Oftentimes God will send us a wakeup call, and while mine would come by
way of what was thought to be a stroke – after further probing, (the dreaded
diagnosis) would turn out to be a migrane aura. Nevertheless, I got the
message – loud and clear.

“Wake up,” urged one of my dearest friends, “being a good wife and mother
means taking care of yourself first. The bottom line is: If you don’t take care
of yourself, in the long run you won’t be the only one taking the hit; ultimately,
you will also harm all the people you love.”   
   
Each morning, upon pushing the snooze button, my heart rate would accelerate
even before my feet touched the floor. This of course, was product of a disastrous
diet coupled with the never ending mental checklist that would work its way into
my REM sleep – turning my earliest waking moments into a virtual ‘to do’ list.
My morning breakfast – coffee; my midday snack – vanilla latte, and for lunch
“Jamaica Me Baby” (coffee). At a time when I really needed to model healthy
eating habits for my miniature doppelgangers, I was instead on the losing end of
a self-destructive food war, exhausted all the time; and wearing the exhaustion
like a badge of honor. I was so busy caring for everyone else, I left myself off
the list altogether – somehow believing it was okay to become the household's
“sacrificial lamb.” Fresh fruits and veggies for the kids; extra if needed, and
Mom would take the leftovers. No sugar for the kids! That was for Mom – in the
form of a quick energy boost bar, my mid-afternoon snack. I would tell myself
that I was simply too tired and too burdened to have the power to change my
very unhealthy lifestyle. I gave up, and that’s when God messaged me. But after
a week of ongoing hospital tests (and putting my loved ones in a very melancholy
mood), I finally got the message: I could not show up in my own life if I was
always on the run.   
   
Fast-forward, seven years after God graced me with His message, “me time” is
now a priority. I no longer feel the need to martyr myself – cooking lavish dinners
no one asked for, then getting resentful when no one is thrilled with the outcome.
At my core, however, healthy food choices still eluded me. With the pressures of
parenting, sometimes it’s just easier to stick a frozen pizza in the oven than fuss
with coaxing tweens to eat leafy greens.   
   
That was until I was bequeathed a little book in preparation for an interview
with Lysa TerKeurst, The New York Times bestselling author of Made to Crave
Devotional: 60 Days to Craving God, Not Food – the title alone caught my
attention and sparked my curiosity. Here she talks about the connections
between unhealthy cravings and spiritual malnutrition, and her most profound
revelation – we were made to crave God, not food.


Could you explain to those who are not familiar with Made to Crave:
Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food (your first highly
successful national bestseller) the premise of the book?


Lysa TerKeurst: Several years ago, I really hit a low spot. I felt like my whole
adult life had been spent bouncing between feeling deprived – because I was
trying to eat healthy but not liking it, or feeling guilty, because I was eating
whatever I wanted and just gaining weight and feeling sluggish. I was bouncing
between deprived, guilty, deprived and guilty – and I could never stay at a
stable weight and really just find a place of peace; emotionally, physically –
and honestly, even spiritually, because, sometimes when we have a physical
struggle, it is an inward indication of an outward situation. As I began praying
through this and trying to find peace, I realized that the Lord was saying, “Lysa,
you are overweight physically, but underweight spiritually and you have to tie
those two things together.” So I started reading the Bible from the perspective
of someone struggling with food and (through the process) I really expected
God to say, “You know I love you just the way you are,” and God did say that!
But ultimately He loves us too much to leave us in a state of defeat. And I was
in a definite state of defeat. As I went through my journey and I kept reading
through the Bible, I realized that God had a lot to say about food [in the Bible]
and keeping food in the proper perspective. I was honestly stunned by how
much God talks about it. So I wrote Made to Crave – my personal revelations
that I discovered as I read through the Bible – and just the many, many things
God used to encourage me, realizing that I am not an expert on the ‘how to’
information. Plus, the bookstores this time of year are littered with tons of how-
to-get-healthy books. Honestly, most people know how to get healthy! We need
to eat less, move more and make healthier choices. We know that – so I didn’t
want to write another how-to-get-healthy book. What I wanted to write was
what I found by reading the Bible from the perspective of someone struggling
with food. And that is the ‘want to’ – the spiritual and emotional motivation to
really make lasting changes. That’s how Made to Crave came about – and that’s
what Made to Crave is all about – helping people to find their ‘want to’.

 
You have recently followed up Made to Crave with a companion book.
Why a companion book? And why now?
 
LT: Well, I heard from so many people that read Made to Crave that they didn’t
just wanted to read it one time; they wanted to read it two times, then three
times. And then they asked, “Do you have anything else – we love Made to
Crave, it’s a great book – we read it two and three times, but it takes longer
than 19 chapters to find lasting victory. And so, I thought, OK, let us do a
60-day devotional where we recap some of the fundamental truths from the
original Made to Crave book; but we add in 40 new inspirational devotionals to
really keep people going, so there is a total of 60 devotionals – that will give
people an additional 60 days of encouragement to keep going. And, honestly, it
takes a while to really change your habits and make this a lifestyle change. So,
my hope is that people would go through the original Made to Crave book, then
use the devotionals as a way to keep their healthy progress going.



 
In your book, you state that this was not an easy topic for you and that
you second-guessed yourself. Why?

LT: Well, because I had tried and failed so many times. It’s really scary to put
yourself, your heart, and your most valuable struggle out for the entire world
to read. And I didn’t hold anything back. When I wrote Made to Crave I just said
I am laying it all out on the table. I was going to be gut honest, because if
people don’t see my vulnerability and my struggles, they won’t trust my advice.
Sometimes I read Made to Crave and I think, “Woo, did I really say that – for
the entire world to read?” (laughs) But, you know, I think that’s why so many
women are resonating with it; because I’m not a woman who’s naturally a size
small. I’m not a woman who walks around praising carrot sticks all the time.
That’s not who I am! I’m an average everyday woman who craves Cheez-Its
and brownies – that’s who I am, but I’ve found a brand-new way of looking
at this struggle with wonderful grace and great moderation. The Lord has
motivated me to make changes and realize that this is not just about hitting my
goal weight – and saying, now I’m good for life. This is a daily choice for me. It
is something that I will have to choose for the rest of my life. I know that about
me, my metabolism, and my cravings. But the Lord has given me tools by which
(I feel) so many other people could find hope and help, and be able to really
take this journey and make it not just a physical journey – about reining in our
taste buds, but a spiritual journey – about reining in our hearts.

 
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
 
LT: I think the hardest part was really trying to balance how gut honest I could
be and still appear trustworthy enough to be the teacher here. It’s like, I am that
girlfriend on the journey with you; but I’m a few steps ahead, calling back with
the truths that I know worked. I remember in trying to strike that balance that
there were some pages I got to, where I just wanted to write, “This stinks, this
absolutely stinks.” (laughs) I wanted to go to the grocery store aisles, where
the Betty Crocker boxes were, and set up an IV between those brownies mixes
to my veins, you know. (laughs) But at the same time, I wanted to say yes, I
am still having this struggle, but there’s hope, and here is where lasting change
can happen, and you can find a deeper motivation. So just trying to keep that
balance of yes, this is very, very hard (and I’m going to be gut honest about
how hard it is) but victory is possible, and just making sure to give people that
balance and grace was so important. You are going to mess up, we are not
perfect people, we are not going to make perfect choices. I still mess up. But,
giving hope to myself and to other people that we were only one great choice
away from getting back on the path of victory was well worth it.