the Centrist

Thank you Lord, for the Joyful things:

As I reflect on my life there are two things for which I am most thankful: my family and my Lord.

From Left: Dan, David, Dr B, Marilyn, Timothy, and Rand

My family centers around the one person whom I have loved with all of my heart since I was sixteen years old, the love of my live, my Marilyn.  I can still remember our first date, March 9th 1963. It was a blind date, and Lord knows I have been blinded by her beauty, both inside and out, ever since.  We have been fortunate to have four of the greatest sons ever.
Back row from left: Chris, Chelsea holding Gab, Scott, Betsy, Dan; Front row Johnny, Jamesy

Dan is a Baptist minister and head pastor of the First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo.  He has blessed us with his wonderful wife, and one of our daughters, Betsy (she is a full time music teacher teaching high school and jr. high in the Toledo area).  She has in turn accepted and help raised our first grandson, Scott who has blessed us with our first great grandchild, Gab, and our first grand daughter-in-law Chelsea. Betsey married Dan when Scott was about six.   Scott is a Marine presently stateside.
Chris is next in line, chronologically; and make no mistake, Chris is the apple of my eye.  His stature and handsomeness, is only out shadowed by his intellect, athleticism, as well as deep love and concern for others.  He is about 5’10” but looks like 6’ to me.  When he hugs me he has to stoop over.  Chris is the first one I showed how to ‘sign’: I love you.  He has taught it to his brothers and cousins.  Now they are all quicker on the draw than their Papa.  He has compassion and a sense of fairness like none other, except maybe his Dad. Scott and Chris are enough to make a Papa real proud… and thankful, but as the commercial goes, ‘wait there’s more’… the Lord was not done blessing.

Johnny is our next, and I always said he is my clone.  He is smart, blonde, and handsome, with a sharp wit.  Okay, his handsomeness is something his Mom and Dad can take credit for, not me… but the rest is my DNA!  Well, maybe not his hair, but the rest.  He is the most friendly and contemplative child I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and, he has a great competitive heart.  His athletic skills are only overshadowed by his determination and heart.

Jamesy is our next, but not chronologically.  He is the youngest of Dan’s clan.  He stands a head taller than any in his class, and has captured his Papa’s heart.  He is a great athlete, smart kid, and fearless.  He heads into any situation with the knowledge that right makes might, and has a heart as big as all out doors.  With the Lord on his shoulders there is no telling what this 8 year old will accomplish in life.

Rand is the next son in line.  He heads the Department of Library at Dyouville College in Buffalo.  He is married to our daughter Erin.  They complement each other and are a devoted couple.   Erin is a full time teacher in a Catholic High School in the Buffalo area.  When Rand is not busy teaching and administrating he has found time to be an award winning co-lead singer in his band “Okla the Mok”.

Our third son Timohy is a full time professor at Touro College, he teaches in the graduate department.  He is also an award winning children’s author (“We Are All the Same Inside”).   He has taught internationally, addressed the United Nations, and will soon take his curriculum to South Africa.  Yes, I am thankful for Dan, Rand and Tim, can’t you tell?

David with President Bush and wounded warrior

Last, but not least is our fourth son David, our youngest.  David is an award winning author, “House to House”, has been featured on national television and radio, and has been awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star for heroic action in Iraq.  He was also nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor and was the cover story of Time Magazine’s “Into the Hot Zone” the Battle of Fallujah. He has also been the subject of both American and British documentaries, as well as the History Channel “Shot Out Battle for Fallujah”). He is presently working on trying to keep America safe from Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) Waves.  He is involved with both education and proactive action against and EMP which can be generated by either solar activity or a terrorist attack.  David is married to our daughter Deanna.  She is a Rochester television news reporter and they have blessed us with three grandchildren.

What can I say about my Evan.  If one understands integrity and compassion, mixed with a great deal of intellect and common sense, then one has the formula for our fourth oldest grandson.  Not only is he compassionate, he is his Papa’s pal.  There is never a time when he does not call or text me to explain the new things he learns, yesterday it was all about fractions.  He was our first grandchild born in the new millennium.
And Thank You Jesus for living in a nation in which we can worship you, and one in which others have not hesitated to die to keep us free… thank you for our military

Aden is our next, and what a kid.  He spent yesterday at McDonald’s eating a Happy Meal with his Papa.  It made him happy, and me ecstatic… one on one with a grandchild is always something to be cherished.  Aden wishes to be and do ‘everything Evan’, even homework. He is three going on eleven.  I love to look him in those beautiful blue eyes, point my index finger at him, and say: “Aiden, you the best!”   He responds with, “No Papa, you the best!”

Now whom have I forgotten?  Are you kidding me, four boys, six grandsons, one great grandson, and do you really think I could forget my one and only granddaughter, our Vivienne?  She stole my heart from the get go.  Her birth and Deanna’s well being are still a miracle which I will never forget and always be thankful.  I’ll bet ya, right now she is scooting around likely exploring Christmas or Thanksgiving decorations at home.  She is just one year old and taken her first step.  Her favorite thing to do, beside kiss her grandparents, is to walk around the house with a guiding hand from her loving multitude.  She definitely does not take after me, after all she is the cutest, most responsive, and beautiful child I have ever known.

Thank you Jesus for becoming human:

You know with those blessings, it is hard to believe I have a greater one. It is the approval of Jesus Christ in my life.  Marilyn and I were blessed to have been led to our Lord together in 1978.  But it was only after my father and mother-in-law, they planted the seeds of salvation until they were ‘blue in the face’.  Then my oldest two, Dan and Rand, especially our Rand, gave their hearts to the Lord, and they were relentless.  Rand, at about 8 years old, even taught me to present the Lord to a dying cousin.  She now is in heaven, in no small part to the changed heart of a ‘know it all agnostic’ (me), and the pure love and prayer of a child (Rand).   By accepting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it solved my fear of everything.  It mattered no longer that I was mortal and would die, it mattered only that I would eventually end my material ministry on earth, and embrace the loving Creator God who died to set sinners like me… free to live eternally with Him.

What more can I have asked and be thankful for, but that a loving God humiliated Himself to become creaturely, and voluntarily to suffer and die just so those He created could be with Him.  Thank you Jesus for the assurance of salvation through your resurrection.  You have allowed any who would but believe, to  face death without fear, with the hope for an eternal reunion with Him as well as those of equal faith who have gone before and who will follow.  Thank you Jesus for saving even a wretch like me.

Thank you Lord for even the sad things:

Today they removed the I V’s from my brother Les (sister Valarie’s husband).  When I saw him on Sunday, he looked me in the eye, at first I could not return his gaze.  So I tried to avoid the inevitable by telling him an inane joke.  You know, we all say the stupidest things in these situations.  I collected myself and returned his gaze.  We were both ready to address the seriousness of the situation.

I asked him how my Marine mentor was doing?  He said in his now hushed voice, “Bill, we are all going to go through this sometime.  This is my time.”

Not that Les is bigger than life, any more than my brother Bob (sister Jane’s husband) was when he crossed over.  Yes, they were both mountains amongst men, large framed and powerful, athletic, but gentle,  intelligent, and caring.  Most importantly, they are both saved beings.

Well, there lay my brother Les in this all too familiar setting.  He was but a shell of the man that he used to be, but a giant of an immortal soul soon to be.  There he lay unable to care for himself and facing his demise with his customary courage.  There lay Les, perhaps helpless, but not hopeless.  His hope, his assurance, his trust is that he will not cross over alone, for he knows that he will be in the arms of Jesus. You see Les trusted his Lord Jesus as his personal savior several  years ago.  In so doing he depended on Jesus for his the salvation of his very essence and his eternal soul.

He became a new person through Christ Jesus.  For instance, whenever this new creature would come upon a material gift, and this was long before his sickness, his first question was: “Bill, how can I tithe this unexpected gift?”  I would give him ideas, as would his son Les, then he would weigh the options, but make no mistake, he would tithe.  He never let many know about his generosity.  His charity would be called foolish by many, but tell me, was he not following the teaching of our Creator?  Was He not giving away something he could not keep, for something he could not lose?

So in these coming days of sorrow, I will mourn, and yes, I will weep… most likely when it is least desired.  I simply cannot even write this simple tribute without tears.  But today, as I pen this, I choose to rejoice for the brother who helped make all in his life better for knowing him.  The man I have come to love and respect deeply, the man others knew as Les, but the man I will always call, brother.

Les, Dan, and Valerie

Thank you Jesus for the assurance of salvation, and thank you Jesus for family, but today especially, thank you for my brother Les and his influence on those he knew and loved.

Bill