PREVAIL!: Compassion, Resilience, and a Boy

By Aaron A. Wallace

Who am I to be talking to you about values of compassion and resilience? Read my life story starting from age nine. See how I conquer evil with the good. Learn why it is a darn good practice to be kind and forgiving and how faith and spirituality guided me. Do not be taken in by those free rides; nothing comes easy.

Grab this book for inspiration and motivation on your conquest. Learn how I overcome stuttering.

"Every task we complete, every obstacle we overcome, and every goal we reach gives us a sense of self-accomplishment and self-reliance." Little Book of Confidence by Teddy Rowen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638600572

Book preview

Title Page

Copyright © 2021 Aaron A. Wallace

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2021

ISBN 978-1-63860-056-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63985-006-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63860-057-2 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

To

My compassionate mother

and

Christian family

of

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Acknowledgment

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New World Translation. Copyright 2013 by WTBTS. Used by permission of Watchtower Bible and tract Society of New York, Inc.

Contents

Introduction

Light That Lit My Path

Go Get Ready

Letters of Encouragement and a Letter of Deception

Cousin’s Departure and a Surprise Visit from Mother

Stuttering Helped Me Find My First Job

Blessed with Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, and a Wife

My Determination Going Forward

I Kept My Oath

Tips for Stutterers

Introduction

As a boy, I was compelled to take a solemn oath, but I could not carry it out until fourteen years later. While growing up, my mother had to rush me away from our home at an early age because of my father’s harsh treatment. I wanted to grow up as fast as I could to get even, but gradually, I choose a sounder path. Rather than letting myself be conquered by evil, I overcame evil with good. This is a fascinating story of compassion and resilience.

Light That Lit My Path

Go get ready

At the age of nine, I made a clear promise in my heart that I would become a Christian minister of Jehovah God when I grow up. The days that changed my life started when my parents moved from a little village called Cooper to another village called Rush Content. It was located about five miles (8.046 km) southwest of the closest township, Sawyers, Trelawny, Jamaica.

Rush Content was a sleepy little village during the day, but it would return to life in the evenings as people gathered in the small square. Children would group up to play and tell stories while adults gathered to socialize, drink, and play dominos.

Not long after settling, my mother became aware of a small group that met once a week in the square of this village to study the Bible, and she joined up with them right away. She was a daily reader of the Bible and loved it very much. Proof of this could be seen from both my first and middle names, Aaron and Abraham, respectively. I would often tell her that I did not like my name; it sounded strange; I would say. They are men of faith mentioned in scriptures and have set a high bar for us to measure up to, she would reply.

As a lover of God’s word, my mother attended the Bible class with the little group of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and she always brought me along. However, the group had its central meeting place in a little township called Burk, an adjoining district to Sawyers, Trelawny, Jamaica. It did not take long before my mother decided to attend the meeting with them at Burk, and once again, she took me along. The walking distance from home to there was about four miles (about 6.437 km), each way across rocky, hilly, and dark terrain through a dense forest. They began the trip early to get to the meeting before dark and to save the oil in their lantern for the return journey. On their way back, they lit the lantern to provide light. Everyone had to walk very closely to benefit from the poorly lit roadway. Aside from the rough, untamed road, I always enjoyed the fresh, clean air and admired the silvery-looking dew drops hanging off the tall grass when the moon came out.

Going there was exhausting because of the speed at which they walked to arrive at their meeting on time. However, sleep usually got the better of me during the session. When returning home, the trip was made at a slower pace. As we walked in the quiet still