica Fairchild Conrad who is going to be spending this summer working as Invisible Children's photographer in Uganda who was an inspiration to all of us! We wanted to capture the essence of the heal journey! That it's about FREEDOM, AUTHENTIC HEALING & JOY!!! We felt like little girls the whole time playing dress up and dancing around in a field of wildflowers! The thing that I love is that each girl represented in the photos is really on the HEAL Journey! She is rising above the world's strongholds and stepping into her TRUE IDENTITY - that she is loved, whole, free, fearfully and wonderfully made, and that the God of the universe has called her to such a time as this! She has a BODY TO SERVE, TO GIVE and TO LOVE THE WORLD AROUND HER as JESUS DID! This is what this journey of HEALing is all about!

HEALing by healthy habits, hula hoops and the Holy Spirit

ARTICLE IN THE HORIZON - WESTMONT COLLEGE'S NEWSPAPER

By Karissa Young
Copy Editor

Women from UCSB, Santa Barbara City College and Westmont came together to confront eating issues and the challenges of healthy body image at a workshop called HEAL (Healthy Eating and Abundant Living) this past Saturday.

The workshop was brought to Westmont by HEART, the Healthy Eating Awareness Resource Team, led by Debbie Ulrick, as an extension of the “Be Comfortable in Your Genes” Focus Week, which “was really about raising awareness about these issues [while] HEAL was about presenting a solution,” said sophomore Rachel Stroud who works with HEART.

The HEAL program was created by Allie Smith, founder of Wonderfully Made, a women’s ministry with three chapters on different college campuses. The aim of the program is to “bring God into our relationship with food” in order to rise above disordered eating and refocus on a relationship with God, said Smith.

The workshop included practical advice for relating healthfully to food, as well as activities that varied from reflective journaling to playing with hula hoops. The hula hoops were used to remind the women of the joy that they can take in being able to use their bodies to move, instead of reacting negatively to the way they were made.

“One point that really hit home for me was the idea of eating when you’re actually hungry and stopping when you’re satisfied … it’s how we were made. It really made me realize that I need to step back and figure out what hungry and satisfied feels like for me.” said first-year Kelsey Brownsberger of HEART.

Smith’s book Healthy Eating and Abundant Living: Your Diet-free, Faith-filled Guide to a Fabulous Life is a six-week study based on the HEAL workshop and will be released in December 2008.

The Book Cover!

The book is almost here! Just 6 more months! Contact HealJourney@gmail.com if you're interested in leading a small group study with the book once it's out!

A Prayer for Your Journey

Merciful Father,

I ask that you help me to live a life in step with your Holy Spirit - to bear good fruit that will honor you and bring you glory. May your strength be made perfect in my weakness as I surrender every part of my life to you. Indwell in my life and daily guide my thoughts and actions. I want to know what it is like to allow your Spirit to reign over every area of my life including the way I eat and treat my body. Through your power equip me to rise above the sinful nature of my desires and give me your strength and wisdom as I listen to and trust the way you made my body. Jesus, as your child I can be set free and live an abundant life under the gift of your grace. I love you and thank you for the many blessings in my life.

The Tightrope of Perfection

Here's a sneak peak at an excerpt from Lesson 5, "An Aisle of Grace" of my book:

As young women today it seems like we’re raised feeling pressured to walk upon a tightrope of perfection. We cling desperately to this tightrope afraid of losing control or not measuring up. We may be able to balance on this tightrope for a while, but eventually we’ll fall and get wounded. The tightrope of perfection is unrealistic and not of God. God wants us to take our gaze away from this high, dangerous place and to call out for Him to rescue us. When we stumble, He will gently pick us up and set our feet firmly upon the path of His grace, love and provision; an aisle of grace that leads to the abundant life He desires for His beloved daughters. In Psalm 18:36 David praises God with gratitude as he acknowledges the grace he offers: “…You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn.” (Psalm 18:36 NIV). God does not want us to see us stumble and slip as a result of narrow expectations ourselves or others pressure us to pursue. I pray that you will have the courage to live in the freedom contained in God’s grace.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ….For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35 NIV)

HEAL Workshop @ Westmont College

Dear Anorexia by Melody

Dear Anorexia,
Anorexia, I so vividly remember the intimate time I shared with you. As an outlet for concealing my inadequacies, I embraced to your ways. You became my new best friend, helping me control my life when I could not live up to expectations.

Anorexia, when I did not know how to fit into my own skin anymore, you appeared. Through your eyes, I was convinced “thin” opened the door to success, confidence, intelligence, and happiness as a person. The body I once considered a gift from God you labeled as a tragic flaw, with fat defining my character as weak and shallow and the size of my waist a measurement of identity and purpose. Oh, anorexia…what lies you coaxed me into believing.

Anorexia, you filled my need to be someone, prove something, and take control of the life I deserved to have. You convinced me to starve myself and in return allowed me be thin. However, “thin” came at a high price. For Anorexia, you were never satisfied with my efforts. Each day I strived for control yet each day it slipped one step out of reach. I wish I would have known at our first meeting that I was only headed for disappointment: anger towards beloved family, depression, fear of social situations, missed friendships, sleepless nights, inability to study, and lack of energy to workout. The physical shivering that took over my body at such a low weight represented the cold person I was becoming inside. Anorexia, your world is miserable. You gave me control over my life at the cost of my soul.

Anorexia, you became a person to me. Instead of investing in people, I invested in you. I learned your ways and habits in hopes of becoming your intimate friend. However, as the days passed my body began to scream for a way out. I longed for permission to eat, to be free in my mind - Yet I had no control- no mental or physical strength left to pursue healing. It seemed like too much effort!

Yet anorexia, all the needs I tried to fill in you only find satisfaction in the arms of my heavenly Father. When I was at my weakest, not capable of putting any energy into fighting you, grace appeared. Grace slowly crumbled the tempting situations that fooled me into thinking “I must be more”. Grace allowed me to step back, away from performing, accomplishing, involving myself, seeking, and looking for success, and just REST in the stillness of God’s quiet voice. In my inability to fight for my own livelihood, freedom came. Slowly, one bite at a time I heard – “it’s ok to eat”. I received FREEDOM…VALIDATION to just be. Freedom to separate myself from my accomplishments and my progress as a person and love myself simply for whom God created me to be. I am now NO FRIEND to Anorexia. I am a freed child of God. Praise the Lord!

Beauty Tips by God

I had the privilege of speaking to some junior high girls recently at a Mother-Daughter brunch and one of the topics I talked about was authentic beauty. Beauty that comes from within. I had the girls imagine that if God was giving them some beauty tips this is a little of what he might say:

-Laugh out loud
-Dress yourself in a true understanding of your value and worth in me
-Pray to me
-Drink my living water
-Do not worry
-Wrap yourself in my arms of mercy
-Walk upon the aisle of my grace
-Be slow to speak and quick to listen
-Love me the Lord your God with all your heart
-Open your arms to the poor and extend your hands to the needy
-Love your enemies
-Remain in my love
-Let your spirit sing my praises
-Forgive as you have been forgiven and accept others as you have been accepted
-Feed the hungry
-Clothe the naked
-Have compassion for those in need
-Proclaim my mighty name throughout all the earth

A Note of Encouragement from Jessica

Hello girls,

I just wanted to take a quick moment to share with you how blessed we are by your presence in Wonderfully Made, and to encourage those of you who haven't been able to come lately to set aside some time for fellowship with other fun, silly, goofy, creative, and beautiful girls!

I was lucky today to have an entirely free afternoon, with no homework or meetings or chores or any of the little tasks which usually occupy my weekends. I decided to spend some time with God, and pulled my Bible from my shelf, where it usually collects dust!

I found this verse, which really inspired me to write to you girls:

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:15-16)

I think this verse is awesome for two reasons.
1) It reinforces how special and precious our own bodies are, and how much we vitally need each part (even the parts we might think aren't useful, like our thighs or our butt or the hair that can't be tamed!)
2) It shows us that, as a body in Christ, we need each and every one of you.

I think that I speak for all of the "older" members of Wonderfully Made when I say that it would not be the same without you.

Love,

Jessica Rice
Wonderfully Made, SCU Chapter