CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’!

2/9/2015

 
Growing up back in Georgia, I was blessed with two wonderful sisters.  But I was an only son.  The Lord did not see for to give me a biological brother.  But He did give me the closest thing I ever had to a brother:  a best friend named Anthony with whom I spent a significant amount of time.

Down through the years, we were classmates, teammates, groomsmen, and hunting and fishing buddies.  Prior to all of that, our two fathers were friends as well.  I still have pictures of the two of them together back when they were teens growing up in the 1950s.

My own dad passed away back in the January of 2000.  Now, a little over fourteen years later, his friend, and Anthony’s father, has also passed on.  Mr. Wayne Richards was a loving, faithful husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, who was found by his family in his bed, where he had apparently died peacefully in the night.  He will be missed by many.

According to his obituary, after leaving high school, Mr. Richards served in the United States Navy for several years before marrying Miss Jean Babb, the love of his life, in 1960 down in Fayette County, Georgia.  He then drove for Brown Transport and several other trucking companies throughout a long and extensive career as a truck driver, where he was considered by all who knew him "a walking road map of the United States and Canada".

I thought I would post two pieces today in honor of this very special man:

The first is titled What is a Trucker?  I believe it aptly describes the heart of Mr. Richards.

Truckers are found on highways, in truck stops, in service bays, on loading docks, on bush roads at fuel stops and often they are the first at the scene of an accident.  Their wives help them. Little boys follow them. Relatives don’t understand them. Meals must wait for them. Weather can delay them. But nothing can stop them.

A trucker is a paradox. He is a blue-jeaned executive with his office in the cab. He is a scientist who hauls dangerous chemicals and explosives, a purchasing agent in a baseball cap, a personnel director with grease under his fingernails, a poor eater with fondness for burgers and fries, a student of geography and a weather watcher.

He likes sunshine, children, smooth pavement, good traction, clean loads, dinner at home, weekends with his family, an unbuttoned shirt collar and country music. And there is a special place in his heart for his rig.

He's not fond of city traffic, tourists who are rotten drivers, fuel prices, dispatchers, snarly receivers, kids in high powered cars and least of all drunk drivers. Nobody else gets as much satisfaction out of talking about trucks, truckers, good weather, homemade pie, strong coffee, kids, wives, sweethearts, and the price of fuel.

He is your friend and customer. He is your source of food, clothing, petroleum and natural resources. In fact, nearly everything in your life arrived in his truck.


The second is titled A Truckers Prayer.  I am quite sure that, not only had he heard it, but also that he had prayed it himself many times.

Dear God above, bless this truck I drive
and help me keep someone alive

Be my mortal sight this day
on the street where little children play

Bless my helper fast asleep
when the night is long

And keep my cargo safe and sound
through the hours big and round

Make my judgment sound as steel
and be my hands upon the wheel

Bless the traveler going past
and teach them not to go so fast

Give me strength for every trip
so I may care for what they ship

And make me mindful every mile
that life is just a little while....Amen


Amen, indeed!

SOURCES: 

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/longhauler/truckersprayer.html
.

http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/red_sovine/truck_drivers_prayer-lyrics-219009.html#ixzz3RGyTCe8k.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All