I was born on March 13, 1953, seven minutes past six o’clock. My mother was watching I Love Lucy on television, and then it was my turn to be watched. I lived and grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I have three sisters and one brother: Rosalie, Debbie, Mary Ann, Dennis. But my birth was not a normal one, even my parents wondered about my potential in life. I was like the little lamb that followed Mary home in the storybook. I had a hard time staying focused in school. On my high school transcripts it reads this: “if Robert is to be successful he would have to be self-disciple to be successful." In the summer of 1964 & 1968 I was tested and diagnosed as a slow learner, and was then placed into special education classes. I was diagnosed with a low IQ and speech impairment.

     Being a person with learning disabilities (challenges), to me was discouraging. I did not get good grades in school at all. When I graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1973, I mostly had done factory work clear up to 1998. It was then that I decided to take some bold steps in my life with Christ to really find out what all I can really do. The unique and funny thing is this, the things that others told me that I cannot do I found out I can really do them.

     Before I knew Christ as Lord and Savior of my life, I was in high school. I wanted to learn to drive, but the peers in my life thought different of me. I heard statements like: "Robert, you are not able to drive a car." I knew there were many things I was able to do and not able to do, but I was determined to find out for myself. In school I had a very hard time accepting the fact that I was different. I had a real hard time accepting others as I was. Self-rejection equals rejection of others as you are. It was a constant struggle at times, even when I gave my life to Christ. I had a hard time with several people that teased and picked on me. I wanted to be accepted and respected for who I was. It was a few years ago that I prayed two radical prayers to God. I asked Him if he would heal my whole body or heal my heart. He chose to heal the heart, which was the beginning of the new Robert James Ward. I began to understand and to relate to those as I am, when in the past I was not able to do it.

     In the summer of 1998, as I mentioned earlier, I took my first typing course at Cuyahoga Falls High School and passed. I then trained to do data entry at Sage Skill Training in Akron, Ohio. I successfully completed the training in June of 1999. In the fall of 1999 I was hired at Sage Computer Services (Coleman Data Solutions) in Akron, Ohio. I have been successfully employed there now for 11 years. I am a data entry technician, scanner operator, mailroom assistant, and speaker for them. To sum up in a nutshell: Robert James Ward is one who ran from who he was and by God’s grace run back to the God Who Made Him. Plus he tells others of these two important truths: Are You Running from the God Who Made You,  who is putting you into, figuratively-speaking, "boxes" in your life?     God’s grace for you is abundantly rich and free for all you need.