One night recently when my sons were saying their prayers at bedtime, I was within earshot listening to my eldest make his requests to God. He asked Him to take care of his mummy and daddy, his brother, along with his personal requests for his latest superhero toy. But it was his additional request about me that made my ears perk up.
He said, “And Lord, please help my mummy to lose weight.” The words went through me like a knife and I slinked away into the bathroom to stare at myself in the mirror.
“My son thinks I’m a porker,” were the words that resonated with me.
Lose weight. I know I’ve been struggling to lose a pesky 15 pounds, especially around the middle, but for my son to think I’m fat and beseech God in my quest for weight loss was a little too much to bear. Yes, I needed to be a bit a more disciplined in working out and managing my portion control, but for him to think that only God could help me shed these pounds was enough to push this mother over the edge.
Don’t get me wrong. I am about a size 10 or 12 now. But in the days BC (before children) I was a nifty size 6 or 4, depending on the cut. Back in those early days, clothes were easy to find, and fitting them was no problem. Now I’ve had to enlist the help of shapewear, or as my mother calls them, girdles to help smooth out those unseemly ridges of fat that don’t seem to want to budge and help certain clothes fit better.
Well, my son didn’t know it then but his prayers were just about to be answered. Maybe God in his infinite wisdom orchestrated it so that I would hear his prayers and propel myself into action. So I’ve started going back to the gym, eating differently, trying to put more greens and vegetables on my plate, along with consuming more water.
I used to hear people say that getting older was hard, but I now know what they mean. It becomes harder to throw off weight, at least for women, as you age. My husband could eat the refrigerator and not gain a pound. Besides, it just isn’t cool saying you’re still trying to lose baby weight when the boys are heading towards puberty. You start sounding a tad delusional, if you know what I mean.
So, recently I’ve been getting reacquainted with my gym’s aerobic instructors and I’m about to embark on Zumba – talk about kicking it up a notch.
While my son didn’t know I was listening, I must thank him for that prayer even though it hurt me to hear it. But it just goes to show that God knew what He was talking about when He said, “A little child shall lead them.”
