I just wanted to start this thread as a place of refuge. For all the Christians that would like to Talk about all things of faith.

congratulations on getting your LB date! I will pray for a great success and God's hand in it all. Patty

Hi There,

I have been banded since August of 2007. I found out last week that my band has eroded and tomorrow I will be having the band removed. I thought it was God's plan for me to be banded. I prayed for a year if it was the right decision or not. As things began to take place everything went well with out a hitch. I have lost about 40lbs. Within the last few months my fills have not restricted much and there has been minimal weight loss. So now I won't have a band and I don't understand how to handle the situation. Do I try to lose weight without any tools and on God's strength alone. I am scared I will rebel against Him and gain weight again. Any input will be appreciated. I am having a hard time discerning right now.

Cyndi

Cyndi, When you have children, you let them play (live) and you watch them and care for them and you allow them to make decisions for themselves. Some consequences for those decisions are good and some not so good, but they learn from being allowed to make their own choices. (Of course if it what they are going to do is clearly written in the families book of rules that it is wrong, then they should obey their parents). When you see them about to harm themselves or others, then you intervene and protect them. Otherwise, you continue to let them play. (live) God is the same way with us.

Lapband surgery is not a sinful thing to do IMO because I believe God would allow a person to have surgery to correct bad health. We are just taking care of our bodies. Therfore, he was like that parent who allows his child to play (live). You made a decision to have the LBS and God allowed it. Now your band has eroded and needs to come out. Stuff in life happens. It's not that God had disapproved of the LBS for you and now he's going to make it come out. It's just that it has to come out because of the erosion that 'happened'. So, now you need to make some new decisions. You have many options. Put a new band in, have another kind of WLS or you may even try to do it on your own. Whatever your decision is, if it isn't sinful, I believe God will allow it. I will pray for God to give you peace about your choices and for the surgery you will have. God bless you. patty

Thank you so much Patty. You spoke to me in a beautiful way and I needed to hear those words. Thanks for understanding and showing me the process to think things through.

Have a wonderful day,

Cyndi

Hello, and so sorry about your misfortune with the band. Somethings we dont understand but we just have to put things in Gods hands. He is our guide and our healer. Just ask for his grace to give you the strength to do it on your own. I will be praying for you and God Bless You. Maybe gastric bypass is an option in the future.

The beatitudes say "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." The LB is God's blessing for those christians who struggled with gluttony. He forgave us for that sin through the shed blood of Jesus anyway, but to help us with our struggle of overeating daily and having this thorn in our flesh, he provided a way. God is good to us. Some on this post, way back, have struggled with whether God would approve of this surgery and instead want us to lose the weight on our own by doing the right things. I believe there is nothing wrong with having surgery to help you with your health. God would not have a problem with anyone having heart surgery if they needed it, even if they needed it because they ate fatty, high cholesterol foods all their life and it resulted in their heart attack. So why would God deny an overweight unhealthy person LB surgery to correct the results of their eating wrong all their lives? I believe he allows us to make choices in our lives concerning things that are right and wrong. Having surgery is not a sinful thing, so this is one of the choices we can make in life that's up to us. My Pastor said this once: "When does a parent interfere with what their child is doing? Usually when he sees the child doing wrong he steps in. If the child is playing on the floor and all is well, the parent just oversees the situation. But when the child is headed for the stove, the parent protects and when the child picks up a toy to throw at another child the parent disciplines. But if the child isn't doing anything wrong, he allows him to go on playing (living his life)This is how God deals with us I believe.

This is an Great thread! Like so many I have struggled with the chains of Obesity, Gluttony, guilt, and obsession. God is awesome! and he will never forsake us in our times of need. I see the lapband as a tool us meeting Him half way! Thank you all for this thread to remind eachother if this.

This is an Great thread! Like so many I have struggled with the chains of Obesity, Gluttony, guilt, and obsession. God is awesome! and he will never forsake us in our times of need. I see the lapband as a tool us meeting Him half way! Thank you all for this thread to remind eachother if this.

This is a post from my blog: IF YOUR STOMACH OFFENDS YOU, TIE IT OFF

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Guilt, Shame, and Other Ineffective Motivators

Let me get this right out in front. Food addiction is not sin. Glorying in it is. Flaunting it is. Refusing to do anything about it is.

Using willpower doesn't work for long except in very anal people, which I am not. For most of us, this is the thorn in the flesh that God refuses to remove, despite ernest prayer and pleas. Different methods work for different people, but having people guilt you, shame you, humiliate you, preach at you, quote Bible verses to you, tell you you just need willpower, or to pray harder, doesn't work. In fact, most of these things backfire, cause even more guilt and shame than we already carry, and drive us deeper into the food.

Scientists are working on drugs that work on those addiction centers of the brain that control the cravings for over-eating as well as other addictions. This is a brain-based disease and most of us can trace the cravings back to early childhood whether our bodies reflected the disorder or not.

Most of us have fought long and hard to contain the cravings. Yet the disease grows along with our hopelessness. We lose weight only to regain it with interest.

In addition to the cravings for the substance itself, food is a proven numbing medication for issues like sexual and physical abuse, service to others at the expense of taking care of ourselves, stuffing our feelings and not speaking up for ourselves, depression, and in my case I would add, ADHD.

For me, food helps me concentrate and sit still. The restlessness that overwhelms me, the stillness and concentration that society and social convention require from me are brought under control with food--especially chocolate.

This is the only addiction that requires you to indulge it 3x a day. We can't live with food and we can't live without it.

Don't judge us. Don't give us advice. Pray for us. Love us. Accept us the way we are. This is a disease of silence. but our bodies speak louder than our words. Encourage us to break our silence, to talk about the pain of our condition--which is the human condition, under which all creation groans, waiting for that final redemption

I've started copying posts from my blog to the blog provided on this site but I've only done a few. I believe God grants us grace, not guilt. I like to say I've given up guilt for Lent. Guilt is totally unproductive and keeps us mired in the food. God gave us a wonderful gift of jumpstarting our healing from food addiction with the lapband. Celebrate.:eek: