Ann Anthony
Lively, VA

When I first joined First Place, I did not know what the Lord had planned for me, nor did I know the new direction my life would take from that moment on.  Never would I have imagined the wondrous transformation that awaited me in my future.

I weighed in at 246 pounds at the first meeting.  Less than two years later, I am down to 132 pounds, for a total loss of 114 pounds.  At my earlier meetings, I was very shy and uncertain.  I was then 68 years old with several serious health problems.  I knew from the beginning that the Lord had spiritually guided me to seek help through First Place for my extreme overweight problem.  I had the faith to believe that this was the weight loss program I needed, with the realization that the balanced program could bring me to a healthier condition in body, mind and spirit.

I began the first Place program in January 2004.  By the end of the year, I had dropped 90 pounds, bringing my weight down to a miraculous 160 pounds in less than a year.  Never had I lost weight so easily as I did by faithfully keeping the Nine Commitments.

I believe God truly has blessed me with improved, good health through First Place.  By putting Him in His rightful place in my life and turning my life over to Him for the results, I have not been disappointed.  I feel I have a new lease on life.

During my second year with First Place, I had the desire to become “slim at seventy” as my birthday was just months away.  I did slim down from sizes 28 and 3X’s to a neat size 10 and some 12’s.  I could hardly believe the new me when I looked into a full-length mirror at an image of myself (my body size), which I had not seen in 37 years!  No one was more amazed than I at my sudden change in appearance.

I tell others that I have received more than just a physical outward healing.  I also have an ongoing inner healing of heart, mind and spirit.  I know the Holy Spirit has worked a spectacular weight loss in me, and He is still actively and mightily moving and healing within my being.  I have been lifted up by God’s Spirit to overcome an almost lifetime of compulsive overeating and obesity.  The Lord has given me an astonishing victory that in His power He has granted to me.  It is visible to others to give witness of what God can do in the life of a surrendered believer.  To me it is a fulfillment of His Holy Word (Ephesians 3:20) Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.

As a 70 year-old great grandma, I give witness that my victory has come through our Lord Jesus Christ.  I encourage others to “give the Lord His victory in you.”

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