Breaking free from an eating disorder is difficult and complex. Those who are suffering often feel misunderstood. They struggle with feeling alone and afraid, ashamed to tell those closest to them. Their loved ones also feel helpless and ill-equipped to care for them. Within this dynamic, hurt, disappointment, and neglect often thrive. From the unique perspective of a husband and wife team, Table for Two shares Krista Dunham's journey to freedom from her eating disorder while David shares insights as the loved one coming beside her.
Krista suffered from an eating disorder for over ten years and, by God's grace and through biblical counseling, overcame it. She openly and honestly shares her experience, describing what she did, what she needed, and what proved helpful in the process of change. In conjunction with her insights, David shares what he did, how he failed, and what he learned along the way as a biblical counselor that was helpful to Krista.
Without minimizing complicated issues, the Dunhams provide practical, gospel hope and biblical encouragement to those suffering and help for loved ones walking with them. They share personal narratives, interactive exercises, and biblical direction for those navigating recovery. Individuals suffering from an eating disorder and loved ones will find practical help, hope, and encouragement in this couple's story. Applying the truth of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, they know two are better than one and understand the need to connect and jointly navigate the process together.
This powerful, redemptive book reveals an intimacy beyond personal stories of struggle told through a biblical counseling lens; it highlights the close-knit relationship of husband and wife and a home life where one person struggles with an eating disorder.
"As biblical counseling further develops from a movement to a discipline, it needs more issue-specific books providing a biblical framework to address specific troubles in human experience. David and Krista have provided such a book, helping us further stretch toward competency on the vital issue of eating disorders."
Jeremy Pierre, Author of The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life; Lawrence & Charlotte Hoover Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling; chair, Department of Biblical Counseling & Family Ministry, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"When I go looking for help and direction in dealing with truly difficult problems, I'm always interested in those who have been there and found the way out. In the arena of eating disorders, Tablefor Two is compelling testimony of a couple who did just that. This book is full of help for the struggler and those who love them. The authors point the reader to the wealth of wisdom to be found when counseling from the Scriptures and the importance of good medical care in the process. Even the title is helpful, as it points the reader to the truth that eating disorders are rarely conquered alone. Table forTwo will be an encouragement to many and a good resource in counseling."
Charles D Hodges, Jr. MD, Family Physician, Indianapolis, IN; executive director, Vision of Hope, Residential Treatment Facility for Women, Lafayette, IN
"In Table for Two, David and Krista Dunham offer readers the healing balm of the gospel, applying it to the struggle of disordered eating. Compassionate, practical, and wise, the Dunhams' words are underscored by their own testimonies as they live in the hope they now extend both to those who suffer and to those who help."
Hannah Anderson, Author of Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul
"I appreciate David and Krista's patient, supportive approach. You can tell he is as content to be a patient shepherd on a hard journey as he is excited about the destination overcoming an eating disorder with biblical guidance. When you're stuck in a life-dominating pattern, this demeanor is important. If you're stuck, you can trust David and Krista's book to provide patient guidance. If you're walking alongside someone who is stuck, you can trust Table for Two to help you pace your care and model the tone of the Good Shepherd. I have come to trust not only the content of David and Krista's counsel, but also the tenderness with which they do counseling. I think you will too."
Brad Hambrick, Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church; assistant professor of Biblical Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; general editor for Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused
"Some authors do a great job connecting with us by being raw and real but they leave us without any hope or solutions to the problem. The Dunhams' book is an honest and personal account of their own struggle while also offering practical and biblical ways of reframing the struggle with insights and hope that were forged in the trenches of failure and longing for real change. Those who have tried and failed before won't be crushed by the gentle, humble, and gracious tone that characterizes the hearts of David and Krista. I expect this book will be a beacon of hope in the dark struggle of eating disorders."
Brad Bigney, Pastor of Grace Fellowship, Florence, KY; certified ACBC counselor; conference speaker; author of Gospel Treason
"Table for Two by David and Krista Dunham is a refreshingly honest book with a refreshingly unique perspective. David and Krista coauthor as a couple who have walked through an eating disorder one as a person reaching out for help, the other as a helper-in-training. As they invite you into their journey, you'll learn from a biblical perspective the underlying issues related to eating disorders and you'll learn how to compassionately and competently help those working through this issue."
Bob Kellemen, Academic Dean and Professor of Biblical Counseling at Faith Bible Seminary; author of Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling and Gospel-Centered Family Counseling
"As biblical counseling continues to grow and mature, it has needed to address issues such as eating disorders with a level of competence and care that befits the complexity of the problem it represents. David and Krista Dunham have skillfully and compassionately done exactly that. If you are looking for a resource which addresses eating disorders with humility, compassion, and grace, look no further than this book!"
Jonathan D. Holmes, Pastor of Counseling, Parkside Church; executive director, Fieldstone Counseling
"David and Krista Dunham have written a much-needed resource for those counseling or those struggling with disordered eating. It is a story of how a couple struggles with this complex issue, how they fail and then find help and hope through a biblical approach and process of healing. They illustrate the common path of shame, isolation, secrecy, and control that often accompanies eating disorders. What's unique to this book is how they navigated this as a couple and how Krista finally got to the heart of the issue through biblical counsel. I highly recommend this book for those struggling with eating issues and those who love and counsel them."
Garrett Higbee, Pastor of Biblical Soul Care, Harvest Church North Indianapolis; president, Soul Care Consulting
"What an excellent contribution to the literature on eating disorders! Many silently fight this battle alone and unknown, adding shame and despair to their struggles. And many more friends, family, and helpers feel desperately incapable to help, not even knowing where to start. David and Krista apply their personal experiences to wisely exhort, educate, and encourage both the person struggling with an eating disorder as well as the one committed to help. I've already recommended this book to clients."
Greg Wilson, LPC Supervisor, Lead Counselor at Soul Care Associates
"I've battled against disordered eating in the past, so I know that change is no simplistic equation. Yet Table forTwo reminds me that no matter how perplexing our problems are, God's Word is sufficient to comfort, counsel, and persevere us through them. If you're looking to navigate the many complexities of disordered eating from a holistic, biblical perspective, I commend David and Krista as trustworthy guides."
Christine Chappell, Author of Help! I've Been Diagnosed with a Mental Disorder, Help! My Teen is Depressed, Clean Home, Messy Heart, and Change for Overwhelmed Moms; outreach director and podcast host, Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship (IBCD)
"Table for Two gives voice to the agonizing experience of living with an eating disorder. With honest transparency and a hope-filled understanding of the path forward, this book provides biblical avenues for helpful conversations and practical direction toward lasting recovery. As a biblical and clinical counselor, I am relieved to know a resource like this finally exists! Their story delivers biblical direction that steers clear of quick-fix answers or simplistic advice and instead offers hope to both the suffer and the helper."
Eliza Huie, LCPC; author of Raising Kids in a Screen-Saturated World, Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World, and The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care
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Not too long, practical, yet deep, Biblical and God-centered, heart focused, and good use of personal stories. I hope they perhaps create other individual volumes focusing on specific disorders rather than putting them all together.
HIGHLY recommend to any Christian who is curious about eating disorders, suffering from one, or close to someone suffering!!! This book fulfills a gap niche in Christian literature that I have not found elsewhere. It is meant to be read in a partnership and includes very helpful exercises in each chapter. Not only is this book informative about how eating disorders function, it also does not neglect identifying them as sinful. It gives a detailed explanation of how they are idolatrous and how they cause sufferers to put faith in themselves. Krista explains how she could not change her behavior until she repented of it. The only complaint I can make is that while Krista & David’s relationship as a sufferer/helper couple clearly worked out, I think their example sets a potentially unrealistic precedent for how much support a dating relationship can/should provide in a situation like this.
“The values that drive an eating disorder impact a whole life, not just the dinner table.” To stop disordered eating, we must first confront disordered desire. There is no Scripture that commands or even commends thinness. In fact, a skinny body can connote a skinny soul. “Sin is always an attempt to do life apart from God, to gain happiness or escape pain on our own terms.” Denying bodily hunger and appetite is the mind’s attempt to achieve independence from the body. In effect it is fulfilling 1 Corinthians 12: “Just as the human body is one, though it has many parts that together form one body, so too is Christ…In fact, the human body is not one single part but rather many parts mingled into one.” So if the brain were to say, ‘Since I’m not a stomach, I’m not a part of the body. I don’t need you,” it’s forgetting that it is still a vital part of the body. And if the stomach were to say, “Since I’m not a brain, I’m not really a part of the body. I don’t need you,” it’s forgetting that it is still an important part of the body. If the whole body were just an intellect, how could it delight in physical appetite? And if the whole body were just a stomach, how could it discern wisdom and knowledge? “But God has carefully designed each member and placed it in the body to function as HE desires. A diversity is required, for if the body consisted of one single part, there wouldn’t be a body at all…He has done this intentionally so that every member would look after the others with mutual concern, and so that there will be no division in the body. In that way, whatever happens to one member happens to all. If one suffers, everyone suffers. If one is honored, everyone rejoices.” So now we see that disordered eating is the enemy’s attempt to divorce the differing parts and functions from their unity as one body. We each bring a different color to God’s masterpiece, as each person brings unique experiences and characteristics to any relationship. As we splotch the paint of our personality onto His palette, He swirls our individual colors into new hues that together comprise a work of art to decorate the dining room of heaven where the table for two becomes a table for all.
The Dunham's tackle an issue that is common in our society today. This book is the best resource I have read on eating disorders. An essential aspect of this book is that it includes questions for the "helper" and the one needing help. I will be returning to this resource frequently in the future if I ever counsel someone with an eating disorder.
Read this on my own, still helpful even if you don’t go through it with someone else. There are very few resources out there on this topic so I’m thankful for the tools & wisdom in here!
I thought this was a great read. I really appreciated Krista and David’s honest testimony and insights. I also liked that each chapter ended with takeaways and questions for both the sufferer and the helper. As the conclusion in the book states, “books don’t change people”, so obviously there aren’t silver bullets in here. But I think it’s a great tool for getting conversations started and providing questions to work toward identifying motives and heart issues and then moving forward from there.
Super late review, but I read this over the summer in Thailand. I feel like ED doesn’t really get talked about much in the church so this was one of the only books I could find. It was okay, but I wanted more!! The sweet part was that it was intentionally designed for someone to help you through the tough stages and get insight on the struggles with ED. Great discipleship tool, but some parts I felt were unhelpful/unnecessary. Small book, worth a read.
This is a small, concise, manageable book on an all-too-common and complex topic. It primarily deals with under-eating, excessive exercise and purging. The Dunham’s balance sound Biblical Truth with practical assessment tools and application. The book is written for both sufferers and their loved ones/helpers with questions and discussion guides at the end of every chapter. I especially appreciated that they encouraged helpers to apply Biblical Truths to their lives as well to foster a more reciprocal conversation. I would encourage helpers to read the final chapter, if not the whole book, before starting it with a sufferer to gain a better grasp on the struggles and reasonable expectations of helping someone with disordered eating. Highly recommend!
This book could be useful for anyone with any habitual sin or addiction, not just eating disorders. All these behaviors stem from similar heart places, and the cure is always God’s grace. I appreciate that it is written for both the sufferer and the loved ones trying to help the sufferer, because I know loved ones usually have no idea how to help efficiently. I appreciate that Krista talks about all the heart motives that went into her eating disorder, and how she ultimately had to address more than just the physical eating disorder before she could grow as a person. I love that Krista has now become a helper for other sufferers. This book is full of hope for people who want to transform, not just simply stop a bad habit. I appreciate that they talk at the end about replacing the addictive habits with enjoyable activities. The goal is to live better, not just to sit around thinking about not sinning. “Addictive habits can sometimes make it feel like we have no other outlets for fun than those we have used inappropriately…Addictive habits train us to think that only the grand and exciting can be enjoyable. Part of recovery will need to include learning to appreciate the banal activities of life as well.” I wish I could go back in time and give this book to 20 year old Kristia and David. It would have helped them so much. I appreciate how transparent they are about their past failures, and how much time it took them both to grow. I’m thankful they decided to pull together everything they’ve learned over the years and put it into this book. I hope it helps others, so they don’t have to struggle so hard or for so long. This little book is packed with so much useful information without wasting any words. It seems more succinct than other resources I’ve seen on the topic.
This thing is packed with hope, the gospel, raw honesty, and struggle. It gives a honest look at eating disorders. It is built to be a supplement to helping a struggler/helper navigate the trenches of such a delicate war. It is a super neat thing to see the aftermath of a hard battle fought and won.
