By Kelsey Klepper
“If you could do anything, what would it be?” In high school and college my response to this question was always the same, “I don’t know. I don’t feel like I have a passion for anything.” This response of not feeling like I had any real fire became an identity that I didn’t like but, nevertheless, clung to for years and years.
My mind was so consumed with my body that I didn’t have room for dreams or truly opening my mind to possibilities. Any dream God put on my heart was quickly covered by my shameful thoughts about my body. Once I started healing from body shame, I felt a fire and wanted others to feel this freedom too. I started reading and listening to any information I could and began teaching others how to fight against diet culture and body shame. This seemed like the right path to take. I am a registered dietitian after all, but the fire in me didn’t last long. It felt too all-consuming in my mind, and I quickly felt burnt out always talking about bodies and food. I felt like I just switched my obsession from my body to helping others heal from their body distrust. I was struggling with knowing if this was where God wanted me in this season. My answer to the “if I could do anything” question still continued as “I don’t feel like I have any passions.”
When your thoughts are taken over by the way your body looks, the food you’re consuming and the exercise plan you’re on, you aren’t leaving space to hear God. When your mind is fixated on what you think you should be doing, there isn’t space to hear the dreams God is whispering to you.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. Psalm 37:4-5
God is not putting desires on your heart to be obsessed with your body and the food you eat. His desires are much, much greater. He’s telling you, but we have to give ourselves space to listen.
I was cutting myself short on the dreams I was allowing God to whisper to me because I felt like I had to go down a specific path (using my label of registered dietitian and my story of freedom from body shame). It wasn’t until I let go of what I thought I should be doing and my obsessive thoughts about my body that I truly started hearing the dreams God was putting on my heart – dreams and passions that I would have never dreamt up myself, dreams that are completely unrelated to body image and what I was choosing to strive after.
I do still love talking and writing about freedom from body shame, and I know God has a plan for me in this, but his desires for us won’t always align with what we think we should be doing. His desires for us are far greater than we could imagine for ourselves. We just have to open up space to hear him. His desires for us are good. When we hear those desires, they light a fire that cannot be described. Are you leaving space to hear God and his dreams for you?
We have a safe space where you can hear from God and discover his dreams for you…
The next Eyes Wide Open Online session begins June 25th, and we would love for you to be a part of it! REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
Eyes Wide Open will empower you to embrace your unique identity and confidently live out God’s plan and purpose for your life. To learn more about the Eyes Wide Open Online group, CLICK HERE.
Here are the details:
- Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30 PM (EST)
- June 25th – August 27th (10-weeks)
- Cost is $75 (includes all materials and 10-week online experience
- Groups are led by trained leaders
- Groups are kept small (8 including leaders)
- You can access video conference meetings by computer or smart phone
If the timing of this group doesn’t work but you would like to be put on a wait list and contacted when future groups form, please CLICK HERE and fill out the interest form.
Break the cycle of disordered eating and negative body-image and pioneer a generation of women who are redefining beauty.
