A Country Boy's Life And How God's Love Brought Me Back
3 AM comes awfully early when you are 10 years old, the thermometer shows 10 degrees, and you must head outside to work, but that is how I grew up. I grew up on a farm in northeastern Pennsylvania. Not just any farm. It was a dairy farm. There is a difference between a farm and a dairy farm, a huge difference. But I will explain all of that later. Now some people might think what in the world would a boy who grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania who lived on a dairy farm must write about that would be interesting. I mean it is not like I worked for the CIA, helped overthrow dictators, or foiled a Somalian pirate takeover, or did I? Maybe you better read on to find out! But in all seriousness folks, I am not making fun of people who did things like that. Kudos to them for protecting my freedom. Yet there are a ton of things I can and will talk about in this book. Many people will find it interesting. Some will find it sad. Many will laugh. Even if it is only one person who reads this book and turns out to be a better person for it, then my efforts will have all be worthwhile. I will talk about family, friends, work, work, and more work. I will talk about marriage, people who knew me all their lives, and people who knew me for one hour. I will talk about death and the important role it played in my life. I will talk about love and the important part in had in my life. I will talk about what it took to grow up doing what I did. I will talk about some of the hundreds of people I knew growing up and how they shaped my life. Most importantly, I will talk about God and the role He played in my life. I will talk about the long days and even longer nights, the summers that never seemed to end, and the winters that always seemed too short. Yes, short. I will talk about old people, money, animals, racing cars, and trucks. I will talk about life- changing experiences and how quickly life changes. Two of them within one year of each other. But for the life of me, I cannot remember anything after the first experience until the second experience happened. I will talk about good friends who are no longer with me and why they left. I will talk about why I never hung around with people my own age and why I always hung around with people who were three, four, or even five times older than me. I will talk about near-death experiences and how I did not even know what I was doing, saying, or what was going on around me until it was too late. I will talk about remembering things as far back as when I was five years old and remembering things that far back like a flower, a cat, or a thunderstorm! But for the life of me, I simply cannot remember one entire year of my life. Nothing! No matter how hard I try. I will talk about the events leading up to that situation that I never shared with anyone and how sorry I am that I never shared until now. Most importantly, I will talk about how God never gave up on me, how I found my way back to Him, how I asked for and received forgiveness, and ultimately how God's love brought me back.