My sister, Eileen, came to visit. She is tall, thin and beautiful. I took her to meet the two Godly sisters in Santiago, Zamora. I was so excited for them to meet my sister.

“Maureen,” they said, “You are fat and your sister is thin.”  Wow!  In the US that could end a friendship.

I have lived here in Guatemala long enough to know that saying someone is “gorda” or asking their age is not rude. However, it still catches me off guard. It was their next line that changed my perspective.  “Todd is able to provide food for you. You are blessed to never go hungry.”  I assured them that my sister’s husband provided plenty of food too, my sister just eats less and exercises more.

What a paradigm shift. The next time you look in the mirror and are about to complain that you think you look fat, use it as an opportunity to thank God that you have enough food to eat.

I have been working on losing weight because it is a better witness and much healthier. I just hope it doesn’t reflect badly on Todd.