In his powerful book, Telling Secrets, Frederick Dietner described the painful ordeal he endured with his teenage daughter.

        For three agonizing years, Frederick Dietner watched his daughter shriveling away from anorexia. She was nearly starving to death. Now, he did everything he knew to do to help her get well, but her condition continued to worsen. Finally, he realized he didn’t have the power or wisdom to make her well, so he finally stopped trying to rescue her. Ironically, it was at that point that his girl emerged out of her mental and physical prison and began to recover.

        Frederick Dietner realized that he was starving himself spiritually while he was trying to rescue his daughter physically.

        Do you hear echoes of your own crisis in this story? Take a deep look inside yourself. Are you spending so much time and energy trying to help someone you love who is in crisis—perhaps your own child— that you are ignoring your relationship with God? Well then turn! And make sure that you stay close to the true source of meaning and strength: Jesus Christ.

       Remember, he’s the Bread of Life, and you won’t go hungry if you stay next to him.