Jeff-2
Indiana
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Juanita-6
BC, Canada
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April 26th, 2008
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The recent HS Texas Gathering was MORE than I expected. I had some reservation about meeting so many new people in one place as I am NOT a “crowd” person, but I was pleasantly surprised that it felt like a “family” reunion without ever having met most of the attendees. It was an awesome experience to have met each person that I have followed online over the course of a few years; it was icing on the cake. I have never been in a group where I felt that I “fit” in so quickly.
This community is rare in my view, but like anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. The common bond we shared was our weight issues and unfortunately, unless you are in maintenance, it is visually obvious. There is pain in the “obvious” and it could be that familiarity that brought us so close to one another so quickly. My reservations promptly vanished with the love and encouragement of each of those that attended this gathering. It was OK to be transparent as there was safety in being “real” in a group where you were understood. Every person that attended was unique in his/her own way that, in itself, adds a lot of flavor to the pot!
I look forward to attending more gatherings in the future; it has boosted my energy in the journey and if you ever have the chance to participate, I encourage you to do so as you will not regret it. The Texas gathering will be an implanted memory of wonderful times with people who have experienced the pain of weight issues, but who love genuinely and unreservedly with complete sincerity.
Many thanks to our wonderful hosts Pastor Ray and his lovely wife, Sheri who went overboard to make you feel welcome and gave us the Texas experience where everything is “bigger”! Dr. Nick is exactly who he portrays himself to be; he is a genuine and caring person and a great example of what good Stewardship is all about. Thank you to his dear wife, Despina, who has so graciously shared him with us! Last, but not least, who can forget Admin. Pauline, who bounces with unending energy! I thank God for each of you. If it weren’t for all of you, I would never have met Jeff and there would not have been a Health Steward wedding that was celebrated in Texas!
You read that right! We, Jeff-2 and Juanita-6, got married at this gathering. When we met at the end of August last year, and got engaged, we decided that since we met on the site that we would come full circle and marry at the Health Steward conference that was held in Beaumont at the end of April. Dr. Nick, the founder of the site, was our best man and we were thrilled that he accepted our invitation. Pastor Ray-115 performed the ceremony and Melodie-28 from Florida, was my Maid of Honor, and both are Health Stewards, too. The interesting part is that most of us had never met until the conference!
It was a unique experience to be celebrating an important event such as this with people you never met. Until you have the pleasure of either experiencing it for yourself, or attending as a guest, it would be difficult to understand how that could be. With the experience we had with the love and care at the heart level of what some would say “strangers”, it was fitting to be merging two lives with people that we lovingly call “family”. A Victorian style wedding, with a tea of the same to follow, added to the feeling of “old times” with “new friends”. It was most certainly a joyous and emotional occasion for us and from what we heard; there was evidence of expressed feeling by others as well. We appreciated all those who blessed our day by joining us for our wedding. Thanks everyone for being so receptive to our request! It was very meaningful to have my son, Jonathan and my sister, Lisbeth-39 (also a Health Steward) with us that day and they were the only family represented in Beaumont.
If you want to be part of a community that cares, this would be a great place for you, remembering that you will benefit most by being an active participant. I encourage you to make that choice, it will make a difference – “you have to change the way you see, before you can change the way you look” – Dr. Nick’s quote.
~Juanita-6
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January 22, 2008 Update:
We are energized, as it will be a little over 3 months before Jeff and I tie the knot! Since our engagement on Labor Day, we thought it would be forever before our wedding day would arrive, but here we are in a new year with the first month already coming to a close in a week or so.
Our life has been anything but dull with the changes that have taken place for us individually. Some have been difficult and challenging and in some ways we feel we have been put to the test, but if it wasn’t for solid communication with emails and many minutes on the telephone (okay, hours!) and face-to-face visits now and then, it would be harder to get through. Since we feel communication is a vital ingredient to a successful marriage, we already know that it is just as important to survive a dating relationship as well. I am grateful for the communication that we share on a daily basis and for the mutual love and consideration there is for one another – even through “moments” when you are challenged by something new.
If you have been following our progress pages, you will see that there has been a flurry of activity keeping us busy, but we are still very committed to the gathering in Texas at the end of April and of course, our marriage there, too. We are thrilled about those of you who will be there and for allowing us the privilege of having this originally “unplanned” event take place at the gathering, thank you for being so receptive and for your expressions of love toward us. We are anticipating this to be like a homecoming and meeting with family we didn’t know we had!
Although we are still very devoted to one another in our relationship, we have both still got a distance to go before we reach the goal that brought us to becoming a Health Steward in the first place, that being our commitment to improving our health. We want to be good examples to you and we have renewed our commitment in that vein to show results we are looking for by the time we marry, or at least pretty close to it. There is accountability in making that statement! For those of you who have been struggling, we would encourage you to join us by making a “fresh” start!
Above all, we are most grateful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this adventure. If either Jeff or I had been told last year at this time where we would be right now, we would have given our heads a shake or two. Our wedding is going to be a unique event – after all, I still haven’t met Pastor Ray who will marry us and who does conference call counseling with us, or Bridesmaid, Melodie or Best Man, Dr. Nick! That part of the story that we share with others leaves minds boggled as it is certainly out of the ordinary, but then, neither Jeff nor I feel that we are “ordinary” people and that is probably what drew us together in the first place. We love to see how God opens up the doors of opportunities for us to keep the journey even more exciting as we yield to His will for our lives! As always, we are grateful to our loving families and the warm support and encouragement of you, our dear Health Steward friends. This “family” is second to none. See you in April!
With love and appreciation, Jeff and Juanita
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September 2007 Announcement:
Our first discovery of one another was in December 2004. I (Juanita) was looking for a last minute Christmas gift when I stumbled across Dr. Nick’s book “My Big Fat Greek Diet”. I enjoy Greek food so I thought it would be a perfect book for me! After reading it though, I checked out the website and it was there that I discovered Jeff, the very first Health Steward. I followed his weight loss progress and was moved by the fact he was successfully losing weight without any visible online support. I decided to post a note of encouragement to Jeff; it was my first contact with him and the first he had from anyone and it came all the way from BC, Canada. He didn’t think anyone was reading his updates, never mind someone that far away!
My personal weight loss journey as a Health Steward followed in January 2005. It was for a year or so that we would publicly post on one another’s pages within the site. Due to personal circumstances I left, but later felt I needed the support once again and came back on board with Health Stewards in June 2007. I requested Jeff’s personal email this time around as he had set a personal goal for Christmas. I knew he was struggling; he wasn’t as faithful in updating as I remembered him to be. We decided to become partners to encourage one another and it was through this personal contact that our love story began to unfold. Countless hours on the telephone and numerous email exchanges led us to discover that there was something deeper to our reconnecting at this time. Both of us had previously gone the route of online dating, wanting someone in close proximity and preferably within a 25 mile radius. Obviously, God wanted something very different and unique for the two distinct individuals that we are. His sense of humor has us at around 2,500 miles apart! It may be of interest to note that in January of this year; we were independently being tweaked in preparation for our meeting. Although we have had our individual struggles over the years, we both believed that God was preparing us for something bigger than what we could imagine. We acknowledge this to be Divine intervention; we could not have planned any of this ourselves! It was a meeting of the mind and soul, long before anything else.
Within a week, we decided we should meet. I booked a ticket (a dear friend paid for it, because she believed in the cause) to visit Jeff in Indiana for two weeks and left on August 31, 2007 and just days later after we met (on Labor Day), Jeff proposed marriage. An engagement ring was ordered and now it rests on my finger signifying our commitment of love and a future with one another. My love and thanks to you, Jeff! We are excited to see what God holds for us down the road.
Who would have thought that when we reconnected this past spring, two and a half years after our initial interaction, that we would have developed the friendship, to dating each other exclusively and then falling in love when we met in person? We sure didn’t! Our next step will be the preparations for my move from Canada to the US with Jeff obtaining a Fiancée Visa, then loading up a truck with a move to Indiana State! Of course, amongst this will be plans to set the marriage stage.
It is fitting for us that we will be married in Beaumont, Texas on April 26, 2008 at the Health and Wellness Expo. We consider it an absolute honor to be joining Dr. Nick Yphantides (our Best Man and who made our meeting possible!), Pastor Ray (Maintenance Steward) from Texas who will perform the wedding, dear friend Melodie (Maid of Honor and a Health Steward working to goal) from Florida and a number of our online Health Steward family. We are very grateful to God first, and then to Dr. Nick, for giving us the tool to discover each other so that our meeting and marriage could come full circle, just like the wedding ring. Thanks also to our families, friends and the supportive online Health Steward family, too. We love you!
Jeff and Juanita ♥
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