Susan and one of her encouragers.

By Susan Shanklin

Every Tuesday, well, almost every Tuesday, I attend a meeting of about 40 women and one guy weight-loss group.

Some of us have lost weight and try to keep it off and the other half are trying very hard to lose it. We gather in the basement of a church.

When you walk in, a lady will greet you and ask how you are doing. Most of us kind of just groan, because we haven’t weighed in yet and we don’t know if we gained or lost. But that’s why we are there, to face reality and lean on one another’s shoulders during failures and successes.

We nervous Nellies line up on a pew waiting for judgment outside of the room where the scale is. Shoes come off, jewelry, and sweaters. You don’t want anything weighing you down.

We make small chat and inquire how life is faring. Some chatter about events they HAD to attend and all the food they HAD to eat and SHOULDN’T have eaten.

One by one, we slide our way down the pew waiting for the verdict. We try to encourage and console.

Some come out smiling. Some return with a frown. But one thing is for sure, we all rally around all who return to the fold—laugh with those that laugh and mourn with those that mourn.

As you make your way to a table, ladies greet you, telling you how nice you look or how genuinely glad they are to see you.

You are either smiling or frowning, so others know just how much praise and kind words mean.

The meeting starts, roll call commences, and the weight recorder calls out a name.

“Mary Courtland”, the weight recorder signals, looking for a response.

“Lost three fourths of a pound.”

Clap, clap, clap go the people.

“Alice Hubbard.”

“Stayed the same.”

Clap, clap, clap go the people.

“Liz Point”

“Gained a pound.”

“We’re glad you’re here,” go the people.

No shaking of heads. No berating. No shame.

Just, “We’re glad you’re here.”

Roll call marches on and on. When we are finished the president of the club tells us, “The good news is, no matter what the scale said, you came and we are glad to see you.”

We conduct club business and then comes the table contests. We all pick a number and are seated at that particular numbered table.

I’m at table #3 and the contest for the next two months is called “Heart to Heart.”

There are about 6 people at my table and we question each other about how we did this week. You see, we are all pulling together to win, and if we win we each get a DOLLAR!

• 2 points for losing or staying the same.
• 1 point for turning in a food chart.
• 1 point for contacting a table team member.
• 1 point for exercising at least 20 minutes a day, three times a week.
• 1 point for wearing your name tag.
• 4 points for counting calories.

Who knew by doing simple things during the week I would help my weight-loss buddies to shine.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice to have church work out this way?

We each come faithfully each week. We are greeted. People reach out to us and ask how our week was, bad or good?

My church buddies would tell me that I looked nice and or were genuinely glad I was there. The church would be interested in ME and I in return would be interested in THEM.

Maybe we could also have contests like…

• 2 points for showing up.
• 1 point for turning in an offering envelope.
• 1 point for contacting a church member.
• 1 point for reading your Bible three times a week.
• 1 point for telling people your name.
• 4 points for counting the cost of the cross.

Yahoooooo, we would have church!

“We’re GLAD you’re here!”

“See you next week.”

“I’ll give you a call or drop you an email.”

“Jesus is Lord!”

Now that would be a church I would like to go to, even if they didn’t give me dollar.