God Is Up To Something

Chapter 1 The Early Years with Christ My life began as an interesting story. I was born in 1969 in Walkertown, a small North Carolina town. Like so many other babies that year, I was loved and well nurtured by my mother and paternal grandparents. My mother was staying with my paternal grandparents while my father was serving in the U.S. military in Vietnam. Instantly, I became their pride and joy. I was their first grandson and there was no other like me in their eyes. Little did I know that God was orchestrating something that I wouldn’t realize until many years later. God is always up to something and He definitely has been working in my life since before I came into the world. God told Jeremiah that He formed him in his mother’s belly. He also let Jeremiah know that He sanctified and ordained him for service before he was born. The Word “sanctified” doesn’t mean that God imparted some supernatural type of holiness. It simply means that he was separated for the work of the Lord (Jeremiah 1:5.) God does not always reveal His plans for you at the beginning of the journey. You see things more clearly as time passes by. Once my father returned from the Vietnam War, he and my mother decided to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia to seek employment with the Federal Government. They left me with my grandparents while they secured both employment and a place to live. The strangest thing happened! Actually to the tune of about two years; the time ticked away while I was with my grandparents. I had grown comfortable with them by the time my parents came back to get me. Even though I was a child, I struggled inside. After all, I had grown to love my grandparents as any child would a parent. However, my parents took me away to stay with them. I can remember this being hard for me but there wasn’t much that I could do about it. To add to my challenges, I now had a little brother. That too was a new experience. My parents had shown their love for me so I didn't regret moving in with my parents due to not feeling love. The struggle developed because a bond had formed between my grandparents and me that would remain for the rest of our lives. This made moving to a new home difficult even though I felt loved by my parents. Moving away didn’t work well for me. I didn’t adapt well to my new surroundings. I only stayed with my parents for a short while before I grew homesick and soon returned to my grandparents in their small North Carolina town. I now realize that God was placing me here because of my destiny and His desire to prepare me for the things that were to come. God was placing me in position to be born again. It’s not that God couldn’t do it elsewhere because He could. It was His will for me to live with my grandparents where I would be nurtured from a spiritual perspective. He placed me so that I would connect with people He wanted me to meet, who would be blessings to me. It would be an opportunity for me to be a blessing to others as well. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was the day that I accepted Christ. I was very young and had always heard about how I needed to give my life to the Lord. I knew in my heart that what I heard about Jesus was true. I attended Sunday School and participated in many activities, organizations and ministries within the church from the time I could walk and talk. In fact, my grandmother spent time with me on a little chalkboard teaching me to spell my name and the name, Jesus. I didn’t really understand who this Jesus was but I knew that I had heard a lot about Him. On Sunday mornings, my grandmother would carry me to a small room in the back of the church for Bible Study and other classes. It was difficult for me to be out of her sight, being a grandma’s boy, but she insisted that I attend my bible classes. She would have it no other way. My first teachers were an older woman and her daughter. I can still remember how kind they both were and how much I learned about Jesus. It’s very important that all people get a good bible-based foundation and have teachers who take seriously their call to teach. I had many wonderful teachers at my home church. They were all used by God to help me get where He wanted me (Proverbs 22:6.) During my youth, my Pastor was a very good man named Ira L. Anthony. He always demonstrated a humble spirit. Pastor Anthony was a hardworking man who pastored two churches at the same time. It might be odd to think about pastoring two churches today in the 21st century but it was quite common 50 years ago in many African American congregations. He would alternate Sundays between the churches. I looked forward to the Sundays when he would have our church service. He had a special way of touching the lives of young children and he always assured them that Jesus would love them and accept them into His Kingdom. As a young child, you may not understand theology but you can learn that Jesus wants to have a relationship with you and that He died for your sins.