Daddybill

Daddybill was never one to let life pass him by

You can tell just by watching the slideshow that he loved to be right in the middle of it all

It usually wasn’t good enough for him to just sit and watch

He needed be involved and a part

He stayed busy with something

And daddybill was the type of guy who was just good at a lot of things

He was also the type that you would never know because he was never going to brag on himself.

But in our eyes he could do it all

He was a heck of a golfer.

I remember going golfing with him shortly after I had been married into the family and he would have been over 80 years old at this point

And I really thought that I was going to have to take it easy on him.

Well I found out pretty quickly that day that hitting 200 yards accurately is a really good strategy

He could also build almost anything

All of us have swing, benches, tables, pergolas, and more that Daddybill built us and some of those he built within the last year or 2

You know you can tell a lot about a man by walking into his shop and for daddybill you learned pretty quickly that everything had it’s place and it was going to be right where it was supposed to be

The man was extremely organized! We said after all the tools he owned and used in his lifetime his most favorite tool might have been his labeler

You should have seen him when he got that thing! The whole house was labeled

it got so bad that even his labeler was labeled

It literally says labeler from a label from the labeler

His closet is all color coordinated and I could go on and on

Now, for most people like that, being a little OCD about things and children normally don’t mix

But for Daddybill nothing could be further from the truth

The kids love to play in his office and you can imagine how organized and put together it is

But when you allow about 17 little kids go in there and play every time they come over it’s usually left a tornado

And you would think that would bother him

But he absolutely loved it

He even told us just a few days back that the next time we go to the store we need to get some sticky notes because the kids love to play hotel in his office and put sticky notes every where.

As we celebrated Father’s Day yesterday

Daddybill is one of the best I’ve ever seen

His love for his children and grand children and great grandchildren was so visibly seen.

He would do anything for any one of you

The stories and memories you have will last a lifetime

Memories of all the pool parties and sleep overs

All of the mountain trips and adventures

I do have to tell this story

Honey and daddybill have a lot in Gatlinburg and they would visit often and would go as a family

Well, one trip when, Kendall, Kim, Honey, and Daddybill took all the kids and we think even some of their friends. Dorie my wife was about 10 or 11 at the time.

And so they had gone to the mountains and Kim, Kendall, and Honey had a womens conference that they wanted to go through so Daddybill told them to go and he would take all the kids back in their Motor home

So, that’s what they did. kim, Kendall, and honey leave and that night Dorie comes down with a stomach bug.

so now he has all these kids and the youngest is sick with the stomach bug

So they load up but instead of going straight home they make a stop at stone mountain and he parks the motor home, leaves it running, tells dorie to lock the door when they leave and sure enough they do

That takes some bravery!

But that was daddybill

There was never a challenge too big

Never a task too much

Never an opportunity missed

Daddybill was the kind of man who never had an ill thing to say about anyone, and I’ve never met anyone who had an ill thing to say about him

How you can live 93 years and that even be a possibility is a testament to his character

We simply don’t have the time to say all there is to say about him but there are a few descriptions I’d like to point out

And so if I had to pinpoint a few descriptions of him here is what I would say…

Daddybill was so joyful

He always had that big smile on his face and loved a good laugh

He was very quick witted and to see him joke with honey the way he did was some of my most favorite memories of them

Daddybill was also a peaceful man

He not only experienced peace with almost everyone he met

But he was a peacemaker

He had a unique ability to diffuse tense situations

Daddybill was patient

One of the most patient men I’ve ever met

Now, I think some of that was because he knew he had to be if he wanted to stay married to Honey

But in all honesty it was just who he was

From the youngest to the oldest in the room he was always so patient

Daddybill was kind

He was always concerned and kind towards others

Whether you were a stranger on the side of the road, a family member, out at the mill with him

He was just kind all the time in every environment

He always loved to call each person he came into contact with by name

Now, there was a chance, especially as he got older that it wasn’t going to be the right name, but each person he met meant enough to him for him to always look you in the eye and call you by name

Daddybill was good

As we would say around here, he is just good people

He was a good man

You can never know the intentions of a mans heart but it seemed pretty clear with daddybill that his intentions were usually good

Daddybill was faithful

If he gave you his word you could trust that he meant it and he was going to come through.

He was faithful to his wife, to his family, to his church

He was a faithful man

Daddybill was gentle

You know most people think gentleness is a weakness, but I heard it said before that gentleness is strength subdued

That you cannot be gentle without being strong for it is strength under control

And that is daddybill

He loved to get in his rocking chair and hold all of the babies

And he was always so gentle

But he was gentle with all people in all things

Daddybill was self controlled

He was still a sinful man just like the rest of us

I’m sure he had bad thoughts and sinful ideas

But he had great self control to keep those suppressed

And lastly, Daddybill was a picture of love

The way he loved his children and grand children and great grand children

The way he loved his friends and people

The way he loved life

The way he loved his honey

Their love story was one for the history books

It’s like the ones you see in the movies

The way he sacrificed for her

The way he served her every day

71 years they were married

And I would bet that he loved her more on the last day than he did the first

It is a model of love that we should all strive for

You never saw one without the other

They were just a pair and they did everything together

To have spent all that time together

And such little time apart

Oh to have been in heaven when they were reunited

I know heaven is perfect and nothing needs to be done but worshipping Jesus

But I just imagine that Honey had him a to do list when he got there

These are the types of things to describe a man who leaves a legacy that lives on

A man who had an impact on so many

A man who will be greatly missed

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

That’s how I would describe Daddybill

And if you know your Bible, then you know, that is what we should all strive for

Galatians 5:22–25 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Daddybill sure was a lot like Jesus

And that’s because the Spirit of God lived in him

He had surrendered his life to the Lord

He understood that Christ went to the cross for his sins

That Jesus rose from the grave and is alive

That Jesus is Lord and Daddybill surrendered to His Lordship every day

And the fruit of his life speaks for itself

Being married to a woman who is a lot like honey

I often find myself thinking about how daddybill would be in moments

I don’t know if you remember those bracelets they make that say WWJD what would Jesus do

I often find myself asking what would daddybill do

And the reality is, I don’t think those two things are often different

Daddybill has been one of the clearest pictures of Jesus I’ve ever seen

And it was a joy to be around him, a privilege to be a part of his family, and an honor to know him

And although no one can replace him

We can all strive to be more like him

And that’s what I leave you with today

Be more like Daddybill because he was a lot like Jesus