I AM THE FEET

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

We are all one in Jesus Christ.  This is very true.  I look at Christ as a body.  Every part of your body is important to you.  I think of myself as the feet.  Why?  Well isn't it obvious.  Some people are the head.  The head leads the body.  For example, have you ever watched a toddler run.  They always lead off with their head.  Then there are those who are the mouth.  They spread the word of the Lord.  Then there are people like me.  The Feet.  I help people get to where they need to go.  I like being the feet.  What body part are you?  No matter what you choose it is important.

From Victim to Victor by Riss Gibbs

At the beginning of August I announced that I published my first book.  I wanted to share with you that I am working on my second book. I will not be revisiting my first book.  It was a test run.  I will be distributing it to Amazon in the near future.  I just wanted to get a feel for publishing.  I wanted to share what From Victim to Victor is about:

Every person goes through tests in their life.  How you handle those tests determines what kind of person you become.  The book contains thoughts that  are hopefully inspirational to you and three short stories about Alex Burrus.   Her first major test in life is when she is date raped her freshman year of college.  She loses sight of the God and herself.  I hope you not only learn from this book but also enjoy it.  I enjoyed writing it.

Name Change

I changed the name of my blog for one reason.  I made strides to remove the drama from my life.  The name of the blog no longer fits what I am now. 

My daughter calls me dramatic because I act silly.  She was six years old when she said that I was dramatic.  I also did alot of crying in front of her.  I wish I could say it was the MS but it was not.  I learned that some MS patients can have uncontrollable crying fits and depression.  Then again it might have been my MS.  I do not think so because whenever I cried there was a reason for it. 

I decided to name my blog for my most striking feature. 

I am a short woman.  I consider four feet eleven inches as short.  Not only am I short I also only weigh about 105 lbs on a good day.  My weight does fluctuate between 100 and 110.  I feel my healthiest at 105.  I wish I could tell you that there is some great exercise program that I am on.  There is not one.  As a matter of fact I hate excercise.  As I type this I am considering taking a break and going to sleep for a little while.  Especially now that I have the I-tis.  That steak sandwhich was so good.  I get things done.  Excercise is not one of them. 

People hate me.  I have a very fast metabolism and therefore I do not put on weight.  You may think it is great but it is not.  I have to eat regularly or else I feel faint or sluggish.  It became a problem when I was pregnant with my son.  He was predicted to be an eight pound baby. The clinic put me on a diet because I tested positive for gestational diabetes.  Needless to say I did the diet like they askd but I felt tired alot.  I already ate healthy. 

To top it all off.  I have the face of a 16 year old.  I hear all the time how blessed I must feel.

Well I do feel blessed until a salesman comes to my house and asks to talk to my parents.  Now that my oldest daughter is an inch taller than me I feel a little sad.  To top it all off she looks a little older than me. 

In college I had several nicknames pertaining to my height.  My favorite was Little Miss Muffet.

  

Are you a victim or a victor?

I always thought of myself as a victor.  I thought of myself as someone who faced adversaty and triumphed.  I even wrote a book loosely based on my life.  (To purchase  From Victim to Victor click on the link.) After writing the book and while I have been unemployed I realized I am not a victor.  At least I did not act like one.  I acted like a victim.

When we had problems at home I acted like it was someone else's fault (victim).  I never looked at what I possibly did.  For so long I was mistreated or not appreciated I did not consider the problem was that I did not appreciate what I did.  I did not consider that I put too much pressure on myself.  I did not consider that I should just do as much as I can and leave the rest up to God.

Everyone has problems.  Big problems like how are you going to put food on the table.  Small problems like having an out of date cell phone that does not work well.  There are many kinds of problems.  The way we face them defines us.  We can make a small problem huge.  We can make a huge problem just another day.

I have  my share of problems.  I wish I could say I have dealt with all of them well.  But I cannot say that.  Some problems are too big for me to handle alone.  However, I hate bothering anyone with my problems.  I often times think I can handle it alone. 

I wish I could help everyone with their problems.  A wise person once said to me, "How can we help them if we cannot help ourselves." 

Well I am going to stop blaming others or situations for my problems.  I am going to change my situation for the better.  When I improve myself then I can help others.  Then I will be a victor.

See even I became a writer but FaceBook and Twitter are too confining for me.  I like to rant.  My next book will come straight from my imaginaion.

Ramblings

I have been doing alot of thinking lately.  It is most likely because I am home right now with very little to do.

I decided to be a teacher.  I want to teach special education students.  I know a lot of you have the image of students with disabilities.  Students with disabilities to me are students.   Like every other child a teacher has to make it entertaing or something that the child is interested in.

Facebook has created a generation of writers.  Many people have become philosophers.  I myself proofread what I write. Some people write to inspire.  Other people write to share their views.  Then there are those who write to get a chuckle.

I write because my kids go to school and my infant has to take naps.

I am NOT drunk!!!

Many times people say to me 'You are so crazy'.  It is most likely because I do not drink.  I do not like drinking because  I do not like the taste of alcohol.  Others enjoy the freedom they feel while drinking.

I never understood drinking.  I see it as a waste of money.  I can be silly.  I can say crazy things for free.  You spend all that money on alcohol and then you go to the bathroom and flush all the money you spent down the toilet.  Most people do not even remember the night before.  They just hear from their friends the next day about how crazy they were.  I like knowing what I did and what a great time everyone had.  This is especially true if I hosted the event. 

If you do not drink then you can include your kids in on your caziness.  An example is when my kids suddenly had selective hearing when it was time to leave after a party at a funcenter.  I had to scream at my kids.  "Don't let me get ghetto.  Get down off the play area we have to go."  My kids came down off the gym quickly.  If they can act like they do not hear me, then I can be crazy.  The only person I am really embarrassing is myself.  They were probably embarrassed about what I did.  They will never act like they do not hear me again though. 

I can laugh and have fun without drinking.  It is cheaper and I get to write all about it.  Life is too short.  I even dance in stores if a song I like comes on. 

So everyone can say that I am crazy but I am NOT drunk.  I just play one on TV. *SMILE*

Can you learn something new from a child?

There is a passage in the Bible.  I beleive it is in JOB.  I am not a theologian.  Correct me if I am wrong.  The passage is about the elders coming to give Job advice and tell him what he was doing wrong.  There was a man younger that Job.  He respectfully said that he was not the oldest man there and that Job did not have to listen to him.  The young man proceeded to give Job fantastic advice.

Sometimes you get the best advice from someone who is younger and sees the world with new eyes. I get the best advice from my kids. Not all of them are gems. The advice that Ice Cream can be considered a healthy breakfast because it is made out of milk was a piece of advice I passed on.

Sometimes they give a good piece of advice.  My daughter once advised me that she just wanted me to listen to her problem. 

I was in the middle of my monologue about seeing things from the other persons perspective.  She stopped me and said that she understood why the other person acted that way.  She then said she knew she was wrong to be mad.  She just wanted me to agree with her at that moment.  She just wanted me to listen and agree with whatever stupid thing she said.  The lesson could wait a few minutes.  She wanted to vent and get it off her chest.  She reminded me that I raised her better than that.  

Sometimes I have to trust that I have done my job.

Her advice reminded me that sometimes I have to stop and listen. 

My Boaz

My cousin Karlene wrote this on her FaceBook Wall.  'To all the girls who are in a hurry to have a boyfriend or get married, a piece of Biblical advice: " Ruth patiently waited for her mate Boaz." While you are waiting on YOUR Boaz, don't settle for any of his relatives; Broke-az, Po-az, Lyin-az, Cheating-az, Dumb-az, Drunk-az, Cheap-az, Lockedup-az, , Goodfornothing-az, Lazy-az, and especially his third cousin Beatinyo-az. Wait on your Boaz and make sure he respects Yoaz.'

After what occurred to me the Lord sent me my Boaz.  My Boaz was an unassuming young man.  I agree with my cousin.  Being patient is hard but in the end it is worth the wait.

There are no stupid questions. Or are there?

I learned that there are no stupid questions.  The only time a question is stupid is when you know the answer to the question. If you know the answer then you should not ask the question. 

Like when you visit someone in the hospital for a major injury. 

Did it hurt (when you fell down those steps)?
Did that gun shot hurt?

Why else would someone go to the hospital?

Why do I have to do homework?

After first grade many children begin to see school as a chore.  Something their parents make them do.  They would much rather be at home.  When school is new and they are in love with shool.  School becomes mundane and routine.  School is not fun anymore.

A few children see school as somewhere they can have fun and socialize with their friends.  They complain about how unfair a teacher is or what student hooked up with who or which students are expecting a baby.  Do not looked shocked almost every talk show has had that.  MTV even made a whole show.  They will probably come out with '13 and Pregnant' at some point.  Occassionally they get a teacher that makes learning exciting and new.  This makes school bearable.

Some children are nerds and love school for the sake of learning something new.  Do not get mad that I am insulting your child because I was one of those children.  I even had tape on my glasses at one point.

School needs to be somewhere that is entertaining.  It is difficult to keep their interest.  For many students there is nothing to make school interesting.

New Book?

A month ago I told the world that I published a book.  I wish to tell you all the real reason why I wrote and published the book. (From Victim to Victor)

There are superficial reasons.  To feel good about myself that I am making a difference.  Money for my kids.  Money for medical bills. 
MONET MONEY MONEY!!!!

Well these are a big part of the reason why I wrote and published the book.  The real reason why is because I was tired.  I was tired of saying I am fine when I was not fine.  I want to believe I am fine now.  You tell me.  Do I sound fine?

I wanted to get the word out there for others who might be living with mendacity.  Remember mendacity.  I wrote about it in an earlier blog.  Lies and Liars.  Sometimes a lie is to prevent us from dealing with something painful.  Well I was tired of taking the cowards way out. 

Deal with it an move on.  This is my mantra now.

I am now working on my second book and the words are not coming to me as quickly as the first.  It could be because it is hard not to stop and play with my 5 month old son.  It could be that I am talentless when it comes to writing.  The first part is true.  The second part, I have to say.  Toot , Toot.  That is me blowing my own horn.  Besides writing is subjective.  Someone out there likes my writing.  It might be you.  If it is you buy 20 of my books.  A sister needs some cash. (JOKING)

I have a title for my second book.  I have an idea where I want to start and end.  I just need to work on the middle.

Say a prayer.

Would you die for someone?

It is a mystery.  Who do you love enough that you would make such a sacrifice as great as dying for them.

I would easily say the Lord, my kids, and my husband.  I would do it in that order. 

Sacrificial love is something that is hard to understand.  Who wants to make that kind of sacrifice?  I know that I would because I prayed for that one day.  I said if God kept my kids healthy I would take the worst thing that could happen.  I think dying would be the worst thing that could happen. 

I take my prayers very seriously.  I know that you should not bargain with God.  Living right is all that I need to do.  I make every effort to do this.  I believe follwing what the Lord tells me is living right. 

Keep on living right and trust in the Lord because he has a great plan for each and every one of us.

Tired.... with a capital T

Have you ever been so tired that you just sit in one spot and let your mind wander?  I have been that tired.  I am that tired right now.  My mind did alot of wandering. 

First I said a prayer.  I prayed to the Lord the following:
Lord I am really tired.  I wish I could lay down right now and close my eyes.  I just want to be rocked in your arms.  I want to just stop and be with you in heavan.  I will continue to follow you and do what I need to do on earth.

Then my mind went somewhere totally different.

I thought about how on 'The Talk' there was a discussion about texting.  Two ladies were for texting.  Another was upset about people leaving messages that just said hi.  It made me think about my blog when I watched the ladies bring up their point. 

Then my mind went to the recent trend of remakes.  It seems that Hollywood has run out of stories to tell.  'Footloose' will be coming out soon.  'Red Dawn' is making a come back.  Then there are the cartoons that they are bringing back or making into movies.  'GI Joe', 'The Smurfs', and 'Alvin and The Chipmunks'. 

What would you like to see remade.  In my opinion there are not many shows or movies I would like to be remade.  I was not that impressed by some of the movies at the time.  Besides the movies or shows spoke to those times. 

Well I am going to bed now.  Kids are sleeping and no one needs anything.  Thanks for reading my ramblings again.