Take a Stumbling Block and Make it a Stepping Stone by Paris Mercier and Patricia Woodworth
Reverend Charles Ringgold carries a library of wisdom with him wherever he goes. Each word that he speaks brings perspective and knowledge to those listening. After spending years missing out on school to be his father’s right-hand man running the family business on the farm, he recalls not quite understanding why – out of all of his sisters and brothers – his father had chosen him for the job. It came as even more of a shock to him, even though he couldn’t attend school until November each year, that his high school classmates voted him “most likely to succeed.” When asked if he felt he had lived up to this high school award, he humbly responded: “You have got to take advantage of what you are given.” As the conversation continued, he shared a piece of advice that struck many of us as particularly important advice as we eagerly listened in.
I have no regrets that I came up under certain circumstances. I guess my tool and mindset was that you have to take advantage of whatever you are confronted with and to continue to try to develop the skills that you have.
Rev. Ringgold did just that throughout his entire life, turning his mother’s advice – “take a stumbling block and make it a stepping stone” – into a life journey. As a young man, he was active in the military from 1948 to 1951, serving in the Korean War for eighteen months. During his service he acted as a Quartermaster, supplying ammunition, fuel, and other provisions to the frontline. Rev. Ringgold stood out as a leader, demonstrating capacities and initiative that top Army brass desired for their units. In his service to the Army, Rev. Ringgold was able to take care of his mother while also serving the country and traveling the world.
He is a man of rigor, bringing care and dedication to everything that he does. When he returned to the Eastern Shore after his service, he went on to start a landscaping business that would grow from servicing small yards, to large estates, to big corporations. At the ripe age of 89, Rev. Ringgold retired from his successful landscaping business and, while still helping out when he can, has passed on the family business to his grandson.
As this story suggests, his desire to be a “financial success” was not driven by greed or selfishness, but rather to help support his family. Being the seventh child in a family of ten, Rev. Ringgold described his childhood home as crowded, but always full of love.
During our interview, Rev. Ringgold also reflected on the ways that his mother taught him and his siblings to always put God first in everything that they did. With the inspiration of religion, Rev. Ringgold is living a full and loving life. He remains a devout Christian and a caring man.
Despite numerous obstacles, Rev. Ringgold has always managed to endure, succeed, and prioritize what is most important to him. The same lessons of love and spirit that his mother had taught him decades ago, Rev. Ringgold hopes to pass on through the relationships he fosters today. As we inched towards the end of our interview, we asked Rev. Ringgold how he finds hope during difficult times. His answer: to take each moment as a moment “to do God’s work.” No doubt that it was this strength, focus, and perseverance that his father saw in him all those decades ago – strength, focus, and perseverance that Rev. Ringgold would carry with him for a lifetime.