A Chat About Beauty With a Beautiful Latina

Allow me to introduce Maria Elena to you. She has four children ages 18 months-6 years. She is a pastor’s wife and excellent mother. Maria Elena and her husband, Jose, are working in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico. They have a church and a mission work they started and minister in.

The trip to Orizaba was a busy one and Tuesday was the first day Maria Elena and I actually had time to sit down and talk. After a dinner of Angelito's pizza, with dishes still on the table and the children playing quietly, we sat down to chat. I would have recorded it but the whole conversation took place in Spanish so I decided to translate our conversation for you all based on the notes I took.

Jana: In your opinion, what is a beautiful woman?

Maria Elena: To me a beautiful woman is a woman who has a strong character. I don’t mean strong as in easily angered, but more confident strong. A woman who knows who she is—that
kind of woman is beautiful.

Jana: So, even if her physical isn’t what we would call beautiful, with her confidence she
appears beautiful?

Maria Elena: Exactly!

Jana: How about here in the country of Mexico? What do Latinos consider beautiful?

Maria Elena: Of course it is physical. They think a beautiful woman is a voluptuous woman—wide hips,thick legs. Here in Mexico they focus on sensuality. Even if a woman has an
unattractive face, but she wears tight revealing clothes, they call her pretty.

Jana: So thin is not ‘in’?

Maria Elena:[chuckles] no! The thin epidemic is just now starting here. I think the
television has a lot of influence over that. I hear my six year old daughter sometimes say that she is going to go on a diet! But that is just now starting among young girls in school. Culturally a woman who is a bit more full-figured is considered beautiful.

Jana: What do you teach your daughters about beauty?

Maria Elena: I teach them to be clean and look feminine. I show them how to wear their jewelry and fix their hair. But I always teach them that true beauty is on the inside. I use Bible characters like Esther. She was beautiful on the outside but she was also brave and godly. I also teach my daughters how to eat healthy. My youngest likes to overeat. I keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t using food for emotional reasons. My oldest I have to make sure she is eating. She hears in school comments about being thin and I don’t want her to follow that path.

Jana: Do you think about your weight?

Maria Elena: Yes. I’m not very tall so I know I need to watch my weight because I don’t want to
be overweight for my height.

Jana: How do you watch your weight?

Maria Elena: I watch the amount of food I eat. I never eat until I’m too full. I always leave a little room in my stomach. I don’t snack. [chuckles] We don’t have money for snacks so that is a good thing. I drink a lot of water—just plain water without flavor. You know a lot of our problems happen because we allow them too. For example; I watch what I eat because I know I love food.
If I didn’t watch what I ate, I would end up overweight.

Jana: Do you think there is a spiritual connection to obesity?

Maria Elena: Well, I have noticed that when a person has a lot of health problems they tend
to have lots of spiritual problems.

Jana: Why do you think we struggle so much to give our problems over to God?

Maria Elena: Fear

Jana: of what?

Maria Elena: Losing control. We want control and we fear that God won’t come through if we turn it over to Him. If we give it all to God, it is true that the problem will still be there but in spite of that we have to decide to be faithful and follow God anyway. It also comes down to your
infancy. What you learn as an infant is how you tend to manage your life.

Jana: How so?

Maria Elena: Well, for example; I noticed that I ration everything. I remember growing up that my mom rationed our food, money, etc. Now I ration out food portions according to the size of my kids. My son eats more so I portion him out more food per meal. Also, I relax by reading stories about other people. If I’m stressed, I read. I remember my mom doing the same thing.
So, what I learned in infancy I still do.

Jana: this is true. I grew up learning how to cook or bake my way out of stress and emotional
issues. I still fight the urge to do that. I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees that connection.

Maria Elena:[laughing]

Jana: I wrote a blog post about being unique. It stirred quite a bit of response. I have to
ask, what is unique about you? What makes you Maria Elena?

Maria Elena: Hmm…well I:

Love my family.

Love to be with my kids and husband.

Maybe a down side to my character is that I keep a wall up around me and my family-- I protect my environment.

Love working with kids. My part in the ministry is to work with kids and I love it.

Try to keep a good relationship with people in general.

Um…I love red meat!

I also love simple food.

I am in the process of learning how to be a pastor’s wife.

Jana: How about your spiritual life? How do you keep yourself in tune with God?

Maria Elena: I have my devotions early in the morning or late at night. During the day I
listen to the Bible on audio. We are using a plan now to read through the Old Testament
before the end of the year. I also speak at our ladies meetings every two months.

Jana: So what one piece of advice would you give other women?

Maria Elena: To have quiet time daily—morning, noon, and night if needed.

Jana: Thank you so much for taking the time to let me ask you these questions.

Maria Elena: You’re welcome!