When I encountered Grace and Strength I was at a place in life where I feel I was being broken down to be built back up. For several years I had been in the pit of severe clinical depression, and as that cloud was lifting I was starting to see how God had worked during that time to reveal strongholds in my life I would have seen or addressed without the illness. And I was grateful to see the beauty coming from ashes, but I still felt like there was one area that He couldn't, or wouldn't, work in – one stronghold somehow He just didn't have control over, and that was my weight.

I'd carried extra weight my entire life, I didn't yo-yo– I'd tried everything and nothing worked! My body was obstinate, contrary, determined to do its own thing. I'd had health struggles for years. And then with the depression, I had put on so much additional weight onto my already heavy frame that I didn't recognize myself, I felt isolated, I felt hopeless.

As I started to read about Grace and Strength, I felt a glimmer of hope, but also skepticism. Even when I spoke with Cyndi I kept clinging to "Yes, maybe this has worked for other women, but not me…You don't know my body, this won't work for me." I was terrified to take that step and try. But I followed where God led, trusted the women of the Grace and Strength program who told me to be faithful and wait on the Lord, and I waded in.

This was just what I needed. It wasn't a Bible study that told me to read the Bible more and eat less, it was a focused group of people learning about GOD, learning about who we are in Him, learning about how we are to respond to Him, and how all that ties to our emotions and actions when it comes to food and our bodies. Yes, there is teaching on food and nutrition, there is discipline in what you put in your mouth, but the heart work is the real gold of Grace and Strength. Over and over again I was reminded of my worth through Christ, over and over again I was taught to recognize God's truth and not listen to Satan's lies. The ladies in my group became my cheerleaders, my prayer warriors, a safe place – The community of support they formed was priceless! My journey was longer than some, and not without its ups and downs, but even then, my sweet coach reminded me often that "GOD WASTES NOTHING." And He didn't. Each month that went by was a new lesson, or a truth taking deeper root. And it changed me, yes – it changed me physically. (Yes, it worked for even my body!) But more importantly it changed my heart, what voices I listen to, and how I see myself in Christ. God's grace, His strength, they are life changers.

Below are some of the raw and real thoughts that went into my "Why" as I was starting the program! I'm grateful to say that I have found hope, I have seen God work in that stronghold, I know His heart better, and I couldn't be more grateful that He placed this program in my path at just the right time, for just the right purpose. ‘The goal isn't skinny jeans; the goal is WHOLENESS.' Wholeness, freedom, that's the promise of God, and that's what the Grace and Strength Lifestyle has helped to further in my life.

"I realized one day two weeks ago that going through the depths of my depression and working to get out of it has allowed me to find things about myself I would have never addressed, to start to break patterns that have been around my whole life, to be an example to my little sisters so that those patterns wouldn't hold them in chains, to start to be healthy...For the first time I came to see the first glimmer of how this crisis could be huge in my life moving forward, in forming a more Godly and more whole woman. (My head knows that God works in all things for good, but my heart hadn't been able to comprehend how something so hard was necessary. But the changes I've been working on wouldn't have started by any lesser pain.) It also made me realize that the one are of my life where I haven't seen hope come out of darkness, where I don't believe there is a future, where I have stopped trusting God to change, is my body. But it is also the one thing that never lets up...It's limitations and discouraging presence is there from when I wake up, through every situation, and in every mood. So I want something to help me truly be whole...I want find hope for health, and peace in limitations, I want to be confident in myself as a daughter of the Lord and not held captive by self-disgust when I can't find clothes that fit or struggle to tie my shoes. I want to be an example to my little sisters of perseverance and of placing my self-image in God's hands. I want to do everything I can to help my body heal, and not exacerbate the heart issues that run in my family. I want to turn over this dark area to the Lord and look back and realize that freedom it gave me have allowed me the courage, grace, and physical ability to walk through every door that He opens for me! I want to be healthy, spirit, mind, and body!"

Thank you Grace and Strength!

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* Individual results may vary.