I am doing much better now. The prayers of many good friends, God’s word and my daily discipline of spending time in prayer and reading God’s word have kept me in the will of God and sustained my faith in this great storm. Jesus wasn’t surprised by this testing of my faith since a very seasoned believer came into my life right before the winter break to help me tremendously.

Karen is the NJ leader of Mom’s In Prayer International. Right before I left for our Mexico trip, I became frustrated by the diminishing number of groups in our region 4 praying together for our children and their schools that I sought the Lord about it. Upon prayer, I felt the Lord wanted to reach out to her about possibly being an area coordinator for region 4, a job of praying for our region, and to recruit and sustain the local group leaders.

Karen really helped me tremendously when I returned home from Mexico and we saw the extent of my daughter’s eating disorder. Perhaps going to Mexico in an all-inclusive resort with my family was what was necessary to finally see completely what was happening within Alex. Karen’s experiences and encouragement truly blessed me as she lifted me and my family up when I felt so defeated and sad.

Yesterday something shifted within me. My faith, hope, confidence and courage in the Lord have come back. I am no longer despondent and despairing. I am again believing in the SyroPhoenician woman’s story from Mark 7 again. Her daughter was delivered from a demonic spirit by Jesus even when her mom wasn’t around. This was the word that was given to me about Alex during the summer and I must hold on to it! Alex will be fully delivered away from me in college.

Ever since her pediatrician visit last Tuesday, I’ve been looking hard for an eating disorder therapist near Indiana University. She’s on three waiting lists. Eating disorders have skyrocketed in the youth during the pandemic. I have been seeking hard. The only door that has opened is the IU student health center. They have a student support center for eating disorders. Alex has an appointment with the case manager today. Since I had Alex sign all the waivers so I can speak freely with them, I will be involved and informed. This was the condition for her to go back to college. She was not happy about this arrangement, and hence her coldness and rudeness to us.

I learned from my research that being involved with her recovery is very important. The former approach to exclude parents and caregivers from recovery is flawed and much less effective than the family involvement approach. There’s much new data to support this newer approach to treatment. I pray that the eating disorder specialists and treatment centers are seeing this new information and adjusting themselves. When you think about it, it’s also biblical since family is very important to God.

Please keep praying for Alex and her deliverance. Also pray that she’ll find a good support group to retrain her habits of eating and be educated about good nutrition. She is deceived and misinformed by whatever she has been seeing or reading in social media etc.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for delivering my daughter, Alex once and for all. May the SyroPhoenician mom’s story be my testimony completely and permanently. I have experienced Alex’s moment of clarity in the fall and I declare that her deliverance is complete! I praise you for her healing and deliverance!

I thank you that you will open the right door for Alex’s treatment and not open the wrong doors. I thank you for IU student health center and their eating disorder support staff. Bless them and I pray for your favor on Alex in this place and with their staff. Send the right people to help Alex and that it will be a place of victory and blessings for Alex and our family. 🙏 I praise you in this storm. I praise you for our family’s blessings and victory. I thank you that in Heaven, this matter is already won and settled. Alex is delivered and set free. I will stand firm in faith and believe like Abraham did for his son, Isaac.

Karen sent me this text message yesterday: “I have been praying and seeking the Lord and think you would make a great area coordinator for your area. I know the Lord is putting a burden on your heart for women who are struggling with their children having eating disorders but their are many women struggling with their children for a variety of reasons. We direct them to go to the Lord for direction, guidance, and healing for their loved ones. Please pray about this since we would love to have you on our team. Prayer changed things, prayer precedes revival.Prayer is hard work, but it is well worth it. Seeking salvation for the lost, healing for the sick, and strength for the weary. ❤️🙏❤️”

Tomorrow, Wednesday is MIP global day of fasting and prayer. There are many times of prayer throughout our country and the world. Their prayer theme is “God is Our Strength.” How timely! Please join us in prayer and fasting for our youth.

Here are the links to participate – https://momsinprayer.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/pdfEVENT-GDPF-Prayer-Sheet-2022.pdf

https://momsinprayer.org/events/global-day-of-prayer-fasting-2022/

“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that he will still deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10)

I’m currently reading these two books on eating disorders. One is an autobiography of a woman who overcame her eating disorder through non-conventional way on her own. Howard found this book. As I’m reading it, her logic and method makes so much sense. She had to retrain her brain from very destructive eating habits learned through dieting, which led to severally restricting her food intake, which led her to binge eat to compensate for her lack of nutrition in her body and brain. Through guilt and shame, she’d purge the food right away. I pray that Alex reads this book. It looks like she brought the guide book with her to college. Please pray that she is compelled to read this book and do its self help guides. – https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Recovery-Guide/dp/0984481745/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_1/132-8944328-8495500?pd_rd_w=iVtpt&pf_rd_p=0ac31943-e5c4-4aef-ab7b-6ab45d3ad9aa&pf_rd_r=4GRG89TH2BMG6VMTE88R&pd_rd_r=abaf2424-c978-4d73-880e-7e96a3edbf31&pd_rd_wg=UPSEs&pd_rd_i=0984481745&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=nodl_

Another book that I’m reading is this one. It’s about new research supporting that family needs to be actively involved in helping their teenagers with eating disorders and how to do it together effectively. – When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Recover from Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684030439/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WZ4Q7R9XGQMZYF5XMDB5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I’ve joined an eating disorder Facebook group for parents and people who are struggling with eating disorders. As I’m reading their messages and posts, I see that very expensive and time-consuming treatment centers do not always work. According to the book research reports, less than 50% are helped from these intensive centers. However when the family is involved with their children’s treatment, the successful recovery is very high and lasting. This book’s recommendation is what I needed to hear to give myself permission to be actively involved with Alex’s recovery. One more point- Alex’s pediatrician said to us that we have to see this like cancer or diabetes. If your child is diagnosed with cancer or diabetes, then you’ll treat it aggressively and quickly. I’ve seen many children overcome their medical problems in our prayer groups. In the successful cases, the moms kept in touch both with the medical team and stayed in Christian fellowship. Thank you Holy Spirit for sharing these practical resources with us and that you are guiding our steps forward.

What we are doing reminds me of this quote by the Salvation Army founder.