My doctor recommended First Place 4 Health because of my high blood pressure. I went in "kicking and screaming" and thinking I would go to one or two classes. After two weeks or so I was sold out. This sweet group of women "loved me in the Lord.” The weight loss success was secondary to the blessing of being in this group.

Over 10 years ago, I participated in a First Place program in my local church in Richmond, Indiana. I was successful in the program and met my goal of losing 48 pounds. Over the years I quit practicing balance in my life and succeeded in gaining not only the 48 pounds I had lost, but an additional 30 pounds. Through the years I tried all kinds of weight loss programs and was successful with a few pounds of weight loss, but nothing of significance and nothing for very long.

Most of my life I have struggled with a weight problem. I guess you could say that I was born wearing husky diapers. I always knew that I had a food addiction, but I just wasn't sure how to go about making the necessary changes in my life. I probably tried about every diet you can imagine, but all to no avail. Time after time, I would once again give in to my food addictions.

I came to First Place about two years ago. At the time, I was a mess physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I was on the brink of losing my marriage and the life that I loved. I had simply isolated myself and stopped emotionally participating in my life.

At 40 I accepted Christ - a life-changing experience. Over time I slid away from reading the Bible daily or the accountability of my small group of more mature believers. In January 2007 I came up with many reasons to not join Community Bible Church’s initial offering of First Place. Yet being out of control, my need was awakened and I was led to reluctantly attend the orientation in March 2007. By my birthday in June 2007, I had lost 27 pounds through putting God first instead of my self-serving habits plus was blessed by a band of brothers in our mega-church. Over the next year during four First Place Bible, studies the Lord revealed, “It’s not about the weighing, but the praying.

Topping the scales at 211 pounds, I started the First Place 4 Health program in September 2007, with the idea of only wanting to lose weight. I was very athletic in high school and played both basketball and softball all four years. College, marriage, and two kids later I had gained 50 pounds. I weighed 216 when I got pregnant with my first child in 2001. While I was pregnant, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and was put on a very strict diet, but was not required to be on insulin. A few months after she was born, I became very sick

People say a picture is worth a thousand words. I agree! A picture also reveals truth, just like the scales do. That is probably why I never really liked having my picture made! I have avoided the truth, like so many of us have a tendency to do. I hear so many people say I want to be small again or the size I was back when, but the truth is I have always been big. I kept asking the Lord to free me from this desperate battle that I seem to constantly fight within myself.

In January 2002, there was a notification in the Terre Haute, Indiana, First Baptist Church bulletin that a weight control program would be commencing in February. Since I was very much overweight and had only been successful in losing ten pounds on my own volition, I decided to go to the orientation meeting to see what the program entailed.

When I first joined First Place, I did not know what the Lord had planned for me, nor did I know the new direction my life would take from that moment on. Never would I have imagined the wondrous transformation that awaited me in my future.

When I was four years old, I went to live with my grandparents for a few months. When my parents came to get me, they hardly recognized me. My grandmother had fed me very well. Although I was a very active child, I remained overweight. Looking back, I know I mostly overate from boredom. Diets wouldn’t work because I used food to keep me busy, to comfort me and to push down any anxiety that I had.