Seeking Joy with Christine Trimpe

Are you seeking a joy-filled life? Christine Trimpe shares her story of feeling trapped and searching for comfort from food. Hear about her amazing heart and body transformation that led her to a life of joy and a 100-pound weight loss journey.

Seeking Joy Through the Gospel of Luke, a Christmas to Calvary Countdown https://amzn.to/3EH3gJT

Guest Bio:
Christine Trimpe is an Award-Winning author, speaker, joy seeker, and weight-loss warrior. After losing over a hundred pounds in her joy-filled journey of healing, God instilled a passion within her to inspire, motivate, and encourage women to pursue healthy, holy living— body, mind, and spirit. Christine speaks and writes for women all over the world, sharing the freedom Christ offers when we choose the path of surrender and sacrifice.

A 2022 Christian Product Book Award Winner in Non-Fiction and Selah Award Finalist, 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒖𝒌𝒆: 𝑨 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 is Christine’s debut book, a twenty-five-day Christmas advent encouraging readers to live in the joy of the Lord despite their circumstance––seek joy, find joy, share joy. Her transformation story and Bible and Beans blog can be found at ChristineTrimpe.com, and you can email her at Christine@christinetrimpe.com for speaking inquiries.

Join Christine beginning December 1 in her annual tradition to Countdown to Christmas through the Book of Luke (Christmas Countdown through the Gospel of Luke) in her new book 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒖𝒌𝒆: 𝑨 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑨𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏.

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Transcript

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Welcome to Radical Abundance. I'm your host, Teresa Janssen, and you know this show is all about living life full and free. Today's guest knows about freedom because she knows what it's like to not be free to be in bondage. She also notes about being full, full of joy. Christine Trump, welcome to Radical Abundance. It's great to have you here. Thank you, Teresa. I am overjoyed to be here with you today. Overjoyed is a great thing for someone who loves to talk about joy, and I know that you do, Christine. You know the people who really are into something like Joy. I know it's because at some point in their life, they didn't have whatever it is that they're all about. You're all about joy. So there must have been a time in your. When Joy was a little hard to find, can you tell us what life was like for you at that time? Yes. Okay. I'm so delighted that I finally do have an understanding of what true joy is. I recently went through a healing journey and massive weight loss, and in hindsight, I realized, That I didn't have a true understanding of what joy is. The main, main catalyst for me getting healthy and going through this journey was I finally put. Everything together that how God had created us in body, mind, and spirit. And for almost 50 years I had tried to lose weight and do everything in my own power. And it wasn't until I got some chronic health issues diagnosed and I wasn't feeling well. And I, I know it sounds very cliche to say that I cried out to God, but I really did. I just, I cried out to him and I said, God, I just, I want to feel better. I'm not even 50 years old yet, and I just want to feel better. Something shifted in my life at that time and I began, for the first time in my life, I began picking up my Bible every single day and meeting Jesus in the morning. And that's where I learned about joy, more about, I learned that I was craving all the wrong things in my, the way I was living. And I learned that I, all along, I had been craving. And I found it in God's word and that completely flipped my life. I like to say he completely flipped the cravings of my life. Christine, it sounds like in the midst of all of this, you were in a spiritual famine that was manifesting itself in the way you were eating and. You said you were having a challenge with your weight, so this isn't a show really about weight loss, but that is part of your journey. What was that like for you? Where were you at? Where are you at now? Or how do you even measure your health in terms of that today? Yes. Well, I was, what you would call what? I like to call myself a casual Christian. I was raised in a Christian family. I was raised going to church. I went to youth group. You know, I did all the. And I also did the typical thing of, of walking away a little bit from my faith when I went away to college. That's kind of, you know, normal for American kids when they go away to college. I wasn't. Bound and determined to find a new church or anything like that. So that's when I kind of started my many years of what I call desert wandering. You know, I knew I had a relationship with God. I knew I was saved. I would occasionally take my kids to church. I would occasionally be involved in the church choir. I would go to Bible studies. I would cram my Bible study lessons like the hour before I was supposed to be there on Tuesday night, which I don't recommend doing this , you know, you're not growing in God's word that way. So I, that's what I call my, my desert ears, my wandering years, like I knew God was there. I knew I had a relationship with, or I knew that I had been saved, but I was not doing anything to nurture or develop that relationship. I didn. No, all those years how hungry I was for God. And so instead of running to Jesus with all of my uncomfortable emotions and uncomfortable feelings that I had, I would numb myself with comfort food. And eventually it got to the point where, you know, my metabolism couldn't keep up. I wasn't eating healthy food, I was just eating quick food. You know, when you are raising kids, a lot of times you have trouble you. Having the cooking meals every night, and because we're on the run all the time, but it just started catching up with me and, and the more miserable I felt. I, I truly believe that that's how what God used to get my attention, and he sure did because now, like I wake up every day and. I just fill myself up with joy in his word every morning, and I praise God completely for the weight loss journey. And the weight loss journey was awesome. Like I'm so happy to feel so much better. But truly the most abundant thing that has happened to me, Teresa, is the radical abundance that has happened in my life is the heart transformation and how God has transformed my heart and my life for him and for his purpose. You know, Christine, I hear this story over and over again where God gets someone's attention in the midst of their pain and suffering, and it's different for a lot of people. It could be an addiction, it could be just a, a checking out. It could be television, it could be. Reading it could be something good, even like ministry or work or something, but whatever we fill our life with that is taking the place of God sucks the joy right out of everything, and God does use those things to get our attention. Are you searching for an Advent Devotional this Christmas season? Christine Trump's book, seeking Joy through the Gospel of Luke. A Christmas to Calvary Countdown is available now on Amazon. Check the show notes for a link. Was there a specific moment? You said you cried out to God, what was the point of Enough? Enough and you knew what the problem was? Yeah, I, I was actually on a 25th anniversary trip with my husband and for the first time I got him on an airplane to go to the great state of Colorado. And so we were exploring Rocky Mountain National Park and he was so excited. He'd planned out so many things and. I knew we were gonna go to this one location called Bear Lake. And Bear Lake actually has like a one mile path around it and it's a, it's not a very strenuous hike cuz that's flat. It's just like exploring around the edge of the lake, but a little ways down the road at that same stop is a path that goes up another mile to a lake called Nymph Lake. And I remember standing at the bottom of that marker looking up and I'm like, I just did. A mile, surely I can do another mile, you know, . But I looked up and this path was going straight up and I'm like, oh no, but I didn't wanna disappoint my husband, so I set out on that path with him and I got. Up not, I don't know that. I got up halfway and I just told him, I'm like, I can't go any further. I was morbidly obese, a hundred pounds overweight, and the altitude, I couldn't breathe that well because of the altitude. And I tried at first to tell myself that that was my excuse, right? It's the altitude. But I knew that I was living in poor health and it, it was at that time, I'd also just been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. I knew at that time that that's when I needed to start taking back control of my health. And that's when I asked God, you know, just give me direction. Give me health. I just, and I said, I just want to feel better. I never, in my wildest dreams imagined that I could lose a hundred pounds because I had tried for 30 years Theresa to do that, and I never had any kind of success. But that's also because the hunger for his word wasn't involved in any of those previous weight loss journeys. So that was my turning point, sitting on the side of the mountain by my, all by myself, with tears in my eyes. Cuz I told my husband to go ahead. I'm like, go ahead. And he's like, are you sure? And I'm like, yes. Just go. I'll wait here. I actually have a picture of myself sitting on the side of that. That hill too. So yeah, I have lots of memories of that moment. Yes. And to look at that moment as discouraging and disheartening as it was in that moment, to be able to look back at it and say, that is where God got my attention. That is the pivot point that led me to the abundant life. I have today. And that's an amazing thing when rock bottom becomes hope. And the whole reason we share stories like this with other people is so that they can see that rock bottom doesn't have to be where you stay. It's points you to hope. And the thing that's amazing to me about your story of what you're saying so far is that God didn't point you to the next diet program. He pointed you to his word. First, that was where you needed to really go. So tell us now about the process. What happened from that point? I imagine you just didn't wake up the next morning and say, okay, I'm spending, you know, this many minutes every day in prayer, reflection, and time with the Lord, and everything's great. From that point forward what happened? First for my physical health, when I got home, I did set up a I set up some doctor's appointments and I, I knew that I had to start investing in my health. But I also picked up, started picking up Bible studies and dove right in and. Like I said, I just wanted to feel better and I wanted God to give me instruction because I had tried for 30 years, all the manmade diets. I, I'm kind of a control freak cuz I'm a, I have a type A personality, so, you know, I did all the Weight Watchers, checking the points and all that, and I, I realized that there was a piece of this puzzle missing and so I began reading God's word every morning and it is amazing. It was certainly so amazing to me. How much God speaks to us about our, our physical health and our emotional health and our, you know, of course our spiritual health, but scripture is just full of encouraging words from God. That just kept me going, you know, it kept me just. Very hungry for more, and I began satisfying the hunger of, you know, what I thought was physical hunger. All those years was actually not physical hunger. It was just a way of my handling my emotions and dealing with a lot of, you know, Not even, and it wasn't always even bad emotions, you know, I just would use food as comfort in celebrations too. You know, oh, we're going out, we're having a party, there's gonna be good food there. You know, and then of course if there was any difficult situations, any sorrowful situations. So, a lot of the women that I talked to when I coached too, they realized, This as well. Like, oh, it's not just in, you know, our sorrow that we're running for food. We, we use food as comfort for so many reasons. And so just realizing how much scripture speaks to us and was directing us, and I, and I asked God, I'm like, just, I need, I need a new path. I need a new way. At the same time, I was also having painful ovarian cysts, so I had some ultrasounds done and I, it was discovered that I had fatty liver disease on top of that, on top of everything that was going on. And you don't have. You don't feel physical symptoms for that. But it can progress to cirrhosis of the liver. So God put something in my heart to really start researching that and that's when I found out that sugar is a major hormone disruptor. And that's part of the reason why my liver was filling up a fat. So he took me down this new. A new way of eating that I had never heard of before. I'd never considered ever completely quitting sugar. And so I have to give God a lot of praise for this new direction that he gave me. And the hunger just to learn more too. Just learning the basic science of what was going on in my metabolism completely changed my life too, and he created us that way. Christine, I know. There's a lot of talk about things like this nowadays. People are talking about being, taking sugar out of their diet or cutting this, or eating this way and eating that way, and you have found something that really works for you. And it's not just how you eat, like you said, actually the, the importance is based in God's word. That's really where it starts. But the eating part I know is important. And when you. Go places. You and I actually have been at a conference together. It's not easy, is it? How do you explain that to people and say, you know, I've made a different choice. Yes, it's . One of the things I like to encourage women that I am sharing this lifestyle with is like, first of all, try not to draw attention to yourself. You know, , like Right. Try not to stick out. But yeah, it is. It, it is has been kinda difficult and that is one of the challenges, although it's not something that you know has ever derailed me. The people that I've been around have been quite gracious. Nobody's like, you know, you should eat that chocolate cake that's in the center of the conference room table. My, my heart and my thing is I don't want people to feel uncomfortable with me sitting there at their table, you know, because I really, truly feel like the journey that I have been on. Now I like to coach women to go on a very similar journey, but the journey I have been on has been very, you know, individualized for what I need. We, I can't eat a piece of chocolate cake. Much like you wouldn't encourage an alcoholic to have a glass of beer, you know, so there's things that, you know, I have to know what my boundaries are, and I'm not really, I'm not really keen on. sharing that. Like if I'm sitting at a table with a conference at a conference room table with you, Teresa, you know, I don't really say, well, I don't eat chocolate cake cuz I don't eat sugar, you know? Right. I don't draw attention to myself, and if somebody asks, I will tell them. But it is, it is something interesting that you have to navigate. For sure. Yes, . Yeah. So, interestingly enough I've been on this joyful journey, which I, I like to call this journey of joy. I wrote a Christmas advent devotional in 2020. I had blogged through the Gospel of Luke starting in 2018, and the Lord impressed on my heart in 2020. As I looked around the world, and we know we were in the covid crisis that first season of Christmas and we weren't gonna be celebrating Christmas with, for example, I didn't share Christmas with my elderly parents, and it was a very sad season. I looked around, there was a lot of weariness. We were all just confused and, and weary, and the lyrics for all holy. The line that says the weary world rejoices kept playing over and over in my mind, and I felt the Lord impressing on me that I needed to expand that blog series that I was doing annually and I was. Writing chapters a day instead of just writing little blog posts, snippets. And about mid-December, I, I just realized that the amount of work I was putting into it and how God was leading me through this, that it could be, it was enough material for a book. And so, 2021 October, 2021 is when the book came out Seeking Joy through the Gospel of Luke, a Christmas to Calvary Advent Countdown. And what I really loved to encourage people about the purpose of the book is to remind us even when we are feeling weary or we're living with some type of sorrow like we all were in 2020, that we, we need to remind ourselves and we. Continue to seek joy every day or seek Jesus every day, and one of the best gifts that he's given me through this entire journey. The weight loss journey, the writing journey, this devotional journey is a boldness to speak about his joy, the good news of great joy. Is the message of the Christmas season, and people are so much more receptive to hearing the good news of great joy during the Christmas season. So that's one of the main messages or the main points of going through this devotional journey through the Gospel of Luke. You know, I've never thought about that line, the weary world rejoices I, I do think that the world is weary right now and to have a weary world, rejo. That is exactly that radical abundance transformation that we've been talking about, this whole show to go from weary and burdened and encumbered to free and joyful, and what an amazing thing I've. Never looked at those few words quite like that before, and to do this during the advent season is so wonderful. I think that Advent, it wasn't part of my tradition growing up, but I actually love Advent because it really is a way to slow down. And really look at the purpose of Christmas and not the hustle, the bustle, the things that make us weary. And it is a time to really focus on the rejo. So thank you for that. I'm going to put the link in the show notes, the link to the book, the link to your website. But just tell us for those who are. Listening. Did you say the name of the book? Did we get that in there? Let's make sure that we have the name of the book. Say it again if you've already said it, and then give us your website. There you go. Seeking Joy through the gasfield. Luke a Christmas. To Calvary Advent Countdown. Christine, we talked about a lot of different things here today, but do you have just some closing comments for us before we go? I love to encourage people to really think about what they are craving in life, you know, and Ephesians two really changed my life and changed my walk where Paul's talking about how we are craving. Things of the flesh. And that was very convicting to me when I read that. And I was like, oh my goodness, that that is how I lived my life. And once God got me, you know, drew me into his word every day and really showed me what I had been hungry for all along. Now I like to say, you know, I'm craving joy. So I like to ask people. If there is something in your life that you feel like there's some kind of disconnect between you spending time in God's word or just your relationship with God, just really evaluate yourself and what are you craving? God created us as creatures to crave. I believe. And so I ask yourself, what are you craving? And hopefully it's all the fruits of the spirit that you can, you know, joy, I happen to, joy is my jam. I love joy. But of course, he's taught me so much about peace and kindness and, and all the things of the, you know, the fruits of the spirit. So that is the thing that comes from my heart, is just to be able to pass that. And joy is contagious. It sure is. I'll tell you, Christine, it has been a joy to have you on radical abundance, and I wish you a radically abundant day. Thank you. I wish you a radically abundant day. Full of joy. You are invited to cultivate Christian Creative Symposium January five through seven. It's an online conference designed for creatives just like you. Register today@christiancreativesymposium.com.