National Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2026
March 3, 2026
Last week was national eating disorder awareness week. I’ve been trying to think of what to say all last week and into this week, no words seem to fit. Sometimes it feels too heavy, too complicated, too painful, too “out-of-body” to describe. I can’t remember what it feels like to not fight this disease. Some days are awful, some days are great. The thoughts are always there. Recovery looks like figuring out how to not give those thoughts power. Most days, it's flat out exhausting.
This semester I’m doing a lot of research regarding eating disorders. It’s an interesting combination of feeling purposeful and sad, equipped and weighed down. Everything I read feels a bit like a biography of my life, and it feels surreal a lot of the time… Like I’m watching a bizarre movie that makes me hold my breath and makes my heart race, but I don’t get to simply turn the TV off. Sometimes I can’t help but feel like a number in the statistics of the psychiatric illness with the second highest mortality rate.
I ask myself, “Why aren’t you recovered?”
“Why is a basic human need for survival so hard?”
“What is wrong with me?”
Some questions can be answered, some questions cannot. Some come from a place of self-loathing and must be met with self-compassion.
As a follower of Jesus, I wrestle with what “healing” means for me… especially in a world that, at times, tells me my faith is too little when I’m struggling. I believe in a miracle-working God who loves greater than I could ever understand. But I am also confident that if I never see healing on this side of Heaven, my God is still so so good. Sometimes, struggle has nothing to do with faith, and everything to do with living in a broken world.
A seven-day awareness week is nothing compared to the impact eating disorders have on all those struggling and their loved ones. I wish I could fix it.
It’s part of my story, an important part, and I believe God is using it for a reason. In all the joys, heartaches, fears, blessings, pains, laughter, panic attacks, hard conversations, comic relief, tears, and recovery wins — I’m grateful. Another day, another meal, another opportunity to prove that Christ is victorious and I am more than an illness. So here is a personal poem that attempts to express the weight of living with this disorder. From my heart to yours, you can do this.
I met my younger self for coffee.
She couldn’t believe we were still alive.
Tears welled up in her hurting eyes.
Hope spread through her veins and helped heal the scars on her arms.
I didn’t have to say a single word, I just held her hand, and we weeped.
She didn’t touch her coffee or her pastry, but I did.
She stared in disbelief, but a tiny smile gently spoke of wonder.
I showed her my journal and confidently read her stories…
Stories of awe and gratitude on the other side of countless nights in tears,
And morning alarm clocks met with “I can’t do this.”
Stories of laughter while flipping pancakes with beloved friends,
Stories of tender love as little hands pulled my face close and whispered,
“Yeya, I love you, you’re my best friend.”
We locked eyes, hers were wide and revealed the depths of a mind that never stills,
Begging for help, clinging to splintering rope as rocks fell away beneath her feet.
I hugged her tightly, she was tense, I was steady.
She inhaled…
Lord, give her comfort.
She exhaled…
Lord, take away her anguish.
I watched her walk away, there was so much more I wanted to say.
I trusted her to make it through what was on the winding road ahead,
But I achingly wished I could just tuck her away, protect her, shelter her.
I cupped my hands together, a small sanctuary of flesh that held hope,
While hers were empty.
I met my younger self for coffee.
She couldn’t believe we were still alive.
To my First Love,
Your Word says that if the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed (John 8:36). This stronghold is no different. I ask You for the freedom from the bondage of eating disorders and all the hurt that comes with them. Would You sit with us and comfort us and give us fresh revelation of who we are in You. You are the Bread of Life and in You we find abundant life… You created us to need nourishment for our bodies to live, just as You created us to need You to live eternally. Would you help us to find hope and refuge in the parallels. We love You.
Amen