California woman shares story at Tuesday prayer breakfast

MOSES LAKE - California resident Diedra Wallis has learned that with faith, anyone can overcome obstacles in their life.

Wallis said despite growing up in an addiction-driven home, witnessing a school shooting while in elementary school, and losing both her parents by the age of 18, she was able to continue on to college, win the title of Miss California-State and be recognized as a Global Young Leader.

She said her life turned around as a result of her relationship with God.

Wallis was one of the keynote speakers during the Moses Lake Kiwanis' Grant County Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Tuesday. She said she enjoys sharing her story so others know they can benefit from knowing God as well.

"This is the endless impact the Lord has had in my life, and can have in yours and in this community," she said.

Wallis told the close to 200 people who attended the prayer breakfast that her life wasn't always easy.

Her mom was addicted to drugs, and she knew the 9-1-1 operator by name because she called so often, she said.

"The daily dance of watching her overdose on prescription drugs and then be revived would become a very common theme in my young life," Wallis said.

When Wallis was in third grade, she witnessed a school shooting. The elementary school she attended shared grounds with Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, Calif., she said.

One teacher and three students were killed in the Lindhurst High School shooting in May of 1992. Wallis said she was outside for recess when the shooting started.

"I saw everyone running and saw my teachers waving their arms and screaming for us to run to them," she said. "I was so confused."

She said she ran into a classroom with other students and they spent about eight hours hiding under their desks.

When she was 15, Wallis said she found her mother's body after she overdosed on drugs. While it took a long time to deal with her mother's death, teachers and other community members helped her through that process, she said.

Three years later, her life seemed to be turning around, Wallis said.

"I was almost unrecognizable," she said. "I was a model student, president of the student council, head of the yearbook committee, president of FFA and I was volunteering in my community five days a week."

However, a few weeks after she turned 18, Wallis' father died.

"I was a senior in high school, but I was legally considered an adult," she said. "I was thrown out into the world, but I didn't have rental history, credit history, a job, a car, my license, food money or options."

Wallis said she was a 'lost cause' until she became a Christian. She said her relationship with God gave her the courage to go after her dreams.

Wallis said she wanted to go to college, but didn't have the funds to pursue a degree. She saw an ad in the newspaper for the Miss Yuba-Sutter competition and decided to enter.

Scholarship money was one of the prizes, she said. Wallis won the competition and represented her county at the state level.

She took home the title of Miss California-State in that contest. Since Wallis also had a lot of volunteer hours under her belt, she was also recognized as a Global Young Leader.

She said she would not have been able to achieve all that if she didn't have a relationship with God.

Teacher and author Arlene Kaiser was the event's other keynote speaker. Kaiser said she found out Wallis was her second cousin about 15 years ago.

She adopted Wallis about a week ago, she said.

Kaiser spoke of the importance of letting people know they are appreciated. She shared her inspirational chip theory with the audience.

She came up with the theory after talking with one of her former students, she said.

"He walked by and I told him that he was a neat kid," she said. Kaiser said the student didn't know how to respond because no one had ever told him that before.

She said she realized her students all had bowls of chips, which represented things that were going on in their lives.

Students who had a lot of positive things going on had more chips than students who were struggling with various issues.

"I realized I needed to be putting chips in the bowls of students," she said.

Kaiser said it doesn't take a lot to put chips in other people's bowls. She was on a trip when a stranger put chips in her bowl, she said.

Kaiser was talking to a customs agent in Canada and was feeling down about a recent divorce.

The customs agent took a moment to talk to her, she said, despite the long line of people waiting behind her.

"I don't remember the exact words, but I remember the feeling," she said. "It was as if she was taking a handful of chips and dropping them into my bowl."

Kaiser told the audience that people could use more validation and appreciation in their lives.

"People can always use a chip in their bowl," she said.