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      those of the authors and other contributors. These views and opinions

      do not necessarily represent those of Certa Publishing.

      Introduction

      It says in Jeremiah 1:5-10, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my word in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

      My faith has been the greatest thing in my life, but it took a while for me to know it for sure, because I was a runner. I ran from my faith and my calling, because I did not take the time to learn more about the Word of God. The truth is, I wanted to do things my way and I thought I had everything under control. But little did I know, the more I thought I had it all under control, the more I messed things up. But God had His hands on me and protected me from my ignorance at various times in my life.

      I had been raised in the Enterprise Missionary Baptist Church in Bay City, Texas, where I became a baptized believer. I attended Sunday school and church service every Sunday because the Ross children had to. There was not an excuse for missing church, and this was settled as one of the rules of the house. I know that my family members were devoted Christians and were trying to instill Christian values in their children. They knew if they taught us early, the cycle would continue through us and the coming generations of Ross family members. We did not comprehend what those values were all about when we were young, but it all came together later in our lives.

      The verse shows how far ahead God was planning. The key prophet during the sixth-century Axial Period was Jeremiah, and God prepared him from his conception. Jeremiah had a history even before he was born! God had a plan for him that he continued until it was completed. Then He formed Jeremiah and set him apart as a prophet while he was still in the womb. This proves that God clearly enters human beings, from the moment of conception. So I had to ask myself, “If God called Jeremiah when he was in his mother’s womb, did He do the same for me?” As I pondered that thought, I knew that He could do for me just as He did for Jeremiah. I had never thought of this happening to me at an early age, but little did I know that God had already called me to a higher calling.

      Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God had begun this work in me, although I did not understand what He wanted from me at the time. God’s grace worked strongly in my life, because He did not have to keep me in my ignorance. But God had His hands on me and showed me mercy, in spite of my sinful ways.

      I had to go through something so that God was able to get my attention. Many times, God will allow certain situations to occur in our lives in order to open our eyes. The circumstances may be a little bit painful at times, but this is God’s way of breaking us so He can use us in His kingdom work. I had to be broken this way because I was so hard-headed. God had come to me at various times in my life and I eventually knew that the trial I encountered was an act of God, but I overlooked His calling and continued on with my life. I would learn later on, however, that my life belonged to God and that I did not own a thing. Those of you who read my book will know just what I mean when I say that our lives belong to God and that God alone is in control of everything. My advice to you is this: Enjoy the times for when God calls, you will answer.

      George A. Ross

James D. Ross; George A. Ross; Rhonda M. Ross; Clause Drake, Jr.; Arthur Ross, Jr.

      Home Place

      2920 Park Avenue, Bay City, Texas

      As you can see from the picture, the old home place is not in the best of shape, but old memories are still fresh in my mind. I can remember the days of laughter as I grew up in the neighborhood. We always had something to keep a child’s mind interested. I always felt that I had a perfect childhood. And I have always said that I would not change a thing. Growing up in Bay City, Texas, in the 1960s and ‘70s was a wonderful experience for me. My hobbies were hunting and fishing, when I was not in school, and I loved to do both. I hunted as often as possible, because my family ate the wild game that I killed and all of the fish that we caught. We also grew a garden every season and harvested it for the family.

      My grandmother, Martha Drake, was a strong black woman who taught us all we needed to know about preparing wild game. She was a woman of many talents, and she kept us healthy with her home remedies. When she came from the market with a large bag of oranges at the beginning of winter, it meant we were going to get our big dose of one of her home remedies, castor oil and orange juice. She would press an orange on a dish made specifically for squeezing the juice out of citrus. Then she mixed the juice with castor oil for us to drink real fast, because that was the only way to get this remedy down.

      Another one of grandmother’s old remedies was “hog-hoof tea,” which was made by saving the hooves of a hog at the first frost of winter. Arthur Ross, Jr., my oldest brother, raised a Poland China female hog which he bred once or twice a year. He sold the piglets, but kept two males for the freezer. My grandfather, Albert Hill, came over at the first frost with his rifle and shot the hog, then cut it up. Everything was done in order, because the meat had to be treated properly. The water had to be hot in order to boil off all of the hair. There was no time for error, because the pork could go bad. Nothing would go to waste, because my grandmother would put the pigskin and hooves in her big black, cast-iron pot and make a fire under it. Lard was used for cooking, and the pigskin makes a “crackling,” which is used to make “crackling bread.”

      Those hog hooves were kept until someone got sick with a high fever or the flu. Then she would make her old remedy called “hog-hoof tea,” and the person

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