Happy Fathers Day 2012

Happy Fathers Day! Picture on the right is in memory of Charles Shaw, pictured here with the youngest three of our seven children,

On the left is the picture of my father. This snapshot is the only picture I have of my Papa who died in 1932 when I was nine years old.

A Special Happy Fathers day 2012, to my two sons, Charles Terrell Shaw and David Baird Shaw and to my five sons in law,
Gilbert Lewis Crouse, James Dow Turrentine, Ronald Thomas Johnston, Gregg Allan Lewis, Charles Hardy Roszel, all of whom are good fathers to my grandchildren.

Happy Father's Day 2012 to my seven Grandsons who are wonderful fathers: Gilbert Crouse Jr., Jack Yoest , Steven Turrentine, Ricky Davis, Joey Johnston, Joshua Hearn, Philip Rogers.

My father, Benjamin Wilson Baird had a profound influence on me even though he died when I was nine. My playmates would sometimes say, “I want to be a nurse “or “I want to be a policeman when I grow up” and I would think, “I want to be a Christian like Papa.” His Christian influence was a greater legacy for me than any amount of money or property he could have left me.

I read an article recently entitled, “A Father’s Death Leaves Love Behind.” William Maddox write about his father-in-law, a man he never met because the dad died when his wife was only three.

His wife’s Dad had been a musician who sang in a quartet and had cut a few records. Maddox said his wife’s father’s legacy lived on because his words and music had a profound influence on his wife’s upbringing.

My mother’s dad also died when she was a baby. Mama told me how, when other children would wear a new dress or shoes and say, “my papa bought them for me” she would feel sad and think, “If my papa was still alive, I would have new things.”

I am glad for movements like “PROMISE KEEPERS” and other movements among men to help them and to help us all to realize how much men are needed in the lives of children and how rewarding it is for men to grow old with offspring who love and respect them because of the love and attention they gave to their children when they were young.

I especially remember one man who had two daughters. Both were beautiful young married women with 2 children each when I knew them. For the four years I was pastor of East Point Avenue United Methodist Church where their Dad and Mother were members, on every Father’s day, and other occasions these two daughters and their entire family drove a great distance to proudly sit with their Dad on Father's Day.

These daughters loving attention to their Dad in his old age spoke volumes to me about a Father’s legacy.

At a Memorial Service at our church Conference a few years ago, Bishop Bevel Jones preached and one of the things he said was about Aristotle Onnasis, who amid his millions, never had a cause he supported. Jones said, “To leave no estate is not a disgrace but to leave no legacy is a tragedy.

God bless the memory of my father, Benjamin Wilson Baird and my husband, Charles Columbus Shaw, both of whom left a legacy of love, integrity, great sense of humor and Christian witness!