When My Family Lived In Kentucky I Was A Small ...

When my family lived in Kentucky I was a small boy. During blackberry season Dad would walk down the mountain after working all day inside the Mary Alice mine. As he walked down he would pick blackberries. I remember waiting out back of our coal mining camp house watching Dad coming down the mountain with a bucket full of big juicy blackberries. Because he was dirty from working in the mine he would open the screen door and sit them inside the back porch for Mom. Then he would go to the bathhouse where he would shower and shave. I was always excited when he came home.

I was in the back yard waiting for Dad to come down the mountain with his bucket of berries one day. Mom opened the screen door and told me to make sure that Dad took the poke that she waved at me and sit it down on the porch. If you look inside don’t tell your Dad what’s in it she said. Just then I spotted Dad coming down the small dirt road. I ran over to him and the first thing I told him was about the poke that Mom had left on the back porch for him. I said I don’t know what’s in that poke, do you? Dad said it was probably something for Granny. He would give it to Abe to take to her at the bathhouse. Dad put the berries on the back porch and took the poke and went to the bathhouse to clean up.

Taterhead and me were in the creek playing with the crawdads when I saw Dad walking across the narrow wooden bridge coming over into the camp. I run up the back way and Dad came in the front door. He walked right over and picked up my Mom and kissed her. They were laughing and hugging. The way they were acting was kind of strange.

Dad had rededicated his life to Christ after being out of Church for a long time. Mom had made him a new shirt and new paints to wear to Church.

According to our Bible God gives us new clothes with the New Life he gives. We get them when we recognize God as the leader in our life. These new clothes represent the New Life in God through Jesus. We should throw the old cloths away because they represent the old life in the world.