Controllinga troubled life
By Will Jackson
Recently I have found myself with lots oftime to delve into the past days of a troubled life as I sit aroundnursing old age brought on not so much by years of my life asby a recent stroke that set me down.
I am reminded of the words of a well-knownbible character, who said, "man that is born of a woman isof few days, and full of trouble". When one adds all of hisdays, counting 75 years or more, most certainly he sees a lotof negatives dominating the positives of a life time. I term thenegatives and the positives as the bad and the good days, thepleasant and the unpleasant time.
Recently I read a book 'When bad thingshappen to good people'. This is perhaps the greatest source ofdiscouragement to a great many people. Someone recently said tome, Brother Will, I just don't seem to understand this life, youknow. Here I am trying to be good in every which way and I seemto have trouble riding me than all those crooks and dope addictsout there put together. Perhaps I could say as much about myself,except that like the Apostle Paul I can say, I know whom I havebelieved.
Looking back over my days and years I seewhat I term a troubled life, and except that some body held amuch larger supply of positives on my behalf than did he who inflictedthe negatives I indeed would like to have been soon forgottenby this life.
Reaching back as far as my mind is capableof taking me, I see myself being less than three years of age.From there onward I am gathering the debris of life and layingthem up in heap to be burnt.
I was born in December 1922, in January1924 my sister was born, in January 1925 she died followed bymy mother in May of the same year. Well, I have no remembranceof my dear mother because I went to live with my paternal grandparents as soon as my mother was pregnant with the second child.She seemed to have been keeping very ill. The positive in thisis terrible negative was that my father 's sister was the mostwonderful mother that one could search this whole world and findto care for the poor little orphan boy.
My father was away in Nicaragua where hespent years at a time. So, when my mother and sister died withinfour months of each other, I was exactly five years old when Ifirst recognised my father. But you know what heaven had overriddenthe negatives with blessed positives in providing a darling auntand a precious grand father to care for me.
Aunt Florrie was truly the mother I knewshe was unmarried at the time and placed all her affection onme. My grand mother was blind and sickly most of the time, shedied in 1927.
On my 8th birthday, 12 December 1930 bothmy maternal grandparents were found dead on their farm. They toohad lavished a lot of love and affection on me as their motherlessgrand son.
In 1931 by year end my dear aunt Florriegot married and went to live her own life. But heaven gave herthe most wonderful husband that she could find anywhere and althoughshe was not able to take me along with her, yet she was alwaysthere for me with every thing. Here is where it all seemed uselessto be alive, just a poor little lonely kid, my grand father andI living in a world all alone. But the man who held all the positiveswas still as generous as he had ever been.
The same year 1931, a couple of weeks beforemy aunt's wedding my father appeared on the scene again and notalone. He had with him a beautiful looking woman, which he introducedto me as my stepmother. I really disliked her, you know.
All my love had been placed on aunt Florrieand Grandpa Simpson Jackson now they were about to be squeezedout of my life. I didn't know then that this was another positivepackage being emptied out on me.
It took a lot of doing on the part of mystep-mother to win me over to her side, but in the end she nevergave up till that Christmas morning 1931 when she hugged me, kissedme and placed my Christmas gift in my hands. I in return kissedher and told her 'I love you mom', what she had asked me to callher. From there on I was to her a son.
Many have been the negatives and the upsad downs in my life. For one reason or another I was born to live.During my first nine years of life I suffered from typhoid feverand had been told by some whom attended to me that I wasn't supposeto live through it. Then came the measles, the chicken pox andthe hoppin cough. Then a kind old lady struck me down to out ofher tamarind tree with a stick and broke my shoulder bone. Thankheaven for seeing me through all of those negatives.
Striking out on my own as a young man Irode a ship down to the depths yet survived, spending three monthsin Venezuela with no identification as to who I was, being keptby the British Ambassador.
My first marriage ended on the rocks ina divorce court. Yes, I have known my trying and negative momentsduring 78 years of life on this planet but the positives of lifetoday far outweigh all that have ever beset.
Thank God first of all that I have learntto love Him from a little child and to love Him more with eachproblem that He helped out. Thank God for giving me that dearestlife companion that couldn't be found anywhere.
Together, by our love for God and for eachother, all the negative clouds just pour down positive blessings.They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Theyshall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not beweary, and they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
When troubles come your way friends, justhand them over to God. He is strong enough to carry them for you,ask me, I know.