reading

CHAPTER ONE

Standing On Promises

The Lord is gracious and has allowed me the opportunity to offer here a collection of stories, memories, and events from my life. Human life stories are like a collection of favorite songs to listen to, especially when it comes to distinguishing achievements. At various points in life, we get off the bandwagon and review the results to see where we have journeyed. Along the aeronautical ride, we look back to examine the bits and pieces considered favorites, like our toys, books, fame, and reputation. Anything that will enhance the impression of a man or a woman. The most difficult task is not to lie about our autobiography, memoir, diary, or newsworthiness in giving an account of what we have experienced, observed, or learned, but to be truthful to our heritage. Surely everyone wants to leave a legacy or heritage when they are gone from this reality.

Some people feel careworn to write about things that did not happen in the chronicle of their life. A well-written, trustful story about a humdrum life will mean more than an exaggerated story about an exciting life.

There have been many moments of struggles and pain that need to be relayed to the young generation, so they will not make the same mistakes as their ancestors. Disappointments have come and gone. You are standing on the promises of those who have assisted you in getting to where you are. God has not finished with us yet to build bridges of success. We are standing on the promises of our ancestors who left just enough resources for us to continue the journey into the future.

Don’t give up until life has escaped the flesh wrapped around your bones. Don’t let disappointments, heartaches, troubles, and discontentment become the end of the story, especially when you can see the light that led to great accomplishments. The next generation is depending on you to prosper.

Let me tell you who I am. I am a poor boy from a small town in rural Alabama. I am not ashamed of my heritage. My family produced majority of the products we needed to live and survive on a farm. We owned a mule and twelve acres of land. Many days my twin brother, Jeff, and I stood behind a mule plowing rows of corn and cotton. From the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun (Psalm 113:3). Jeff and I walked behind a mule cultivating the fields. I believe the mule had the best view.

The family lacked the resources that made life pleasant. Our principal occupation was growing cotton. Rain, sunshine, sleet, or snow, we started the day managing the farm. We worked in the fields and returned the next day to repeat the process until the harvest season ended. The family also grew vegetables like corn, greens, and peas. We also raised chicken and hogs. These were the most difficult days of our lives. The kids in the community would laugh and make us an entity of entertainment.

Growing up in a small town, we experienced life as mundane and difficult to survive. The neighbor’s nominated us for the trophy of poor people. As we walked to school, the aristocrats would shy away from us because we were not the best dressed or the most handsome young men in the town. Jeff and I faced some awful taunting and bullying from our peers. We could not join the social clubs because of our status. Grandmother would express encouraging words of wisdom, “Pay them no mind; one day you are going to grow up and become somebody.” It was problematic, to be continuously teased by our peers.

I grew up in the Black Belt of Alabama and learned to pick cotton and pull corn from the stalks. According to an article, the most usual definition of the Black Belt, in a political sense, are counties in Alabama and Mississippi where the Negro outnumbered the whites. During times of forced migration from Africa, one million persons were taken into this area as enslaved laborers for the region’s cotton plantations before the American Civil War. After the war and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, many stayed as agricultural workers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers, as they had learned from previous generation.

I grew up in Lisman, Alabama, leaving at the age of seventeen to go to college. I thank God for that place. I am not embarrassed. Good things do come from small places. As often as the opportunity arises, I return to reestablish my roots. My mother’s name is Janie Ruth Ruffin Gorman, who bore a set of identical twins at the age of fourteen at the Jeff Anderson Memorial Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi. She was the youngest mother to birth twins at the hospital. The delivery doctor was Doctor Jeff Anderson. My twin brother, Jeff, was born first, and received the doctor’s first name. I was born second and received the doctor’s last name.

When I was a young man, I used to play a game called just like me or that’s mine. I worked hard in the cotton fields in Alabama. I had a dream one day that I would leave that place. I had a dream one day of becoming an airplane pilot flying across the country. I would see vehicles pass along the main highway and say, that’s mine. I had a dream one day I would own a car of my choosing. I had a dream one day that I would leave the cotton fields of Alabama and move to greater ventures in life. Day after day I dreamed of another world.

My loving grandparents, Hattie and Booker Ruffin, accepted the role of parents to help alleviate our experiencing misfortunes due to the circumstances of our birth. My grandmother and grandfather shaped our lives. They placed their arms of care and support around us twins and provided encouraging, stern correction and guidance that impacts our lives to this day. Although limited in formal education, they loved God, were wise in the principles of biblical teaching, and were hardworking individuals. They taught us to live respectable lives as we grew into manhood.

I never had a dad around I could count on, but that did not matter. God provided my grandparents and uncle with knowledge. My grandparents and uncle, Frank Ruffin could, answer every question I possibly asked; they had responses that were appropriate and direct.

Uncle Frank was also a role model in my life. My uncle was a courageous man who stood for truth and justice, even if it cost him his reputation. He was my appointed hero. He and my grandparents taught me to become a man. He always taught by example.

Life is about doing the best you can. He said, “If you are going to cherry-pick, opt to be the greatest cherry-picker who ever lived.” Don’t get down on yourself about who you are; manage yourself into something grander than you are and stay in control.” He never had the opportunity to attend college or a university but acquired similar knowledge. He had an expression that he shared with us, “Do your best to present yourself to God. Strive to be an approved workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy. 2:15).

At the time, I did not realize what my grandparents were doing. I realized later they were making sure that when I became a man, I would know how to work and take care of my family. What seemed terrible is so fascinating today. I know how to work. I learned lessons from the tedious work on the farm that taught me the principles of being a skilled worker and encouraged the opportunity to go on to greater priorities in my life. My grandparents were third-generation tenant farmers who shared in the production of cotton and other farm products.

Working in the cotton fields felt like forever. I hated working in the hot sun during the cotton season. The temperature sometimes reached one hundred degrees during August. If I complained, I would have received correction, such as a switch or belt to my rear. I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut when I was assigned a task.

I believe if you are going to live a life filled with passion you must first live it as a child. Something is missing at the core of your soul if you wish to be an adult now while you’re in the skin of a child. Life can move swiftly away, just as an anonymous writer came to his realization too late:

First, I was dying to become a teenager.

And I was dying to reach the age sixteen to get

my driver’s license.

And I was dying to finish high school and start

college.

And then I was dying to finish college and start

working.

And then I was dying to marry and have

children.

And then I was dying for my children to grow

old enough, so I could return to work.

And then I was dying to retire.

And now, I’m going to die, because I’ve grown

old and suddenly realize I forgot to live.

We buy tickets to a destination, and when we get there, we get off at the end of the journey. Life is a journey, and we can succeed or fail. You were born for a reason and for the season. It did not happen accidently; you were born for a reason to do the best imaginable. Some people take a seat in the back of the bus when they need to move to the front of the bus and become the driver and become the groundbreaking owner of the company.

The greatest fear of some young people today, is breaking with conventional concepts, methods, ideas, and traditions. The problem is learning how to ask, “May I have, or can I work for It.” This behavior is caused by receiving what you want. It often leads to cases of amnesia depending on the severity of spoiling the child. The damage is a spirit of entitlement? I want five dollars. I want a pair of Nike shoes. Give me a cell phone. Give me an iPad.

Many are looking for success without using their God given gifts. Conformity to the status quo is the greatest enemy of failure. The decision we make today can turn the tide for tomorrow. When a decision is made, it may generate perpetual consequences. The ability to do something is always a reality.