I have troubles and face battles like everyone else.  Some of my life struggles have been overwhelming and difficult, and others, looking back, have been minor skirmishes.  My complaints in those, in retrospect, make me ashamed and have nudged me toward the altar of repentance.  I am sure that makes me like most everyone else.  We all tend to think we are unique, and in truth, we are, but we are also quite similar.

My life has been blessed in more ways than I can enumerate and possibly even know.  But the things I do know humble me, and my awe of God grows exponentially with every reflection on His Love, Care, Keeping, and Blessings.   Thank You, LORD, for Your incredible Love and Longsuffering.   Your Love Continues to Amaze Me!

During the first two years of my life, I was a very sickly child.  The doctors gave my parents little encouragement that I would survive but could not truly diagnose my illness or illnesses.  They were perplexed, and I can only imagine the heavy weight on my mother and father’s hearts.  I have stood beside parents with infants and toddlers who were deathly ill, and some of them did not survive.  I have seen their pain, and as much as I could as I stood with them, so I can only imagine the pain of my own parents.  

My earthly father’s love and insight saved my life.  Through a series of events, it was determined that the atmosphere (air) in Pasadena, Texas, in the late 40s was killing me, and he quit the best job he ever had and moved us to East Texas, where I got well, breathing the country air.  I became, and am still, very much a “Country Boy,” and a very grateful man for parents like the ones I had.

I was deployed to Vietnam in 1967. I arrived at the mouth of the Saigon River, en route to Saigon, the ship I was on was ordered to go upriver to deliver some cargo.  As we waited our turn, I was standing above the Pilot House, next to the Captain and other personnel, and an amazing thing happened.  I heard a voice, probably not audible, but so with such clarity, I could not misunderstand what was said.  That voice said, “You are about to die.” 

I tried to dismiss it as jitters about being in Vietnam, but I knew it was more than that.  Those around me did not hear the voice but observed the change in my countenance. I turned ashen from my internal trauma.  The Executive Officer questioned me as to what was wrong.  I could not and would not tell him what had just happened.  I knew the voice was real and that death was near.

Something amazing happened in just a few minutes after that moment.  The orders changed, and rather than going upriver to Saigon, the ship and my unit were ordered to Da Nang, and our billet slot was given to another ship.   As we sailed toward Da Nang, one of the Radiomen came to me and said, “You will never guess what just happened.”  The ship that took our place had been hit by enemy fire, and everyone in the place where I was standing was killed.  Death was incredibly near me, and I knew that the voice I heard was authentic.  Later, I realized that God’s providence and my mother’s prayers had turned the tide that day, sparing me. 

I have been faced with death too many times to count and have had a sense of destiny all my life.   God has chosen to spare my life and has blessed me with the most amazing life anyone could hope for.  My family is incredible and has brought more joy to my heart than I could have dreamed possible.   

I lost my wife Bonnie in 2021 to a horrific disease that took her life. She suffered from Stage Four Metastatic Breast Cancer, and it became Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis.  God has been gracious and given me another wife, Kathy, to share these coming days with. She is an incredible woman who is just what I need.   Together we face the future with confidence and hope!

I am rich by no means in material goods, but I am one of the wealthiest men alive in terms of the intrinsic treasures that I have been allowed to enjoy.  I have battled Parathyroid Cancer, and even the surgeon gave God credit for healing me.  I have been on airplanes in near-miss situations.  I was in an automobile when the vehicle went into an uncontrollable spin in traffic on I-35 near Dallas and miraculously straightened out before hitting an overpass. 

I have seen God’s provision financially when there was no hope; the money was placed in my hands, averting disaster.  I have lived through tornadoes, survived 40-foot swells in the North Atlantic, and stood in places of danger that only the divine protection of God was able to bring me through. 

The Grace of God that brought Salvation came to me, transforming my life, on a Saturday night in Palestine, Texas, sitting alone at the kitchen table in my sister’s house.  When I think of all that I have to be thankful for, I can do nothing but weep and say, “Lord, Your Love Amazes Me!”  God created me as the 2nd son of W.P. and Elva Beaird, parents who taught me the value of life and gave me a foundation upon which God has built the life I now live. 

God gave me two precious sons, Paul and Timothy, men of God and sons who warm the heart of their earthly father and their heavenly Father.   He has given me a daughter via the blending of two families. She has become as much a daughter to me as if she were my biological child, Kalene.   Now, three other children have been added via the blending of two families: a son, Ryan, and two daughters, Rachel and Elisha.  I have a brother, Lester, and a sister, Margaret, nieces and nephews, and cousins who are incredibly special to me.  I am Blessed!  Our blended families have a combined six children and their spouses, sixteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. 

You now know more about me than before and probably more than you wanted to know, but I could not list all the blessings God has bestowed upon me.  I could never enumerate all the things I have to be thankful for.  But, on this Thanksgiving Season, I offer this accounting of some of them as a tribute to the Graciousness of My Heavenly Father and My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Lastly, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the many friends who have enriched my life.  Some of you I have never met in person, but you are as dear to me as if we had grown up together.  Thank God for you!

I offer this prayer for all of you, my friends, “May the LORD bless you and keep you; May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; and May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and GOD BLESS YOU!