Boundless

At this time approximately five years ago, I began an adventure that would shape and transform the rest of my life. At the time, I felt like I was ruined. When my eating disorder was first diagnosed, I felt like the rug had been pulled right out from under my feet, but I was only seeing a small piece of the picture. God, who reigns over time and circumstance and who loves His children without limits, had something so much greater in mind. He has taken my ashes and turned them into beauty. He has taken devastation and turned it into deliverance. And He has made a way for my testimony to be shared in a way that I never dreamed possible. 

Once on the road to recovery from my eating disorder, I began to wonder why I went through it all. After I tasted freedom and deliverance, I felt called to share what I had learned in order to minister to others. The eating disorder rocked my relationship with the Lord, and I was closer to Him than I had ever been in my entire life. That's when I felt God leading to me to write about it, to write about Him - His presence in suffering and His power to bring healing and deliverance. 

That's the craziest thing I have ever heard. I told the Lord. I am not a writer. But God is an excellent author, and He wrote the story of my battle with an eating disorder in the first place. Then He gave me words to document it. 

I spent two years writing, self-editing, and getting friends and family to give feedback. I researched all sorts of publishing options and went to a writer's conference, which is where I first learned of Sonfire Media Publishing. I picked up a business card and decided to send in a submission. 

Several months later, after sending in multiple submissions to various companies, I still had received no responses. Although I had wanted to be picked up by a publisher instead of self-publishing, I was so tired of waiting that I decided to make up my mind. Even though it would cost me a lot of additional time, effort, and money, I told the Lord that I was willing to commit self-publishing if that's what it would take to get my work into the hands of real readers. So I set up a time and a day to fill out the paperwork and make the commitment. 

That week, right before I was about to sign the papers for self-publishing, I received an email from Sonfire Media Publishing asking if my manuscript was still available. Basically, they told me that my work had made the first cut and was ready for the next stage of the process if I was willing. A few months later, they offered a contract. Now, two years later, the final edits are being made, the cover is ready, and the book is on its way to the press. 

Some people say that it has taken a long time to get to this point, but in actuality, it has been on God's time, which is perfect timing in my opinion. Had this come any earlier, I would not have had the time to devote to it because of nursing school and such. Now, with one last semester and graduation on the radar, the timing is just right.

Please allow me to introduce to you, Boundless: Discovering God in Your Eating Disorder, published by the amazing Sonfire Media team and available in online and retail bookstores in December, 2012. The title comes from Hosea 14:4, which says, "His love knows no bounds." At the same time, the binding chains of an eating disorder can be broken by Christ, making us boundless in Him. To God be the glory!

"I have a weakness, but I am no longer ashamed to boast about it. What used to be my shame has become my joy. What I once saw as pain, I now see as beauty. What was my eating disorder has become my testimony. 

I share the story of my eating disorder with you, not to emphasize my own accomplishment, but to exalt God. If you were to read between the lines in the story of my battle, you would see God’s name highlighted on every page. The year that I battled an eating disorder was the greatest year of my life because it was in those moments of weakness that God taught me to pray, to love His Word, and to depend on Him absolutely. I discovered He was at work, showing me that in my weakness, He is strong.

My battle is not a story about my strength in overcoming temptation or my victory in conquering an eating disorder. The author of the story is the same one who worked behind the scenes and became the star of the show. My narrative is about God and how He took a girl with an eating disorder and transformed her ashes into beauty.

I am fully confident that He has great things in store for you as well, as you fight your eating disorder. His plan during this season of your life will astound you as you witness it unfold in ways that you least expect. It is my prayer that as you read this book, you will enter into a deeper and more personal relationship with God. May the words of these pages be a simple guide into the start of an adventure with Him."