A Life Before REdemption

How can there be such a stark difference in a life Before Redemption (BR) and After Redemption (AR)?

2 Corinthians 5:16-21
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; (C) the old has gone, the new has come! (D) 18 All this is from God, (E) who reconciled us to himself through Christ (F) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (G) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, (H) as though God were making his appeal through us. (I) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (J) 21 God made him who had no sin (K) to be sin [a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

That explains it, right there!

The stark difference in these two lives will become very evident to you as the stories are revealed and matched against each other, Lord willing.

This is a story about a young man born into a regular American family in the early 1950’s and growing up in that tumultuous time in American history. The times were good from a worldly perspective (more on that later); the country still recovering from World War II, the end of the Korean War was at hand, the country was fairing very well, economically and politically as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that great American war hero, was in charge. I knew nothing of that, of course. I was just the first, but, second oldest child, in the family (more on that later as well); the apple of my father’s eye, I guess you might say. Boy, would that apple go quite sour over the ensuing years, yet, to be reclaimed over a time. Praise Him!

I wish I had a better sense of that time, but, I was just an infant. I do know that my family was the result of Norman H. Poirier, a French-Canadian born, first generation American the first son of Henry and Eva Poirier, both, originally from Shediack, New Brunswick, Canada. Henry was a carpenter, Eva, I believe, a stay-at-home Mom. My Dad lived most of his life in the “South” side of Waltham, Massachusetts where he attended South Junior High and later, Waltham Vocational School, “The Voke”, where he studied auto mechanics, I believe. He quit school sometime around the end of his time in The Voke to work as a mechanic and, later, to join the US Army. He had two brothers; Paul and Roger, who lived in Massachusetts as well.

My mother was Joan D. Higgins, daughter of William and Elizabeth Higgins of Belmont, later, Waltham, Massachusetts. I believe William was English, owned a pharmacy in the Waverly Square area of Belmont. He was ‘handicapped’ to some degree, as my Mom related to me. He was born with his legs up and under him, say, hyper extended, but, permanently, as far as I understand. This resulted in the physical manipulation of his legs to walk properly and he would have braces and have to suffer from pain all of his life. My grandmother, Grammie, on my Mom’s side was from English routes by way of Vermont. Her last name was Barnaby and we would visit Vermont infrequently. They called Grammie the Matriarch of the Family. What I know, mainly, was there were a lot of sisters in that family, eight, total, I believe and they lived in various parts of Massachusetts.

We had myself as the middle child, my sister, Paula, who was 4 years my senior and my brother, Chip (Norman) who was 2 years my junior. Tumultuous was how I might describe our childhood times. Lots of stories there. Might have to expand on those in the next book. Lol.

My recollections of these family times were a bit mixed. My grandfather on my Dad’s side seemed to always be grouchy, almost mean most of the time. My grandmother was a sweetheart, always hugging on us and giving us treats. It did feel uncomfortable when visiting their home though. There always seemed to be some type of tension. On my mother’s side, there was a bit more joy and comfort; always lots and lots of people at family gatherings. And great food, don’t let me forget that. Funny how those early times seem like the only thing in the world until the time lingers on, families change, grow, disperse and, now, seemingly are non-existent. Sad, eh. But, a sign of the times, I believe. Praise Him.

So, I was pretty happy and comfortable throughout the early years. I can remember moving from our Marguerite Avenue location in my sixth-year of school. We went from a fairly small home to a larger home in a new subdivision of Waltham. It was an incredible place. What I remember mostly about those times after the move was how much Mom worked every day of the week and how Dad worked at least 6 days a week. We, pretty much, prepared ourselves for each day with Paula being the supervisor of our activities and when we got home from school, it was the same, but, it didn’t matter that much. It’s just the way it was.
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Up until late Junior High School at North Junior, things were quite well under control and solid, but, some things were beginning to boil up inside and were beginning to change inside of me and around me as well.

Next story soon.