"Look Back Over Your Life"
Written by: Rashad Bishop
We’ve all heard the preacher say, “Look back over your life and see where God has brought you from.” Growing up in a single parent household in the Beecher Terrace Housing Projects, my mother and I lived a normal life of good days and bad days.
She went to work and made sure that I was taken care of at home the best she could. While many nights, there were gunshots that rang out and sometimes physical altercations in the neighborhood, Beecher Terrace was the village that raised me as a smart and an independent child.
I’ve witnessed my neighbors looking out for each other and their children. No matter what happened in the neighborhood. The love, strength and endurance of the village that I experienced growing up and the held of God is what I remember most about my childhood in the neighborhood, but these days didn’t come without struggles.
Oftentimes, growing up, I would allow my peer’s tactics to get the best of me. In middle school,
my anger was out of control because my focus was on getting even with those who did not want to see me succeed. Being lied on and not knowing how to handle my emotions made me feel like my time was wasted and it made me feel empty. On some days, I felt hopeless and stuck. Day by day, I felt like giving However, as I continued to get into trouble, I feared the consequences and decided to make a change. After many prayers from and interventions with my elders, I found a new way to ignore people and escape by personally praying to God.
When high school was coming to a close, my vision on life was clear to me. Since I have matured, my strength has increased by the help of God and the individuals who God sent into my life to escape and survive those dark trenches that I was suffering from.
Now, that I’m an alumnus of Kentucky State University, my hope and faith is not shaken nor
broken. As, I’ve grown to become the man that I am today, my motive is to help people and to encourage them by showing them that everything is not worth the risk of losing everything. Some days aren’t easy, but the lesson that needs to be learned is to not only avoid negative people and conflict, but make a choice to keep yourself and to never forget those who helped you along the way. While my path of life wasn’t an easy walk, knowing where it’ll lead me is going to take me to a new level of greater promises that God will fulfill.
Commentaires