Psalm 139:14 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is celebrated on August 6th — the day of my birth. You would think that after 68 years, I would have figured this transfiguration thing out by now.
This is the year. Finally, after nearly seven decades of living, the physical and the spiritual are starting to come into sync.
The Wake-Up Call
For the first few weeks of the pandemic, I stayed in bed until late morning. It felt, in some ways, like the whole world had simply stopped — and I stopped with it. It wasn’t until the third week that the reality set in: this lockdown was not going away anytime soon.
So I got up. And I got moving.
Exercise has always been part of my life, but never with any real consistency. Three or four days a week, maybe — enough to feel like I was trying, but never enough to see any noticeable change. The physical metamorphosis I had prayed about for over 30 years never seemed to come.
God knows my heart. He knows this lifelong struggle with weight — every false start, every miracle tea, every moment of wanting to give up. He has heard every prayer about it.
And I enjoy eating. Truly enjoy it. To me, a good meal is like a sweet symphony, and snacking is the crescendo.
But in late April, something shifted. Almost without fanfare, another thirty minutes was added to the daily workout — and surprisingly, it came with ease. By the end of May, the waistline was down an inch and a half. July brought another inch. Clothes that had been set aside were fitting again. The mirror was no longer something to avoid.
Adding a full thirty minutes to what was already an hour-long routine takes real discipline. But that discipline has come too — and that might be the most surprising result of all.
The scale has only moved seven pounds. But the body is healthier, stronger, and more alive than it has been in years. The pounds will come. There is a quiet confidence about that now that wasn’t there before.
Thirty years of prayer. One pandemic. One extra half hour.
God’s timing is rarely ours — but it is always right.
Three Ballerinas
There have been many foolish weight-loss choices in my life, but the one about the tea is unforgettable.
About ten years ago, I boarded a Southwest Airlines flight headed to New Orleans to visit my sister Jo. Mike wasn’t traveling with me that trip, so I settled into the window seat. A southern gentleman took the aisle. When the announcement came that the flight was full, a beautiful Filipino woman slipped into the middle seat beside me.
She was roughly my age — yet she looked absolutely fabulous. Was it genetics? A disciplined lifestyle? Or was she onto something I wasn’t? My curiosity was already building.
The southern gentleman introduced himself to us both, but my attention was fixed on this woman. He offered to order us cocktails. Normally, I’d have passed without a second thought — but I wanted an opening. A shared drink felt like the right setting to ask a stranger for her secret. We raised our glasses and toasted to a safe flight.
Then I went for it.
“How do you stay so slim?” I blurted out.
She let out the most adorable little giggle. “I drink tea — regularly,” she said.
“Tea? Tea?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
Well. Pandora’s box was wide open now. I dove into my enormous handbag, fished out a pen, and prepared to write down the name of this miracle tea.
“What’s it called?”
“Oh, you can only find it at an Asian market,” she said — which was not the answer I was looking for.
Just give me the NAME already, I thought, barely containing myself.
“It’s called Three Ballerinas,” she finally answered.
I exhaled slowly. I could not wait to land.
As the plane touched down, I made the Sign of the Cross and thanked God for traveling mercies — and, quietly, for Filipino seatmates. I said my goodbyes to my new companions and nearly sprinted to find my sister. I was on a mission.
Jo wrapped me in her signature bear hug, and before we even reached the car, I was already talking a mile a minute about Three Ballerinas tea. My sweet sister didn’t miss a beat. “I know exactly where an Asian market is,” she said. “Let’s go right now.”
Could this trip have started any better?
Sure enough, right there among shelves of strangely named teas sat the boxes — stacked neatly, almost waiting for me.
“How many are you buying?” Jo asked.
“Four boxes,” I said. “Just in case I can’t find it at home.” (Online shopping wasn’t yet a thing.)
We were practically giddy. The moment we arrived at Jo’s house, we brewed our first pot. My nephew Nick, who was staying with her at the time, wanted in on the experiment too.
The trip was a short three-day weekend, and Jo had something planned for every day — but all I could think about was losing weight, and fast. We had the tea with dinner. We had it again with breakfast.
The Tea From Hell
Thank God Jo’s home was equipped with three bathrooms.
We had to stay put for the entire day. The tea was wreaking absolute havoc on our bowels — all three of us doubled over with stomach cramps, afraid to stray more than ten feet from a bathroom. And yet, in a moment of either bravery or sheer stubbornness, we had the tea again with our takeout lunch.
The side effects were swift and merciless. There would be no sightseeing. No adventures. No leaving the house. Just the three of us, humbled and cramping, completely at the mercy of Three Ballerinas.
The Filipino woman was an experienced tea drinker. She had earned that slim figure one measured cup at a time. We, on the other hand, had treated her quiet daily habit like a fire hose — blasting our bodies in pursuit of instant results. The tea wasn’t the problem. We were.
From that day forward, hot tea has been off the table entirely. The very thought of it is enough.
Sweetamine
The discovery of Sweetamine came the way many good things do — unexpectedly, through a moment of simply paying attention.
While listening to EWTN or Relevant Radio — the memory is hazy on which — an advertisement came on for a product said to reduce inflammation. With all the added exercise, the knees had started to protest loudly, so a 12-day trial was ordered, more out of curiosity than confidence.
The surprise came on day four.
Results. Real ones. Still skeptical, the full 12-day supply was finished before committing to a full box — but the commitment came. Sweetamine has since made it possible to maintain a consistent workout regimen without the grinding pain that had threatened to end it. It has also been a lifesaver for back pain that once felt excruciating.
When Mike’s knee began giving out — this is a man who works out for a solid hour every day — he was started on Sweetamine. Within a single day, he was back on the treadmill.
This is not an advertisement. No compensation has been received. But when something genuinely works, it would feel almost ungrateful to stay quiet about it.
Happy In My Skin
Maybe I didn’t get in line fast enough for the slim gene pool — but honestly, it no longer matters.
God made me exactly who I am, and He loves me exactly as I am. No tea, no laxative, no diet pill, no bestselling book can tell me anything He hasn’t already settled. He gave me feet to walk, arms to embrace, and a mouth to praise Him. That is enough. That has always been enough.
I am 68 years old, and I am still being transformed — spiritually, physically, and in ways I probably won’t fully understand until heaven. And somehow, that feels like exactly where I’m supposed to be.
A Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank You for my health — and for the gift of being able to move this body You gave me, even on the days it doesn’t cooperate.
I pray for every woman who has stood in front of a mirror and walked away feeling like she wasn’t enough. Lord, teach us to love the beauty that lives on the inside — the kind that doesn’t age, doesn’t shrink, and can’t be bought. Let it shine outward, the way You always intended.
Dear Jesus, help us truly receive Your unconditional love — not just as something we believe, but as something we live. Because only when we know how deeply You love us can we begin to love ourselves the way we should.
Amen.
Proverbs 19:8 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 Those who gain sense truly love themselves;
those who preserve understanding will find success.
