How Much Do You Weigh

“Grandma, Grandma, I weigh 54 pounds!”

Thus began a recent “kidnapping” of Ethan for six days in our home. He loves being “kidnapped” and we have been able to do that three times this summer.

Ethan has always like weighing himself on our scale. I am not quite sure why. Maybe it is the lighted digital readout. Maybe it is that the read-out is in bright red. I don’t know why, but he has always weighted himself at least once a day on that scale.

This visit, however, he weighed himself as soon as he got up each morning, after every meal, every time he had to use the bathroom, before and then again after his bath. Each time he would rush from the bathroom and report what the scale told him.

Most of the time it was within a pound or so of 50 pounds, sometimes 51, sometimes down to 49. I didn’t pay too much attention. I would off-handedly comment “that’s good”, or “Oh, well, you will gain it back after we eat.”

Then, about mid-week, Ethan came out of the bathroom and announced with great apprehension, “Grandma, I only weigh 47 pounds!”

This time I finally heard the panic in his voice and realized that this obsession with his weight had some cause.

I reassured him that all of us have a couple of pounds that go up or down, depending on what we’ve eaten, what time of day it is, etc. “Really?!” he said. “Sure, that is normal.” He bounded away apparently reassured. But later in the day when his weight was back up to 49 pounds, I could tell that was more reassuring than my words.

I finally made the connection when he interrupted his phone call with his mother, Becki, to tell me that Colin had gained an ounce.

“Ah, ha!” I thought to myself, “That is the reason.”

Colin, the boy baby of twin babies delivered at 28 weeks gestation, only weighted 1 pound, 7 ounces at birth. Every ounce, up or down, was a cause for rejoicing or alarm. At the time of Ethan’s visit, 9 weeks after the babies had been delivered, Colin had finally doubled his birth weight, while his sister, Roni, was over 6 pounds and gaining.

Weight has been a very important subject this summer and Ethan was duly alarmed when he saw his own weight go down.

We were able, finally, to talk about Ethan’s weight and the ups and downs of everyone’s weight. From that point on I was able to point out to him, “You are wearing heavier clothes than yesterday.” “You just ran up and down the stairs several times, that’s why you weigh a pound less.” And once when he weighed himself before going to the bathroom, and then again, after going to the bathroom, even that can affect what the scale says.

“Grandma, you get on the scale.” He urged several times. I assured him that I weighed myself regularly, but I didn’t want him knowing what I weigh. He seemed to accept that as he danced off to the next activity on his list.

No one, but my doctor, knows what I weigh, besides me. I have a horror that if others knew (beyond what they guess) they would think less of me. Our society is obsessed with what we weigh. I once was a part of a group that attempted to use Scripture to guilt us into losing weight – it did NOT work.

In truth, God does not care what we weigh. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” God tells Samuel. The only time God is concerned with our physical weight is when the cause is from a not-right-heart.

But how about our spiritual weight? Can our spiritual weight go up and down? Most of you are already nodding your heads. Most of us have experienced those “highs and lows” of our faith-walk, those spiritual weight gains and loses.

I think it is quite possible that some of those “ups and downs” of our spiritual weight are quite normal. Just as I reassured Ethan that our literal weight goes up and down every day, so does our spiritual weight.

It is when our spiritual weight has numerous days of loss that we need to take note, we need to check our “feeding schedule” and do something about it.

Fortunately God’s table has a boundless supply of what we need and He is ready to feed us whenever we are ready to take in the next supply of spiritual nutrition.

And how about a spiritual weight-excess? I think when our spiritual pride begins to take over our dependence on God, that is a form of spiritual weight-excess. I am grateful that God has a wonderful spiritual weight-loss program that works quite well. All I have to do is ask and He puts me in the program – it does not take too long before I am humbled and in awe in His presence again.

On our last morning of the kidnapping, Ethan weighted himself, as usual, first thing in the morning. Then again after breakfast – his weight had gone up. Then he weighed himself a short while later after using the toilet. He was somewhat alarmed (again) that he had lost a pound. “Well, of course,” I used my most reassuring voice, “you just went to the bathroom.”

“Oh!” he pondered. Then he went to the water-filter faucet in the kitchen and drank a whole glass of water. Then he weighted himself again and sure enough, he had gained a pound.

We had nearly an hour before we were to head out on the two-plus hour ride back to his house. Ethan drank at least two more glasses of water and weighed himself after each one. I was too busy making sure we hadn’t forgotten anything to pay that much attention.

We did have to make one emergency stop on the way home.