I need to ‘Scale-down’!

Hi, Anita Beiles checking in with my testimony:
1. Some of us want to ‘slim-down’
2. Some of us need to ‘trim-down’
3. I need to ‘Scale-down'

"A whole year? NOAH...I don't mind Ham and Shem moving back in with us, but Japheth's wife is a terrible housekeer. Inside a month, she'll have this place looking like a pigsty."

In 1993, I arrived in Spain as a single missionary to assist in a church-plant and Christian bookstore ministry in downtown Madrid. Being busy helped me keep my weight around 160; not great for a 5’4” frame.

One day in August of 1998, I was working in our church building. Our church was named AMOR DE DIOS or Love of God. The Love of God Baptist church is where I met Noah…I mean Barry. The front door opened and in walks my missionary co-worker with a young man. First impression? He was wearing eighties glasses (nerd alert), cut-offs (way too American), but had the most engaging dimpled-smile I had seen in a long time (one out of three isn’t a bad start.) Our friendship deepened over the next two years.

In March of 2000, I was very sick and eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. My body seemed to be healing itself so the doctors did not see any hindrances to my going back to the mission field. Not long after, Barry asked me to marry him. We desired to serve the Lord together as missionaries in Spain.

We were married in December of 2000. Two weeks after being married, we hit the deputation trail. Two years later, we were starting language school in Madrid. Two years after that, I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. How could the Lord stop our dreams in mid-stream? All those years of deputation, language school, and preparation to serve Him in Spain and He wanted to stop us in mid-stream? No, he just had a special section of the same stream He wanted us to navigate. We kept moving and serving and trusting. The stream was one of challenges and choices but never one of chances. God was so sweet, so special, and so close. All my treatments were done in Spain. The doctors removed several malignant tumors. They said if the bladder was not taken out, we would be back in six months with a metastasized cancer.

In February of 2010 we will celebrate my five year anniversary of being cancer free and with a functioning bladder. Praise the Lord! I don’t know why He chooses to heal some and not others, but I do know He has a special plan for Barry and me. But really, His plan for us is no more special than the plan He has for you.

My medication prescription got me excited when I read the first line. This medicine may cause weight-loss (alright, finally some good news) OR it may cause weight-gain. MY body decided on the second option. As of February, I have been off all medications. THAT is exciting news! We give God the glory!

Now, I am ready to start getting even healthier. My husband has been my stand-in, stand-up, and standout supporter through all this. See his picture? You know the routine…eats all the pasta, bread, jelly with butter, chocolate etc. he wants and 35 years later can still fit into his junior high gym shorts!! He will be praying and cheering for each of us to succeed for God’s glory. I want to lose weight and feel well and healthy. I want to take a walk with my dear husband, to ride my bike beside him, but more importantly, I want to be healthier so I can serve my dear Lord more completely, to finish navigating the course of the stream He has mapped for me. So let's navigate this Christmas Crunch together by seeking Him first instead of our selves...we can do it if we remember...

Matthew 6:33…But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.