Contest closed – winner has been notified. Thanks, S.
Some of my most-widely-read and shared posts are about body image – whether it was my promise to stop calling myself fat, or the day my eldest daughter asked if she needed to lose weight, or even my love letter to my own body, this is a bruise of a place for many of us, isn’t it? And after my work with Mercy Ministries of Canada, my understanding of the insidious and tenacious grip of this issue was expanded (and my heart was broken). Now, in addition to recommending Mercy, I can also recommend this blood-sweat-tears-and-prayers book by Emily Wierenga.
Emily was a home-schooled pastor’s daughter who wasn’t allowed to play with Barbies or dance. At the age of nine, she began to restrict her food intake, and by the time she was 13, she was so severely anorexic, nurses were surprised she was still alive.
Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder is the story of a broken family that finds healing through an eating disorder. It’s the story of how even good Christians need redemption, and how eating disorders pervade all homes—even the seemingly perfect ones.
A unique resource, it addresses the whole of the illness: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, providing shocking insight into the disordered eater’s mind that no other book will offer.
In addition to a stirring personal narrative, Chasing Silhouettes is comprised of advice from some of the nation’s top eating disorder experts, sample prayers for when yours run out, as well as stories of others who’ve battled—and overcome—eating disorders.
My friend Emily wrote this important book. She’s beautiful. So beautiful, so bold, so tender-hearted. She was told she would never be able to have children because of her disordered eating, and now she is the mother of two little boys, foster-mother to two more, and mama to many through her work. She’s an artist, a minister of the Gospel, and she has poured everything out for this work.
Eshet Chayil! Woman of Valour!
Well done, Emily, you are a minister of the Gospel, you are singing a beautiful redemption song for all of us, and we are thankful for your freedom voice.
God is near to the broken-hearted, and this book is a gift to the suffering, and to the ones that love the suffering.
I want to stand on street corners and hand this book out. I want to give it to every mother, to every daughter, to every woman, to every pastor, to every counsellor, every clinician.
I want to make sure people read it, understand it, and I want to see women saved.
Read endorsements and samples chapters here.
Giveaway
I have one hard-copy of Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One With an Eating Disorder to giveaway! You can enter to win by leaving a comment on this post; tell me one thing you LOVE about your body. (Make sure you include an email address or a way to reach you if you win.) If you want to tweet about the giveaway or share it on FB, just leave another comment letting me know that you did that, and I’ll give you an extra entry. Winner will be chosen randomly.
Shipping address must be in Canada or the USA, I’m afraid. I’ll draw a winner on Saturday 7 October 2012.
