It Takes a Village to Raise a Child

Ira J. Harris

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Sujets

• Biography
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 18 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669856658
• Langue: English

Extrait

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD
 
 
 
 
 
 
IRA J. HARRIS
 
Copyright © 2022 by Ira J. Harris.
Library of Congress Control Number:
2022921619
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-5666-5

Softcover
978-1-6698-5667-2

eBook
978-1-6698-5665-8
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
KJV
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Rev. date: 12/23/2022
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
847952
CONTENTS
Introduction 2022
A Grandmother’s Prayer
Auntie Rita, Uncle Joe, and blasphemy
My Dad, a Man of God?
Our sister, Vada
My uncle Julius, the family overseer, a lesson of drugs, fame, and corruption
Toshe
About me

INTRODUCTION 2022
I refused to travel down the path of destruc tion.
I was truly guided by the Holy Spirit to write this book to you.
Even though I Walk Through the Valley of Darkness, I Shall Fear No Evil.
It takes a village to raise a child, let me tell you about my vil lage!
M y grandmother knew we have a spiritual being other than the human being - - God. She wanted me to know him too. “Honor thy mother thy father and thy Grandparents.”
My grandmother knew I would be the one who would try and hold the family together. The question is, did I?
“He therefore, that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Galatians 3:5
“I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice . And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gifts God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us the spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timot hy 1:
One day I found myself thinking about all my family members who are in their graves . Alcohol was the number one reason they are not here today . Some were graduate students, some were blue-collar workers, some housewives and some were just lost in this world.
“I say to you, brothers, and sisters, it clearly says in the Bible “ be not conformed to this world: but be yea transformed by the renewing of your mind .” Romans 12:2.
Paul, commissioned by God, had God’s Holy Spirit, was truthful and filled with God’s power, used God’s weapons and not his own for God’s work, was confident that he belonged to Christ, and he was filled with God’s power . You can confirm Paul’s work by reading Corinthians . Paul divides people into two categories – those who let themselves be controlled by their sinful nature, (alcohol and drugs) to name a few; and those who follow the Holy Spirit . All you must do is say “yes” to Jesus and read the Bible to discover God’s guidelines and then follow them . Daily we must consciously choose to center ourselves around God, the All Mighty; and not the world, which is satans’ world .
I give honor to God the Father, Jesus Christ the son, and the Holy Spirit every day and I thank God for the changes he has made in my life because I chose to follow God and be not conform to the world.
It’s two weeks before Easter, and our first-grade teacher Ms. Taylor, my angel, announced that she had a surprise for her class . Deanna leaps up and raises her hand and shouts, “What’s the surprise, Ms. Taylor?” Ms. Taylor tells us to draw our attention to the blackboard and says, “I will draw you a hint ;” she began to draw a large rabbit on the board . Someone shouts, “it’s a rabbit .” I said, “Ms. Taylor, are you going to bring a rabbit to school?” She answered, “In three days, a rabbit will be here in your classroom to fill your baskets with colorful eggs and jellybeans.” When I got home that day, I told mama that Ms. Taylor told a lie about a rabbit coming to the classroom . Mama replied, “Let’s see if Ms. Taylor is telling the truth or a lie.”
It is the third day, and I am the first one in line to get to my classroom. To my surprise, and I will never forget this day, the floor was so bright that it felt like the sun was shining from beneath the classroom floor. All I could see was rabbit footprints all over the classroom floor . I knew then that Ms. Taylor was not lying . It was a total pandemonium, some kids were running around tracking the footprints, looking for the rabbit, some were jumping up and down asking questions after questions, and some were looking for their baskets and hoping to see their candy and eggs, and the baskets were indeed filled with all kinds of goodies . Finally, Ms. Taylor said, “see class, I told you so.”
As I grew older, I put together in my mind how Ms. Taylor was able to pull that off so well . The janitor triple waxed the floor and then dipped a rabbit in chalk, placed the rabbit on the floor and let it run around the classroom . Thinking back, my teacher was a teacher who knew that each child was special . The lesson of this story I am sharing is to bring your attention to the fact that you DO have an Angel and you should look back into your past and think about all the signs that were presented to you as you grew older . Consider how blessed you are to be alive today . Ask yourself, why am I still alive ? You are unemployed, you may be going through a storm, but trust me, you must go through the storm because a greater power is trying to get your attention . I remember your genuine faith, for you, share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gifts God gave you when I laid my hands on you . For God has not given us the spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline . 2 Timothy 1:5.
It is the night before Easter Sunday, I was five years old, and I am spending Easter with my grandparents. The night before Easter, grandma washed and pressed my hair (that is jet black and down below my shoulders, very thick and bushy) . During the days when there were no cell phones or color televisions, our parents would press our hair with a cast iron comb, nothing like what we use today . The smoke would fill the room and I could always hear the pressing grease sizzling as granny would stroke my hair, you would say she fried my hair, and it truly was beautiful . After granny finished dressing my hair, she pulled out a large box from beneath her bed with a yellow dress and a pair of shiny shoes inside . The dress was beautiful, I remember my eyes were very glassy and I had this granny smile on my face, I climbed on my granny’s lap and gave her a granny hug . I cannot describe the feeling inside of me.

A GRANDMOTHER’S PRAYER
E aster Sunday and we were getting ready for church. Grandma has on her large hat and matching purse. I wished we would have taken a picture together, but the memories will always be with me . I always wondered why out of fifteen grandkids was I granny’s pick . Nineteen sixty-one, I was seven years old; I remember the night before Easter, granny said to me “get on your knees baby,” she was to me at least fifteen feet tall, but her real height was six three . So, I dare not ask why granny; next she told me to repeat after me and pray to God . I did exactly as I was told; she was teaching me the Lord’s Prayer . I wonder where I’d be today if granny had not taught me this prayer . I love her so dearly and I really miss her . You see, this prayer manifested itself inside of my soul . I remember asking her, “who is God?” These were her words to me, and I will never forget it: She said, “don’t you worry about who God is, just remember what I am teaching you ,” I said yes granny, and climbed into bed after repeating the prayer .
Here it is 1965, I began to observe a lot about my mother, she was a caring mom who loved helping others. If they needed a place to stay, she would give them her room; if they needed food, she gave them food; if they needed money, she would give them her last; I just got tired of visitors . Mom’s health was not the best of health and that was where I would try to help her the best way I could. Because of this, granny watched over me very closely . My oldest sister and I would stay with granny every summer . My younger sisters would stay the summer with their grandmother . I had two younger sisters and one older sister whose name was Liberty, and one brother that was younger than I.