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About myself
I am a Christian. A serious Christian. I repented of the way
of sin and darkness and turned to God and the "Way of Light and
Life" that is found in Jesus Christ in a Baptist revival
meeting at the age of nine. As the Baptists would say, I was
"saved", I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I gave
my heart to Christ. And I was serious about my decision. I
spent a lot of time during my childhood reading the Bible and
read it through from beginning to end. I spent a lot of time
in the gospels and the epistles. The New Life spoken of there
was my life. I was determined to be a true Christian, not a
sham Christian. I have never uttered a curse word or profane,
vulgar, obscene or four letter word in my life. Never. Not
ever. And I have never been tempted to do it. Why? I am a
Christian. A born-again Christian. Underneath it all is an
allegiance. An allegiance going back to my conversion. An
allegiance to that Most High God and to the way of Decency,
Righteousness and Goodness that he stands for. I am a
teetotaler and have always been one. I have never touched
either alcohol or tobacco. Why? The same reason. And, of
course, I have never even considered trying any drugs. That
would be really far out. I can't imagine myself being that
dumb. I neither dance nor gamble. I swore off watching
television when I was in my early twenties and rarely watch it
now. Movies? It has been many, many years since I have been
to a movie. I went to a few in my youth. After getting up and
walking out of some in disgust I gave up on them. Underneath
it all is a knowledge of right and wrong that goes back to
childhood and a commitment to the Way of Right, the way of
decency, integrity, goodness and morality that is part of being
a Christian.
Struggle? Temptations? The ridicule of the crowd? The
difficulty of walking a lonely path? They were all there.
They are part of the Christian life.
My background? I was raised in the country, on a dairy farm.
My raising was very strict -- we children were taught strict
and unquestioning obedience -- and physical discipline was
used. My father was a very hard worker who farmed as well as
working a regular job. He grew up during the depression years
and that left a strong stamp on his outlook and character. I
never saw him smoke, drink, gamble, swear, or use any kind of
bad or low language. My mother was a good, decent, caring
Christian mother. I thank God for her. I was raised on hard
farm work. Father worked hard and he expected his children to
work hard, too. I believe he started me out working at the
age of about 6 or 7. I was the oldest of the children.
Morning and evening there were farm chores. Mostly milking the
cows twice a day. I got up at 5:00 in the morning in a cold
upstairs bedroom of an old farmhouse, dressed, and waded
through three foot snow drifts to get to the barn to help milk
twenty four dairy cows before breakfast and school on many a
winter morning. And then, after breakfast, I walked a mile and
a half to the small one-room country school that I attended
through grade eight. Then in the evening we milked the cows
again. This was in the early 50's. I did what I had to do.
And I never resented it. My father paid me a salary. One
dollar a week -- a salary which gradually increased over the
years through a series of fifty cent wage increases to two
dollars and fifty cents per week. During the summers I spent a
great deal of time on a John Deere tractor out in the fields.
And summer was the time for putting up hay. For several years
we put it up into the mow loose. Then we started baling it.
For several years, in the years when I was between about 6 and
11, we also raised red raspberries and cucumbers. I spent many
a hot summer day picking red raspberries or cucumbers (as did,
also, the rest of our family). I remember we had to pick the
cucumbers every other day. We had an acre or two. You were
stooped over in the hot sun and it was unpleasant, menial,
boring work. I also remember having to hoe the garden. I
didn't like that job either. The soil would be hard, the day
was hot, and the rows were long. I remember one winter
spending day after day for the most of the winter out with my
father cutting up trees with a crosscut saw --- I at one end
and my father at the other. We had a number of fruit trees my
father had decided to cut down. We cut them up for firewood
for our furnace. If chain saws were available, we didn't have
one. I had to do a lot of hard, menial work that I didn't
enjoy in those years. But I believe to this day that it was
good for me. God gave me that childhood. I thank him for it.
It was far better than the idle life of a city boy who has
nothing to do but get into trouble. I wouldn't trade that
childhood for anything. It wasn't all work. I spent many
hours fishing in the river behind our farm.
I was an A student and at the top of my classes in high school.
My main interest was mathematics, physics, chemistry, and
science, although I took an interest in all the subjects and
did well in all of them. The secret to my success? Hard work,
perseverance, determination. I knew what I wanted. I was
motivated. I had goals and aspirations. I wanted to make
something of my life. I wanted a college degree. I attended
college on a scholarship, studied mathematics and physics, and
obtained a degree. I worked in research as my life career. In
my mid twenties I met and later married a very attractive and
sweet girl. We have been married for over 40 years and our
marriage has been a very quiet, serene and happy one.
I look around me. I see a society where indecency, crudeness,
obscenity and badness appear to be the norm. Most people
appear to have lives of turmoil and badness. My life has been
a good one. Life is what you make it. Life is what you are.
I believe God has watched out over me in a special way over the
years. I believe His protective hand has been over me. And He
has blessed me greatly, in every way. There is no doubt about
that.
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