If You Were A Decoration: Celebrating the beauty of our differences

 

God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings. Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ—to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

—1 Peter 4:10-11 

As we were winding down our First Place 4 Health virtual session, our leader Annie explained her idea for our celebration class, “I thought it would be nice to celebrate each other. I’d like to compile statements from each member about each other member to share in our class…thoughts of how you have been touched, inspired, encouraged, what makes them special, or what God given talent you see in them. I thought this would be fun and heartwarming for our group.”

In keeping with our usual discipline, Annie chose a Scripture for us to memorize this final week of the session, 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

I began typing my thoughts about each of the eleven women when an idea sparked. Could I do something more? What about a poem for each one?

Inspired by an activity from a long-ago Christmas party, I started with the same opening lines, “If you were a decoration hanging on my tree, this is the decoration I think you’d be.” I pondered over each lady, then completed the verse by entering a decoration that I hoped encapsulated her special characteristics. For our lovely golden-haired leader who always exudes the joy of the Lord, I wrote:

You would be a bright gold star

Hanging on the highest limb

To lead and point

Our group to Him 

Making Connections

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

—Hebrews 12:1-2

Getting started is the hardest part. Even beginning this post is difficult. But I know I have to write it.

How did I get there? How had I unraveled years of hard work—years of living a healthy lifestyle, eating right and exercising?

Ever since high school I carried a few extra pounds, but it wasn’t till I turned 40 that I decided to do something to shed the extra weight. I signed up for Weight Watchers and within eight months dropped close to 50 pounds. I felt like a new person—or more like the real me had finally emerged, finally been set free. Free to wear shorts, free to be comfortable in a bathing suit—free to be comfortable in my own skin. I vowed never to go back to that old place.

But—and there’s always a “but” in every story, right? Within ten years 20 pounds found their way back to me. As I conversed with friends, I discovered I was not alone. They too struggled with their weight. They too needed to do something. We all needed help—and we needed the support of each other. Collectively, we started a First Place 4 Health group at church in April of 2010, and I took the helm. First Place 4 Health is a nationwide Christ-centered healthy living program that addresses the four-sided person—physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental.

Soon my friends and I were connecting our stories and strengthening our friendships. But the connections didn’t end there. In our meetings, we studied the Bible and made connections between our challenges and what Scripture had to say about overcoming them. We memorized verses that reminded us of God’s promises. And we grew, just as Jesus grew (see Luke 2:52)—in wisdom (mental) and in stature (physical) and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (emotional). We learned that when we keep God in “first place,” everything else in our lives falls into its proper place (see Matthew 6:33). Somewhere along the way, the weight began to fall off. And I realized I had found the formula for living a balanced life. And I thanked God for First Place 4 Health for helping me make the connection.