“The Pattern of Abuse Broken”
My father, Elijah Rucker, was born in 1929, and lived there to be raised by his grand-mother until the age of eleven. At that point his mother sent for him to come and life with her and his father in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, my grand-father found employment as a steelworker, and was able to support his family, which aside from his wife, consisted of two sons and one daughter, a my father was the eldest child. Soon after reaching Pittsburgh, my father worked odd jobs to help support the family, which quickly grew to four children with the birth of his youngest sibling which made the child count round-out to two boys and two girls. However, my dad was tall for his age, and often found work that was reserved …show more content…
I think that his working at the Pittsburgh County Jail as a Lieutenant didn’t help matters at home, because there he was paid to be an oppressor, however, he brought that attitude home with him every night. It was in 1974 that things began to change for my family for the good. My dad answered a knock at the door. It was Jehovah’s Witnesses going door-to-door and offering free home Bible studies. My dad never liked anyone telling him how to live, so my family was surprised when he allowed them to come into our home and share Bible truths with him. Soon afterward the whole family would congregate in the living room weekly Bible studies and my father began to change. He tried his best not to hit his wife or his children, he worked on controlling his temper, and to our amazement he stopped smoking. The things he learned in the Bible showed him that in order to please Jehovah he needed to clean-up his life. Thus, he told my step-mother about his affair with another woman and begged her forgiveness, and she gave it to him. He grew spiritually and made sure that his children did as well. Soon, he got baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This action amazed me because I was there to see his transformation. He assisted many people to come to know Jehovah and Bible truths; and this includes four of his children, two nieces, and one of his …show more content…
When asked which book is his favorite he says Job and Proverbs. The book of Job is his favorite because he felt a kinship with the patriarch. With everything Job had and everything he lost, he never left Jehovah. The passage he enjoyed most in this book is where Job’s wife is telling him to give up his fight to maintain his righteousness by saying “are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But instead he tells her “‘you are talking like one of the senseless women. Should we accept only what is good from the true God and not accept also what is bad?’ In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:9, 10). I didn’t ask why he selected this particular scripture to read to me, however, I imagine it is because if he had continued in his ruinous course, he would have lost just as much as Job had.
And within the book of Proverbs he says is filled with many life lessons. One of his favorite scriptures is Proverbs 18:22 which states, “The one who finds a good wife has found something good, and he receives Jehovah’s favor”. As stated earlier my father beat my step-mother like she was a run-away slave, but after learning how he was to treat a woman and a wife, he treated her very well, like the gift from God that she was, because she was a good
My father, Elijah Rucker, was born in 1929, and lived there to be raised by his grand-mother until the age of eleven. At that point his mother sent for him to come and life with her and his father in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, my grand-father found employment as a steelworker, and was able to support his family, which aside from his wife, consisted of two sons and one daughter, a my father was the eldest child. Soon after reaching Pittsburgh, my father worked odd jobs to help support the family, which quickly grew to four children with the birth of his youngest sibling which made the child count round-out to two boys and two girls. However, my dad was tall for his age, and often found work that was reserved …show more content…
I think that his working at the Pittsburgh County Jail as a Lieutenant didn’t help matters at home, because there he was paid to be an oppressor, however, he brought that attitude home with him every night. It was in 1974 that things began to change for my family for the good. My dad answered a knock at the door. It was Jehovah’s Witnesses going door-to-door and offering free home Bible studies. My dad never liked anyone telling him how to live, so my family was surprised when he allowed them to come into our home and share Bible truths with him. Soon afterward the whole family would congregate in the living room weekly Bible studies and my father began to change. He tried his best not to hit his wife or his children, he worked on controlling his temper, and to our amazement he stopped smoking. The things he learned in the Bible showed him that in order to please Jehovah he needed to clean-up his life. Thus, he told my step-mother about his affair with another woman and begged her forgiveness, and she gave it to him. He grew spiritually and made sure that his children did as well. Soon, he got baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This action amazed me because I was there to see his transformation. He assisted many people to come to know Jehovah and Bible truths; and this includes four of his children, two nieces, and one of his …show more content…
When asked which book is his favorite he says Job and Proverbs. The book of Job is his favorite because he felt a kinship with the patriarch. With everything Job had and everything he lost, he never left Jehovah. The passage he enjoyed most in this book is where Job’s wife is telling him to give up his fight to maintain his righteousness by saying “are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But instead he tells her “‘you are talking like one of the senseless women. Should we accept only what is good from the true God and not accept also what is bad?’ In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:9, 10). I didn’t ask why he selected this particular scripture to read to me, however, I imagine it is because if he had continued in his ruinous course, he would have lost just as much as Job had.
And within the book of Proverbs he says is filled with many life lessons. One of his favorite scriptures is Proverbs 18:22 which states, “The one who finds a good wife has found something good, and he receives Jehovah’s favor”. As stated earlier my father beat my step-mother like she was a run-away slave, but after learning how he was to treat a woman and a wife, he treated her very well, like the gift from God that she was, because she was a good