Highlights from interviews 16–20 on chronic illness, wholeness in life, what it means to be thin within, and more

A few years ago, I hosted a podcast called, Health Matters. It was a show for women who wanted to improve their spiritual and physical health.

Every week, I featured a new expert. These experts provided insight into their specific field of expertise.

• Wholeness in Life and Business with Angel Barrino
• Live Joyfully Despite Chronic Illness with Kimberly Rae
• Create the Health you C.R.A.V.E. with Casey Sollock
• What does it Mean to be Thin Within with Heidi Bylsma
• Four Little Known Secrets Standing Between You and Destiny with Linda Williams

Wholeness in Life and Business with Angel Barrino

Angel’s an author, speaker, coach and owner of several businesses under the parent company Angel B. Inspired which are dedicated to assisting people in life and business.

She discussed ways for women to overcome challenges and sabotaging behaviours. She also explained the G.R.O.W. acronym:

Growth — your growth in life, your growth in business, your growth in everything that you do.

It’s your Reality, what your reality is right now even though your reality may be a challenge you don’t have to stay in that particular reality. You have options.

The O in GROW means Options. You have options in your life. You don’t have to stick with the things that you would normally do. You don’t have to adhere to everything that people want you to do. You have choices.

Your Will, your personal will — sometimes a lot of people get trapped into thinking that they are subject to whatever life is handing them. And they don’t have to stay that way. They can change their will, they can change their choices. They can make better choices for their lives.

Live Joyfully Despite Chronic Illness with Kimberly Rae

Kimberly Rae is an Amazon bestselling author who lives with Addison’s disease, talks about health from the “other side” in her Sick & Tired series, including Laughter for the Sick & Tired and Why Doesn’t God Fix It?

Kimberly discussed how life is different for a chronically unhealthy person than for somebody who is healthy. She also explained a way for people to pray for those they love who live with illness.

Oh God bless those who pray for those who live with chronic illness. It’s interesting to me — what a good thing to ask — because you always will pray that they get better. But I would say that if you know someone with chronic illness the most important things to pray for would be for their spiritual and emotional health even more than their physical health.

When this is forever and you think, okay God please heal me, but I’m pretty sure that He’s not going to, this is my cross to bear. He said, My grace is sufficient, that we can kind of accept sometimes. But the emotional strain that comes with it, having to explain to people why you can’t come and they say, “This is an exception. Can’t you just do this” or “It’s all in your head” or “Maybe you should just…” or “Try this oil” or whatever that will solve your problems.

The emotional strain of trying to continually be fit when people want you to be better. And then the spiritual battles. You know when you’re up in the night, you haven’t got enough sleep, and the devil comes at you with all these thoughts? I would say that’s the hardest part of chronic illness; the way it affects your mind and your heart even more so than your body. So we need prayer for endurance and strength and that we will accept that His grace is sufficient.

Create the Health you C.R.A.V.E. with Casey Sollock

Casey Sollock was my next guest. Casey is a natural health speaker, author, and coach.

Casey talked about how she thought stress caused most of the health issues in America. She explained the acronym CRAVE:

C to create a new mindset and new beliefs around health.

R is reconnect to your body.

A is add in the good stuff.

V is visualize yourself as the healthiest version of yourself daily.

E is evaluate your primary food and your purpose.

What does it Mean to be Thin Within with Heidi Bylsma

Heidi Bylsma is part of the Thin Within ministry. She’s lost 100 pounds and has continued to maintain a healthy size.

Heidi explained the Thin Within approach and how it takes into account the fact that our Creator God has made us fearfully and wonderfully. He has given us signals for all kinds of things in our bodies — thirst, sickness and pain, tiredness as well as signals for hunger and satisfaction.

So if we follow those signals, just like we do when we’re tired we sleep, when we need to go to the restroom, we go. If we eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’re no longer hungry, we’re going to experience freedom in this area that perhaps we haven’t until now.

It helps if we’re very prayerful because we can deceive ourselves, “Sure I’m hungry.” Sometimes we’re not when we think we are.

We’re hungry in our hearts for something. And through Bible study, we discover that there are a lot of truths that God wants to speak over us that would replace some of the lies that have caused me to believe things that cause me to overeat when I don’t need to, when I shouldn’t, when I have no need for physical food.

And then through exercise, I can rejoice in my God by moving the body that He’s made and given to me as a steward of a temple of His Spirit. The signals of hunger and satisfaction are absolutely the most wonderful way of eating healthfully.

Four Little Known Secrets Standing Between You and Destiny with Linda Williams

Linda Williams, Founder and CEO of Whose Apple Empowerment Center, is an author, life and relationship coach, trained psychotherapist, educator, and motivational speaker.

Linda talked about the four secrets standing between you and destiny:

1. Destiny cannot deny you, but you can deny destiny
2. “Good enough for God” list has got to go
3. Have a list of truthful trusted others in your life
4. Trust the healing process.

That wraps up the highlights of Part IV of interviews with health experts. Although the podcast is no longer available, if you’d like a copy of any of the full interview transcripts, please send me an email.

This has been an excerpt from the Health Matters Podcast, believing that prayer and Bible study are to the spirit what exercise and healthy eating are to the body.

Blessings on your journey to health.