Every day, Mayra Beltran de Ortiz used to leave her plush office and work out on exercise machines. It wasn’t because she was trying to stay in shape. Mayra made many decisions based on what other people would think, including her daily exercise routine.
She was vice president of one of the fastest-growing health clubs in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. As an executive at the health club, she was obligated to set a good example for the 200 employees she managed.
Mayra remembers what her priorities were like at that time: “If you had asked me what a true woman was, I would have said a true woman was someone just like me—successful and independent. A lot of women admired me. I could travel. I could buy the clothes I wanted. I felt like I had everything under control.”
Mayra felt secure since she no longer needed her husband’s financial support, remembering, “I had my own income and checking account.” She also felt pride that her home life felt under control. “I thought I was a true woman because my kids were successful.” In order to keep the feeling of control, Mayra treated her husband like one of her employees, demanding her ways at home.
In 2008, Mayra was invited to Revive Our Hearts’ True Woman ’08 Conference. She recalls, “I had been to a lot of conferences for my job at the health club, but this was so different. I had never been to a conference where women were seeking the Lord together.
“Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Mary Kassian looked like executive women, but they spoke with such passion about the Lord. And I could see that seeking the Lord was so much better—so much more fulfilling—than seeking success at a health club.
“I was convicted that my job had become an idol. I was not honoring God by putting my trust in my job and trying to control my husband. I said, ‘I don’t want what I am. I am intoxicated. My job is like a drug. God is my provider, not my job.’”
As soon as she got home, she resigned. This family watched God immediately provide through an increase in Federico’s responsibilities. Mayra now devotes time to counseling other women and helping to translate Revive Our Hearts into Spanish.
“For so many years we were seeking so many things,” she says. “We were seeking a better life. We were seeking money and success. I was seeking respect. I was seeking control. Through all the things we’ve been through, I have discovered that nothing satisfies except for knowing God. I want to spend the rest of my life seeking Him.”
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