Sometimes in life, we go through trials that will knock us down, but we are warriors and can get back up. Those are the battle scars that we turn into testimonies and messages from the mess that they cause. I am here today to say that I am living proof that anyone can turn their test into a testimony and their mess into a message. I am going to be transparent today and share with you a glimpse into a part of my message and testimony. I survived bullying as a child, bullying in the workplace as an adult, health issues during a difficult pregnancy, weight gain, emotional scarring from a divorce, and loss of family.
When my ex-husband said to me “you are fat, ugly, and damaged goods, and no one will want you and your baggage of kids.” I lived with this scarring for many years. I believed the lies that this man told me. Now what you don’t know is that at this time I was 5’7″, weighed 124lbs and my body fat was 16% with 98lbs of lean muscle mass. I was in the best shape that I was ever going to be in. I danced, worked out, and ate right. But emotionally, I was a mess because every time I looked in the mirror I saw the description of what this man told me. The image I saw was distorted and I believed the lies of deception. The devil had me believing that I was a worthless human and of no use in this world. However, a friend I met in my dance studio friended me and started talking positive words of affirmation in my ear. He was not romantically interested in me, although I wished at the time he was, however, he knew better what was needed. He took me out on dates as friends, he held my hand, he kissed me on the cheek and taught me how to change a light bulb ( literally) he taught me the thing I needed most. I needed to love myself, love others for who they were, be independent, and to just be enough. This started the healing process and the confidence to be just me. I used this newfound meaning of confidence to get through the challenges that I would later on face. But my faith in Jesus, my support of good friends (Terry, Beth, and Renee), and marrying my best friend and soul mate helped me grow into the person I have become today.
I found my soulmate and married him after 7 years of being single. He loved me as no one else had. He loved me for me and he loved my kids. We experienced in our first years of marriage troubled teens, an ex-husband that talked trash about me to our kids, I had a baby born premature, I had high blood pressure from the pregnancy, and nearly lost my life as it got to stroke level and older kids that are now estranged as a result of the divorce and remarriage. I recently lost my dad unexpectedly and have to take care of my elderly mom who lost her eyesight completely from Diabetes complications, but guess what? I am a warrior and I fought the good fight on the battleground of life and no matter what the enemy tries to throw at me, I will use my shield to fight back. I am not going to be defeated no matter what.
I share this with you today because many times I have women come to me and say your life is so perfect I could never get out of the mess that I am in. No, my life is not perfect, my life is messy like anyone else’s, but what makes it different, is the outlook I look at life with. Circumstances at times cannot be changed but how we look at them is something that we can control. I have a special needs child with intellectual disability and yes he is a handful at times, but nevertheless, God gave me this little boy to share the miracle that he is because he is fortunate to be here on this earth. Doctors gave him zero chance of being conceived naturally, 5% chance of survival after being born, and towards the end of my pregnancy when my blood pressure got to 220/124 and my son stopped breathing, a crash c-section was done to get him out and we both crashed. But guess what? On October 13, 2009, God breathed life into my lungs and baby Kaleb and said today is the day that I have set aside to give you something to share and give hope to others. That became my testimony and how the nonprofit organization The Gift of Life was born.
Through this confidence in myself that came from my Lord and Savior and the support of a loving husband, I completed my bachelor’s degree in nursing as well as my Doctorate of Nurse Practice, I established 27 Miracles Wedding and Event Planning Windermere Baby and Family , Rosie Moore author of children’s books and adult books, and a representative of Ms. Puerto Rico World. SO this may seem like a lot of accomplishments and they are, but what good does it do me if I do not share my gifts and talents to help others?
Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
So look in the mirror, open your eyes, and repeat this, “My name is Rosie Moore ( insert your own name), I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and I am more than enough. “
Psalm 139:14 says I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Listen to my Tea Time With Just Rosie Moore podcast for some positive words. Then join me on my Facebook group Empowering Girls and Women here you can follow stories of other women and share your own story as well as be inspired.
Ms. Lara Spencer Good Morning America Laughs at Prince George
When I was in grammar school I was the only dark-skinned Latina in my Catholic grammar school. My parents worked hard to provide their only daughter with the best education they could. But I didn’t fit in. I had two friends in grammar school that I played with; they were both Cuban but light-skinned, blonde and brunette. Whenever our classmates saw us they called us the black and white tv. “Why tv”? I’m not sure. But it broke all three of our hearts. Thankfully this did not carry through high school or college; I was glad to leave this stigma behind. I managed to graduate college and work in the real world.
In a high-risk hospital, I encountered a professional stigma, nurses against aides and techs. I wanted to do a good job and help my patients. I worked with everyone, but yet, the nurses said, “you are one of us, you should not socialize at lunch/dinner with the techs or aides.” The techs/aides would say “you are a nurse but you are Latina and you need to be with your people and the African American staff.” As for the doctors, well, they were in their own world-but I got along with them, they were too busy for stigmas.
I quickly learned life’s lessons in the business world. I took on jobs where women were in power struggles: some of the older women had no respect for younger women and vise Versa. The level of your position made a difference as to who you socialized with. People forgot we were there to take care of the sick.
And then it happened, I was thrown into the world of Pageantry. What me? I’m the shorts and flip flops girl!
I became a mom of a preemie, gained 50 lbs. due to the stress of a boss who said she hated people, thought there was something wrong with my learning ability, had no respect for people, and thought reading books was a waste of time let alone writing one. I cried daily at my desk as a result of the bullying and stress this woman caused me. Until one day my doctor said “You need to lose weight, lower your blood pressure and change your eating habits or you may find yourself in an early grave. This started a healthy journey for me. I had to live for my son, my husband but most importantly, me. I had to love myself because God loved me and He had a plan for my life.
Most of my close friends knew I was never a public speaker nor did I desire to share my testimony publicly. I was actually very shy. I used to sing as a child and through my teens until one day someone said to me, “you look silly singing in the church choir.” I allowed someone’s criticism to ruin my privilege to serve the Lord through worship. I hid behind dance because I could express myself and not use my voice to speak to others about Jesus and what He did in my life.
He took control of my life. I went through trial after trial until one day He inspired me to write my testimony in my very first book, titled A Story of Faith. I thought that was sufficient, but it wasn’t. He continued to give me test after test and each one became a testimony. He gave me divine appointments to speak to women who were going through difficult situations. I started to seek the Lord’s guidance, asking Him to fill my mouth with the right words to empower young and older women.
I thought to myself never will I lose 50 lbs! But through eating properly, training with a trainer, and God’s motivation, someone noticed. An acquaintance said, “You know if you get involved in a pageant you can reach a diverse audience that will learn about your charity and help you spread the word about the Gift of Life.” I thought, “No one cares about pageants” (I certainly didn’t) until I tested out the theory.
I emailed a hotel the year prior to becoming a pageant queen asking for a donation to the Gift of Life and received a reply, “we don’t have any donations at this time, but try again next year”. So the next year I sent an email, copying the same email, but signing my name as Mrs. Windermere. This was the start of a shift in favor of people. This time around, I not only received approval for a donation, but the donation was more than I expected; a weekend getaway package to auction off at our Gala. The pageantry gave me (“just Rosie Moore”) celebrity status almost overnight.
My first ever competition was an eye-opener. I felt alone amongst women who were beautiful, wealthy and eager to push any competitor out of their way. I once again experienced exclusion because of my skin color and heritage as a Latina. I was done with pageantry, one time was enough for me.
Someone
in the audience noticed me at the pageant with all the bad experience. She saw something beyond my heritage; she saw
that I had a platform plus a genuine love of people. She convinced me to try again so I prepared
for a year and qualified to be Mrs. Windermere International.
This time things were different. My peers voted me Mrs. Congeniality and I received the Community Service Award. The following year, I went on to represent Mrs. Michigan International of which I had the opportunity to not only crown my successor but to share my testimony regarding the Gift of Life.
Today, I am the reigning “Mrs. Southern States International I have the ability to share my testimony, the Gift of Life and my faith in Jesus! What I learned is that there is only one winner in the eyes of man. But, in the eyes of God, we are all winners.
It’s easy for us to fall into the same treatment we receive from others and although it hurts and we want to hurt others with the same measure, we must resist hurting others with criticism because of our own wounds. We will have a great reward as long as we believe God has us in His hands.
This is why it pains me to hear on national television a grow woman Good Morning America” host Lara Spencer, bullying a 6-year-old boy and eliciting laughter from the audience and co-hosts because he is taking ballet. What is so funny about that? Would she have had the same sarcastic remark had it been a little girl? Prince George will be able to make that decision as an adult for himself one day when he decides what his career path should be. As a dancer who has taken ballet and danced in ballet productions, I know the importance of this being the foundation for any style of dance. I encourage Lara Spencer to google famous ballet dancers and what they have brought to the world of entertainment, Mikhail Baryshnikov is one that comes to mind. Ballet is the foundation of any style of dance, a dancer is recognized by his or her training in ballet because the way that they carry their posture stands out. Football players take ballet not only to help them be flexible in their sport but ballet improves their focus by helping them concentrate on precise movements needed in football. Ballet has been proven to boost the concentration, improve memory, and helps people to understand music and rhythm which ultimately can improve body awareness and physical control. If you have a tendency to be clumsy, ballet training can help improve that. Not everyone who takes ballet or any style of dance will become a world-famous dancer, but the opportunity to allow someone to express themselves through dance does wonder. That is why in a major study it has been proven that when you stimulate your mind by dancing, it can increase cognitive ability, therefore, decreasing the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia.
So to Ms. Lara Spencer of Good Morning America, choose your words wisely the next time that you are sharing news or a story because your words are a double edge sword that can be hurtful to someone who is listening. I used to like watching Good Morning America and hearing the stories that were shared, but now I am appalled that Good Morning America would allow this type of bullying of a child to take place on national television.
We live in a world where negativity comes our way almost on a daily basis. We have to find within ourselves a way to bounce back from disappointments and loss. This can take time to rebuild our trust and heal our hurts. When we are hurting we just need to find a way to heal our wounds and then go back in the real world and face it. It would be great if we did not live in a world of angry words and hate. The old phrase that says “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is so untrue. There are people who have committed suicide and lived in mental anguish with a harsh word that was used.
Have you ever cooked with Teflon pots? These post are made with a special coating so that when you cook or fry something, the food does not stick to it. That is what we need in our lives, we need a special coating so that when those angry words, disappointments and losses come in our lives, we can slide them away. It is easier said than done. This is not an overnight process and sometimes we live with these words for an eternity. However we can agree to do this, whenever we come in contact with someone who is being hurtful to us, we don’t have to accept it. We can ask God to help us and not let that negative, hurtful, or angry word stick with us, but rather have us stick with Him and not absorb this in our lives.
Like Proverbs 25:11 says in International Standard Version:
“Like golden apples set in silver is a word spoken at the right time.”
