“What are these for?” Ruthie asked.

“They’re our logs,” Brigid said. She held the finished board up to the wall beside our door and hung it on a protruding nail I hadn’t realized was there. “Your violation log and your scale log. Just keeps everyone on the same page. God loves transparency!”

“That’s what they say,” Ruthie muttered.

Brigid wrote 0 in the top two boxes underneath our names, then motioned for us to follow. All the other girls from our wing were standing outside their doors, too, watching Brigid as she moved toward the end of the hallway, where a strange machine was waiting. I’d seen something like it before in the women’s bathroom of the church. A small pedestal to stand on, a tall metal rod, a few knobs at the top I would move back and forth while I waited for my mother to finish peeing.

Everyone looked at one another, equally confused, and I couldn’t tell if they also didn’t know what the machine was for, or if they knew but didn’t understand why it was there.

Brigid cleared her throat. “Covenant University focuses on mind—giving you the best liberal arts education; soul—bringing you closer to God and all that is true and good; and, equally as important, body. 1 Corinthians says, ‘Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God...so glorify God in your body.’” She paused for a moment, to make sure we were understanding her, taking it all in. “Every week, we’ll meet here as a group and we’ll check in. We’ll check in with your minds to make sure everyone’s classes are going well; with your souls, that you are obeying and understanding the rules that help us live good Christian lives; and with your bodies, to make sure you are glorifying God and making all your diet and fitness choices through Him, with Him, and in Him.”

She snapped the cap off the pen in her hand and looked at us, her smile again threatening to permanently get stuck that way. She pointed the pen toward the machine. A scale, I realized. “Line up, ladies.” She giggled. “This will be so fun!”

When we were finished and everyone trudged back to their rooms, the boards had been updated.

0 and 128 for Ruthie. Next to Weekly Goal, Brigid simply put a bubbly smiley face.

0 and 152 for me. In my Weekly Goal, Brigid wrote 5!!! (the exclamation points, hers) and added a You Got This sticker.