I’m like SUPER good at giving advice.  That’s not being cocky.  That’s stating fact.  I can find the exact words that need to be said and that are so relevant that you would think that I knew what you were going to ask me before you asked it.  I can be spiritual, I can be deep, I can be brutally truthful, I can be soft but firm.  I can mold what I say to fit what type of person you are and what type of need you need met.  Wanna know what I am NOT good at??  Taking my OWN advice!  I can literally have the exact same problem or the exact same fear as someone who I have given advice to, and you would think I’d never even heard, let alone gave, the advice you got from me!  Why is that? Am I not as strong as I feel that my friends/family are?  Am I not as worthy?  I ask myself this constantly and I truly feel that there is no way that I am alone in this!  So let’s dissect… shall we?

If my friend came to me because they feel like their relationship with their spouse is in trouble, the #1 conclusion that I typically come to, is that my friend is expecting a bit too much and taking small things way too seriously.  So why is it that when my spouse upsets me, I don’t take that advice?  I sometimes blame hormones…I also sometimes insist that my own relationship isn’t the same as theirs so I couldn’t take my own advice.  And it’s not.  But… at the same time, isn’t it?  We all have our problems.  NO ONE knows what happens behind closed doors but the ones behind those doors.  Ultimately, though, if we were to get out of our own way… me specifically…I feel we would see that it’s not all that different… my problems and yours… he still doesn’t understand and we still overreact.  Yep!  Come on Rachael.  Get it together!

How about this… I’ve gained too much weight.  I can quickly identify why someone else is gaining and cannot lose weight.  I can be around them for a few hours and find advice to give.  But then there is me!!!!  The treadmill in my room-my arch nemeses!  He(my treadmill is a male… he’s GOTTA be to mock me as he does! :)) taunts me CONSTANTLY!  I just want to watch The Bachelorette in PEACE!  My stomach….PUHLEASE!  I have to calm it’s constant growling right!??!  However, we all get to “that point” where “enough is enough” and our will power strengthens and our motivation takes over!  –side note, someone please help me get there soon!  I’m over this! —

Lastly, and mostly likely the BEST prime example, the raising of our heathens!  I tell you what….I can tell you EXACTLY what you are doing wrong and what you should change….I won’t… but I could…. but good gracious heavenly hallelujah knows I have NO ROOM TO TALK!  My kids are NOTHING like yours.  Your kids are NOTHING like mine.  And to be honest… unless someone has a fraction of the love for your kids that you do, do not let them even breathe a word of advice in your direction unsolicited… Now… if you ask…… well…:)… be ready for a long line of irrelevant advice coming your way.  Because even if you ask, again… if he/she doesn’t love your kids, they cannot advise you on a daggum thing!  Here’s the reason… you ready?  If a person does not have true love for your child, they do NOT have his/her best interest at heart.  Textbooks may cover “the vast majority”.   I’m not discrediting the scholars.  However, I think that most would agree, ESPICIALLY the scholars, that every child is different.  There are so many different variables that need to be considered with every individual child.  From their raising, their parents’ raising, their homelife, their environment, their medical history, their personality,….I could go on and on.  I will admit that I have judged kids based on my observation and how good or bad that I think they are.  But who am I to do that?  It’s not right!

I truly wish that I didn’t have some of the thoughts that I have based on mere observation and what society has molded me to think is right and wrong, impressive or unimpressive, logical or illogical.  Logic is tricky because everyone’s logic is different so… in that respect… is it truly “logic”?

I feel like I was born in the BEST generation.  I was brought up before the technological revolution occurred but I was a young adult when it took place.  So I see the advantages of having the advances that we have today but I am blessed in that I have the morals that were present before it.  So how can we find the happy medium?  I am challenging myself, and you too, in reflecting, every day, on how we grew up, and putting it into play with the world today.  It’s an amazing gift that we have, to have had the best of both worlds! So, with it, I am going to use the tools that I have but stay humble in my advice and in my life so that I am not assuming that I am an expert in ANY category.  I love to be asked for advice.  But I would love it more if, after I gave it, you were to remind me of it when it came time for Rachael needing some help and a good swift kick in the rear!

I love y’all!

Bye for now,

RR

Not to presume that this hasn’t been a problem for probably the last…10 years…or so…

But…to be specific, this IS DEFINITELY a PROBLEM in 2016!

My blogs are most definitely consumed with all of MY opinions.  That’s just how I roll and what I like to write about…AND what MOST blogs are about nowadays! 🙂  So…that being said…it’s my opinion, and a PROVEN opinion, at that, by yours truly, that we have a freaking problem as a society right now!  In America and throughout several other countries.  Why in the world must we photographically and biographically document our entire lives?  Why?  Really?  When I venture back, to what I like to call “the last years of media-less REAL-TIME MEMORIES”  I have vivid and fond memories of playing dark hide-and-go-seek with my brothers and cousins and playing monopoly until the sun came up and tee-peeing houses with my friends, mud-riding bon-fires with my friends…  I still remember it like it was yesterday and, guess what!?!?  I have no photos or videos of that!  It’s all IN MY BRAIN!  HUUUUHHHHHH! OMG, can you EVEN imagine!

Most of you can because you experienced that too!  But NOW!?!?  Now I am constantly seeing parents videoing their children having meltdowns because of fears…fears that are truly real to them and, instead of their parents consoling them or reasoning with them, we are FILMING them and POSTING them on social media!!!?????  Can you please stop for 5 seconds and think about the fact that your child, your flesh and blood, is terrified of something, no matter how unreasonable the fear may seem to you, and needs comfort and reassurance that they are OK???

How about the photos/videos us holding our sick sleeping ones?  Or the ones of our soon-to-be departed?  Or the selfies of us meeting our relatives for the first time?  I don’t know about you, but I remember a lot less, and see a lot less, when I’m constantly trying to get the best picture of my child’s BIG day, or the best video of the bride saying I do, even though there are paid, professionals doing that for us!?!?  I’m not innocent of this.  I am 100% guilty of some of these scenarios.  And I have regrets.  Regrets of not savoring the moments that God blessed me with, only to replace them with moments that I thought the world would have liked to have seen.  Bottom line is…I don’t care what I THOUGHT the world would have liked to have seen!  As recent as today, I watched a TIMEHOP video of my youngest child walking.  It wasn’t her FIRST time walking…but one of the first.  And, at the end, I was laughing when she tumbled and video’d her trying to get up for a good 5 seconds…I should have helped her up!  I should have put that camera DOWN!

Happy note* I also saw a picture of my niece singing on the intercom, in front of her entire school, which  was AWESOME because I know that what my sister COULD have done, within “society’s standards”  was to have video’d that moment but what she did was actually take in that moment, as she should have, instead of worrying about how she could have gotten the best audio, and probably have made her child 10 times as nervous, had she done that.*

If we dare…and everyone knows…I DARE…to get into THIS!…..Let’s think about the surfaced videos of gangs beating up defenseless homeless people, or mobs attacking people coming out of stores….one comes to mind…because I did watch it, when it surfaced….of a mom walking with her child and a mob of teenage girls attacking her and throwing the child to the ground every time he got up to defend his mom!?!?  The child couldn’t have been older than 3 or 4.  The mom did not fight back…every time, she got up and tried to grab her son’s hand and was beat back down to the ground.  This went on for an excruciatingly long minute or 2 before she finally was allowed to hold her son’s hand and continue on their stroll.  Who does this?  Who finds entertainment in this?  There was a professor in one video, fell out because of a sudden heart attack, and his students filmed it long before it was ever called in to medical professionals.  Let that sink in please.  How would YOU feel?

My mom did not “grow up” in this millennial era.  She was the last generation of mothers that didn’t deal with this.  I envy her.  Mainly because, I was taught how to be a mother from her.  Yet, she didn’t have to deal with what we have to deal with!  It’s not just me, raising my technology-savvy babies…it’s having to deal with women my age, acting as if they are not!  I am not above these women, nor among these women.  There is so much separation amongst me and mothers my own age, it’s ridiculous.  We cannot all reach out to each other because all of us are striving to cope with the ASTRONOMICALLY differentiated motherhood society that we have become!  We are ALL looking for the best way to raise our children and the best way to be the best parents that we can be.  However, we have no guidance from anyone who has come before us because we are the first of our kind!  It’s been several decades before a change of this magnitude has separated the centuries between us.

My only hope and prayer is that we all can pray to God, before anything else, and trust in how He guides us to raise our own.  And for goodness sakes, strive to be the women that our mothers raised us to be, regardless of what strides technology has taken since.  If you fear of what your child can hide with their phones, obviously they have not gained your trust to have them.  TAKE THEM AWAY.  Always remember, YOU ARE THE PARENT.  So…..PARENT!!!!!

Bye for now,

RR

I would say, the most common fear, among new parents, is the fear of not “doing it right”.  When I say, new parents, I mean any parent that feels they are “new at this”.  I,…

Source: Perfecting Perfect Parenting

I would say, the most common fear, among new parents, is the fear of not “doing it right”.  When I say, new parents, I mean any parent that feels they are “new at this”.  I, myself, for example, have been a parent for 9 years.  However, I still feel “new” at a lot of “this”.  In essence, I feel like we, as parents, are always “new” at SOMETHING!  Newborn, toddler, child, kid, tween, pre-teen, teen, adult…..it’s all “new” to those of us whose oldest child is entering into a new phase of his/her life.  It’s hard.  NO ONE told you how hard!!!  Even if you had someone telling you how hard it was…..it didn’t come CLOSE to how hard it really is.  It’s not their fault!  There is nothing that prepares you for the stages of life YOUR child goes through.  Much less, the stage of life YOU go through as they go through those phases!  So here’s why I’m writing this…

I’m not a perfectionist by any means.  I am the type that believes that the quickest the job gets done, the better, and let’s move on to the next assignment.  I work with someone who cares more about perfecting the finished product.  Neither of us are “wrong”.  We just think differently.  Nonetheless, we both want to ensure we did a good job.  When it comes to parenting, I don’t care what your personality type is, you want to be PERFECT!  You reflect on your own childhood, your own experiences, and the advice you’ve received from outsiders.  We don’t want to make mistakes.  Venturing back to the earliest memory I have in my life….both of my kids are older than I was in that memory.  So I FREAK out if I realize I did something wrong because I’m PETRIFIED that they will remember it and that it will haunt them!

My mom was an amazing mother.  My mom IS an amazing mother.  She was solo most of our childhood.  I say it that way…solo…because she was not technically a “single” mother.  She was married to my dad for a short while.  Several years later, she was married to my step dad for a good while.  However, she, much of the time, was solo.  She did the best that she could in her circumstance.  Honestly, in hind sight, she did great! There were some things that I experienced in my childhood that did teach me what NOT to do or what NOT to accept…but it was nothing she did wrong.  Mainly things from the father figures (not including my big brother, who was and is amazing) in my life that really taught me the lessons I am glad that I learned when I, myself. became a parent.  I won’t have a stock pile of beer in my refrigerator.  I will not get into shouting matches with my husband, or anyone for that matter, in front of my kids.  I am thankful I learned that…but everyone knows there’s much more than THAT when it comes to parenting

So…what is a PERFECT parent? You have an idea of it before you become pregnant.  You plan it while you are pregnant.  You pray about it and dream about it after the baby is born.  But when you do stop trying to be PERFECT?  The short answer….?  There is no such thing.   There just isn’t.  I am sorry if you started this by thinking that you were going to get the answer, or at least a glimpse of the answer, to your question of “how can I be the perfect parent?”.  There’s NO SUCH THING!  The sooner you acknowledge and accept that, the better you, and your kids, will be!

In this society, in this county, in 2016, we are all so freaking worried about what our parent friends think of us….the methods THEY use for parenting….the advice THEY take…the books THEY read… Bottom line, folks, is the sooner you stop trying to be perfect, the happier you and your family will be!  First of all, everyone’s opinion of perfect differs.  That is the first reason you need to understand perfect parenting doesn’t exist.  Secondly, and maybe most importantly, if you hold yourself to such a high, STRONG standard, and fail, which you will…because perfection doesn’t exist unless you are God, you are creating unnecessary problems within yourself.

Let’s say you challenge yourself to run 10 miles in 30 minutes. You have never done that before…(example the stage of life your child is in)…but you think you can so you challenge yourself.  You fail.  It was unreachable.  You have never done it, have never even gotten close, yet you challenged yourself to that!?  You set yourself up to fail.  I think everyone would agree.  The worst critic a person has, especially a person who strives for perfection, is themselves.  So you set an unreachable goal.  And you failed.  STOP!  Now you are depressed, you are angry, you are moody, and now your husband suffers, your kids suffer, everyone around you is suffering!  STOP striving for perfection and START striving to do every day one.day.at.a.time!

Nope…no such thing as perfect parenting.  You WILL mess up.  You WILL make mistakes.  Guess what?…you WILL learn from those mistakes and you WILL make more!  That’s life!

A wise woman once told me, you can’t always control things that happen.  What you CAN control, is how you react to them.  So live life one day at a time.  Be a parent one day at a time.  If you mess up, learn from it.  If something happens outside of your control, pray, think, and react in the best way that you can.  Don’t stress over what your kids are going to become in the future.  Stress about what they are about to say to you right now when they say, “hey mom……”.  Handle the now.  Don’t handle the tomorrow or the next week or the next month or the next year.  That crap hasn’t even come to light yet!

Be the best you, right now, this second, this day.  You will never be perfect.  Just be you, love your babies, love yourSELF!  You are awesome!  BE THAT!

Bye for now,

RR

For the most part, I stay away from these types of conversations.  Not because I have an unpopular opinion or because I worry how everyone will react to my point of view.  But because I don’t want nor need the controversy and don’t want the super sensitive citizens of the world assuming their own meanings to my words, instead of listening to what my words were intended to mean.  Now…with THAT being said, I am going to touch on it…just a little bit.

Just to give you a little bit of a back story…from the age of 6 up until I was 12, I lived in a predominantly black neighborhood and was one of maybe ten white children that went to our elementary school.  Before and after those ages, I lived in NE Mississippi and went to, maybe, a 60% white school.  I knew that my skin color was different.  I knew, in my younger years, that there were some kids in my class that hated my skin color.  However, never…not ONCE, do I remember putting any significant thought at all into the fact that my skin color was different.  I did not pick my friends based upon that…I did not look at anyone any different than anyone else based upon their skin tone….I just never did.  My mother raised me to know that skin color gave no indication of anything other than the fact that our ancestors maybe came from different countries.  I don’t know how mom did it…with as much hatred in this world….but she did!  And I am forever grateful to her for that!  I’ve been surrounded by racists of many different ethnic backgrounds at various points in my life.  I’ve heard them blurt out their ignorance.  I shake my head and walk away. I won’t entertain that or give them the pleasure of making them think they had an impact on my day or my thoughts!

Fast forward to today…..My mindset hasn’t changed as far as who I come into contact with and what my thoughts are about them.  I am not blind when it comes to skin color but it means nothing to me as far as snap judgments or unnecessary hate.  I pick my close circle very wisely.  I do not surround myself with ignorant racists.  I keep the like minded close and the close minded far!

What about the kids?  This has crept up in my thoughts since the day I became pregnant with my first.  I don’t want to teach the wrong thing…I don’t want to avoid the questions but part of me doesn’t want to wait until they ask the questions to talk about it.  Am I going to make it too big of a deal to them that they are paranoid about it? What exactly do I say?  Maybe I should ask my mom….(in case you can’t tell, I am still learning this “mom” thing).

The other day, my youngest, 5, taught me what I needed to do!  The girls have been learning a lot at school.  I can always tell when they are learning about something new and interesting because they can’t stop talking about it!  Somehow the topic of the Indians came up…for the life of me, I cannot remember how…. I explained about how we have Indian in our family and where it came from.  My oldest, 9, was confused at first and then started to make jokes.  She said, “I’m half Asian!”  To which my husband and I quickly corrected her!  My 5 year old asked, after I explained the Indian part, “what am I?”  I said, “white…not sure what all else.” I really wasn’t sure so I just tried to give a quick answer.  She said, “I’m not white…my eyes are and my teeth kind of…but I’m not white.”  I said, “okay then, what are you?”  She replied, “….a GIRL!”  She was as serious as could be and had no clue why I would ever say she was white!!

So, at first, I almost felt like a failure.  Not because I hadn’t explained the difference and similarities in skin color but, because, she truly had no idea that she was white or that white wasn’t a gender…!  Then, though, I was proud!  My baby doesn’t see color!  Praise the Lord!  That’s the goal!  My next thought was that I really wasn’t doing my kids any service by making them ignorant to this big topic, being that the world will educate them not too long from now and…don’t I want to be the one to explain it?  Shouldn’t I wrap my arms around this before some random influence gets a hold of them?  Do I want to send them out, ignorant, so that an even more ignorant person can poison their mind?!  It was like a huge light bulb came on in my head!  I knew what I needed to do!

First, I had to stop thinking so much!  Because everyone is offended by EVERYTHING lately, I find myself questioning my own questions!  Second, I had to write everything down!  Write my STORY!  I struggled with what I would say, how I would say it, and when we would have the conversation.  However, I am confident that I will KNOW when God opens that opportunity and I will embrace it!  Third, I needed to ensure that I had the right mindset.  I am not oblivious to the fact that not everyone thinks the way that I do, not every region is as peaceful as mine is, and that there is truly a lot of hate and heat on this subject.  I do get that.  Sometimes it is hard for me because I don’t have to witness or deal with a lot of what people in other parts of the country and of the world are faced with. So, keeping in mind that even my kids may be in harsher storms in the fight against racism than I was….I am going to educate them.  It will come from me first and my kids will know that they can come to me and talk about it at ANY time and I will be honest with them.  It’s not brainwashing, it’s not forcing my beliefs on them and it’s not naive for me to have confidence that this is the right plan.  I honestly feel that it’s God giving me a peace about what I have really struggled with as a mother for the past 10 years!  I’ll explain the differences and ensure they know that God made us ALL special and unique.  We are all children of God and he loves us all the same!  We should do the same!!!  

Now…I suggest and encourage you all to do something similar with your children.  They look to you, whether they tell you or not!  So grease those wheels before some idiot gets a hold of them!  We only have one shot at this life…let’s make sure we are doing the best job we possibly can!  Especially when it comes to the future generations!

Bye for now,

RR

What a year!!!!  I feel like I say that every year…but still…what a YEAR!  Apart from the medical issues that I’ve had…which, I am blessed to have come through the other side healthier than EVER!….It’s still been an insane year.  So many ups and downs.  I feel like it’s been such a roller coaster.  There were days that I thought, this is the longest day EVER!!!….but, looking back, the year flew by!  I feel like the older I get, the quicker the years pass.  This sucks, in a sense, because my kids are young but getting older…I don’t want time to fly!!!  On the other hand…there are days I really want to be over as quickly as the day before they begin.  Well…that’s no way to live!!!

I do feel, however, that the past 3 months, I’ve had such a different mindset, that it’s been a year in it’s own time.  It still astounds me that I lived so many years with little to no aspirations, no dreams, no goals….at least for myself as a person.  All of my goals have been career-minded.  Don’t get me wrong…not that that’s NOT okay…but what about me?  Me?  Rachael Richmond?  I can’t spend too much time focusing on the time I’ve lost because, let’s be honest, that wastes even MORE time!

The one thing, among others, but…if nothing else…I am walking away with this year…is this.  Valerie Burton, a renown life coach, said, in our conference…”Don’t waste your time trying to prove something to someone who isn’t even paying attention”.  WOW! What a powerful proclamation! How many of you feel as if this is EXACTLY what you have done this year?…or longer than a year?…I know I feel it…

I have spent so much time and energy on this.  I am a people pleaser.  That has never felt like a bad thing until recently.  It IS a bad thing, at a certain level…I am not saying we should not try our best…to do our best…to do what is right.  For the right people.  However, I…MYSELF…feel that I have done it for the wrong people.  I entered my career KNOWING and BELIEVING that I had to impress the “higher ups”!   Even now…to be honest….you HAVE to do that!  You have to impress them.  You have to prove your worth.  That will NEVER be untrue.  However, AFTER you have shown your worth….and the “others” see it…but they STILL try to destroy you…what THEN?….what….THEN?…

I have spent so much time and energy into proving something to those who aren’t paying attention.  Those who, no matter WHAT I do, they will still try to destroy me…that I am neglecting those who were paying attention all along.  Those that, maybe in my hindsight, had my attention, because of my awesomeness, and wanted more…but, because…maybe…I knew they already had it, so let’s get more…that I have 110% neglected them.  My husband…(he’s a freaking rock star)…my kids…(they are going to rule this world!)…my family…(mom is amazing, my brothers and sister…Ah-freaking_MAZE me…)  They are here, they are engaged, but yet,…I am putting my focus on ones that aren’t paying attention?!?!?!

I have lost so many moments…that I was given…to show my children how much I love them…how much…to my husband and family…I am grateful for the support that they given me.  All, because, I was looking for ALL…EVERYONE…And it didn’t come.  How selfish I have been!

So…2016…what is the goal?  Could I encourage you to do this exercise with me?

What circle of friends did I surround myself with 01/2016?

What circle of friends do I NOW, surround myself with in 12/2016?

Why is my circle different…or the same?

If it is different…have I lost friends that I really NEED?

Have I replaced friends that I really NEEDED TO?

Are my friends the same? Why? Have I told them why they are important to me?

What do I KNOW…not wish…I need to accomplish in 2016?

These are deep questions…do not answer them quickly…THINK about them….

And always…ALWAYS ask yourself…..Am I wasting time trying to prove something to someone who isn’t even paying attention?

Bye for now,

RR

So much has happened over the past few days!!!  3 nights ago, a lot of people lost their homes.  3 nights ago, several people lost their lives.  3 nights ago, so many families were left wondering, “why?”. I was on my way home from work, that night….by myself…to get some super secret presents home before my husband got home with the kids.  We tried to leave work early enough, that night, to get home before the worst of it came through.  I was more worried, though, about the staff that lived north of me.  So, once it was about 45 minutes away from them, I decided it was time to go.  Everyone left.  I turned my radio on to a public broadcasting network, on my way home, while I called my husband and mom to see if they could keep me updated as I was headed an hour south of my office.  I was told that I should probably stop somewhere and wait, or head back north.  I’m stubborn.  I kept on keepin’ on!  Until eventually, when the station gave me a tracking alert that lead me to believe it was going to go to my house.  I stopped, texted my sister, then headed to her power-less house northeast of mine!

The tornado that had been confirmed as have had touched down, on many towns that were close to me, shifted a bit.  My house was unharmed.  I was thankful.  However, it was still close….I went home, December 23rd, and hid the presents I had aimed to hide.  My husband, and the kids, came home soon after.  We were good!  Other areas….so close to us….were not so good.  I was very sad.  My entire ride home, I prayed that our house was okay.  The house my kids were looking forward to sleeping in.  It was.  So many other areas though, so close to us, were not okay.  I struggled with my thoughts.  I knew so many were so hurt and devastated by what, I thought, would devastate us.

I was talking to a good friend, my ex-husband…(yes…we are good friends)…about things non-related, when he mentioned the devastation.  We shared in our grief of the entire situation.  We decided we would do something about it!  And we did!

A large group from our church, Southpoint Church, went to the most heavily effected area today.  We were told so many times by so many that no one would let us help.  We all wanted to go anyway!  And we did!

We donated to the local centers that were setup and ready with volunteers to help.  We bought more items as we learned what all was needed.  We prayed before we left to ask God to bless us that we could bless others.  We went in blind.  We didn’t know what we would see, who we could help, or if we could do ANYTHING other than drop stuff off….I knew that there was a strong chance that we would drive down there, drop the many, amazing donations that we’d all picked up, and leave.

However….

On the way to the second donation drop, one of our group said he’d recognized his father’s cousins’ house, on the way.  Everyone turned around, and we all met there.  His cousin was a successful business owner.  He was blessed.  He had a big house, several shops, a rental property next door…we knew he had money….he also had not a clue where to start on the devastation to much of his property…

We were not allowed to go to a lot of places….as the news stated…there were so many electrical obstacles, so many that needed their insurance companies to assess the damage…we couldn’t help there.  Where we could help, though, was at this man’s property.  He didn’t even know where to start….

All of us, plus 20 more…40+ in total, pitched in to just…start…!

Labor of love, doing what God told us to do.  Showing His love in a practical way.  With the experience that I had today….I was shown what the word-less definition of a humble heart is.  And I KNOW that many have shared this with me today.  The act of giving…to WHOEVER needs God’s favor and love….is more than ANY item that I could by for myself or for anyone.

It happened the day before Christmas Eve.  So many had NOTHING through the Christmas holiday this year.  Even though we had our material items…the best gift that I received this Christmas season, was the gift of God blessing me with the friends and family that I have that have joined me in helping others.

Jesus was born in a manger, because there was no room in the inn…He was born of a virgin and grew up to die on a cross so that all of us could be forgiven.  Helping others, in their time of need, when I have more than enough time to even NEED…..That is the LEAST that we could do!

I am so thankful and so blessed!

Bye for now,

RR

Hey!  Rachrich.org team….listen up!

I’m sure 99% of you have either seen or heard about the Miss Universe 2015 contest from last night! I’m also sure that most of you have noticed that I’ve slowed down, a bit, on my blogs….

Let me, first, start, by addressing the second issue in my statement.  I have been sad.  Unhappy.  Most of us can relate to the fact that our careers can have, and do have, a direct effect on our overall happiness in our lives.  If I feel negative, I really don’t want to blog about it.  I want to work on the issues that are, currently, making me unhappy.  It’s time to proclaim against the enemy’s exuded unhappiness!!!…

Now…I AM A CHRISTIAN…and if you do not realize that by now, you either need to read my other blogs, or simply, stop reading, if you are passionately against christianity..because my faith, while driven by God’s holy word, will always influence my words.  And as a Christian, I am also, and always will be, effected by the enemy…The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy…and that proves truth in our every day!  So if you are not a Christian….or do not seek to learn more about the faith of Christians, then do not read further!!!!!….

Steve Harvey made a HUGE FREAKING MISTAKE!  Steve crowned the WRONG Miss Universe 2015 last night!  He said the wrong country…Miss Columbia celebrated…for a good 60 seconds…that SHE, in momentary fact, was Miss Universe 2015…only to have that moment halted…She was NOT, Miss Universe 2015.  Steve read the wrong name a the wrong time!

Steve thought he was reading his last line.  Once it was done, he was told, by MANY, that it was inaccurate….What did he do?  Did he ULTIMATELY blame it on the “layout of the card” or the “layout of the teleprompter”…No!!!  There are pictures surfacing that show that he blames it on the teleprompter….but seriously?…NO!!!! He walks back on to the stage and says, “I made a mistake!  I take responsibility!”….

I know that most of the entire world is unhappy with Steve….I am not!

The conference, that I have referenced numerous times throughout my blog, references what all I have learned from Steve.  While, I did feel a sense of personal attack, through everything that has surfaced about Steve’s mistake, I have still, nonetheless, remembered how amazing of a person he is!

People have said, today, ….”I am funny, witty, and charismatic….and I could read a card WITHOUT messing up the name on the card…”……

OK!!!! Then why didn’t I see YOU up there?…as the emcee!?!?!?

I’ll tell you why!!!!  Because Talent+Motivation=Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You have the talent and the gift.  Okay.  Great!  Where’s the motivation???  What are you doing?  EVERY SINGLE DAY?  What are you doing?  What steps did YOU take today to achieve YOUR goal?  I can tell you that Steve Harvey, a christian human, someone who makes mistakes, worked EVERY. SINGLE. DAY…at HIS goal….found HIS success, by doing what God told him to do!!! Ask him!  I will give you $100.00 if the answer that you get from him is anything but spiritual!!!!

I pray and I cry every day that God would use me as, in His scripture, He uses his disciples.  I can only hope that a glimmer of His mercy exudes in what I can write to you!….God is the healer.  God is the almighty.  God is the ultimate forgiver of all sin!  The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy….and only God can protect us against the devil’s goals…..

As Christians…are we to judge him?

I don’t think so.

Bye for now,

RR

Fear is such a tricky thing.  The problem is… we, as humans will always have fear of something.  Whether it be a phobia, a decision, a constant pressure… we always have a fear of something.  If you think you don’t, can you honestly tell me that there isn’t SOMETHING in your life or in your thoughts that doesn’t give you that thought of, “I hope that never happens to ME!”?  I, myself, am ridden by fear.  There is so much in my life, right now, that I am not happy with.  But FEAR is keeping me from changing it!  I don’t have the answer…. if I did, I would probably be a gajillionaire!  What I want to explore, though, is how we can over come it.  The tagline to my blog is “persevere through the fear”.  I thought of it when I first started the blog but I didn’t, and still don’t, know how to do it!  But it’s my goal!

So, obviously, this isn’t a live forum.  So I cannot actively ask you what your fears are or help you to overcome them.  What I have learned is that, by writing things down, you can find yourself on the path to overcoming what you are fearful of.  So… pen to paper… what are you scared of?

Me?  I’m scared of the fact that I have to make very big changes to escape the fear that I have.  And I’m scared of making the changes.  I am confident that what I am unhappy with is proof that I have to make changes.  I am scared to tell you exactly what it is that I am scared of because I’m scared that it will cause me to forcibly make the changes before I feel that my family is ready for them!  Before my future investments are ready for them!  Before than my company is ready for them!

How does this relate to you???  What are you unhappy with in your life?  Are you scared to make the necessary changes to make you happy?  I’m sure that you are!  God knows that I am!  So, the bible says to have faith!  To have faith of where you are going before you are even aware of where you are going and, surely, well before you get there.  What happens, though, if your loved ones don’t share your faith!?!?  You know that God’s word tells you to GO!… not to figure out where… and THEN go… but just… to GO!  However, your closest family doesn’t understand that.  The family that you feel matters most in your earthly life…. but they don’t have the same faith?  We pray.  We pray that they could find a way to understand.

I will pray for you and please pray for me that I can step out, in faith, so that I can be happy.

Bye for now,

RR