A TRIBUTE TO THREE PRECIOUS AND SPECIAL FATHERS

"Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.." Ephesians 6:2 NKJV

I would like to honor all the father's in my blog.  But I will mention  three fathers that were and are very dear and special to me.

Because of limited space I will only be able to write a short synopsis of each of these three most special men in my life.

WILLIS CLINTON POWELL, SR.

Shug as I will refer to him from here on,  is my husband and the father of our three children.

First of all he is a wonderful man of God, he loves Him with all his

heart. Second he loves me and our children, and grandchildren.  Shug has always been a good and Godly example to me and to  our children.  His motto is, "my daddy worked to give me his  example of a good and honest name, and I have always tried  my best to make him proud of the way that I have honored his gift to me by working hard and being honest with my dealing s with others," my word is my bond."  He always explained to our children that the best and most important thing that he could  give them for an inheritance was the good name that he was  given, and has tried  all his life to keep and to add to that good  name. Shug always encouraged our children to remember what his daddy taught him that money is not as important as the trust and friendship of those you come in contact with each day. If you are a trusted individual, it does not matter if you are rich or poor, people will respect you, because they know they can trust you, because "your word is your bond."  He has worked hard all of his life starting as a young boy helping his daddy and the other children work on the farm. One of the things he always said to our children, "I give you permission to say anything that you hear me say."  I am so thankful for each and every day that I have shared with this man, my Shug.  He is a loving husband and father, his "I love yous are always so sweet to my heart. He has always told our children and grandchildren that he loves them and that can never be forgotten or become less important than when we hear him say I love you. His love to me and to our children and grandchildren is unconditional. Good times or bad times, nothing can stop him from loving us.  Shug I hope we can be together until Jesus come for us in the Rapture. I hope God lets us just be able to take care of each other and live in our home until that time.  I Love you

JOHN WILLIS POWELL

  June 1, 1914--
October 25, 1991

Mr. Powell was my father-in-law. He was the one that God
 had picked out for me before I was born.  He was indeed a
 Godly influence on me and my children as long as he lived
 and his influence has remained since Jesus carried him to
 heaven to be with him and Mrs. Powell.

 When I was a child I did not know then, that our parents should pray
for the husband that God wants for their girl children and also for the
wife of their boy children.They should pray that their sons and
 daughters-in-law will not only be God's will for their child, but that they will have Godly parents that will be the in-laws to their sons and daughters, that will have a Godly and lasting influence on their lives.  When we become old enough to realize that we need to pray, we also should be praying for the same things for ourselves, that our mate and their parents will be a  Godly influence on us. Mr. Powell was just that.  He raised all
seven of his children to love and respect God and be honorable in their
dealings with their fellow man.  "His word was his bond" and he made this a priority teaching to his children. He taught them how to work , and he also taught them the value of family time with big cook-out bar-b-ques.  Mr.  Powell loved me not as his daughter-in-law, but as his daughter. I always knew that I could talk to him about anything that I needed to and he would always give an unhurried listening ear.  His advice to me was always Godly and right on target. His marriage to Mrs. Powell was such an example of being married to the person that God intends for you.  When Mrs. Powell went to heaven on January 30,  1991, just five days shy of nine months later he joined her in heaven, the night she passed away, his heart went with her.  I will always love you Mr. Powell, and I will always miss you and Mrs. Powell until we are joined again around the Throne of God.

                          COY BARNES

                              September 26, 1915--
                          January 26, 2000

My daddy was a good and special daddy to all of his six children.  He loved us, of that we were certain, Daddy had a hard life from a boy just seven years old.  There were nine children in his family, and his daddy died when my daddy was seven years old.  So he had to quit school in third grade and go to work like a man.

From now on I will call him PawPaw.  PawPaw. He had to start to work doing a mans job  at seven years old.  On pay day a lot of the older boys and men would gang up on him and try to steal his pay.  He learned to fight to keep what was his.  All his life he would fight at the drop of a hat especially if he thought someone was trying to mess with mama or one of us children.  I was the oldest of six children, the child born after me was a normal healthy girl, until she was eight months old.  She spiked a temp so high that it would not even register on the hospital thermometer.  She was having seizures every day and three weeks later when the fever left her and she came home from the hospital she was still having seizures.  Mama had to rock  her most all day, along with giving her large doses of phenobarbital for the seizures.  Daddy was working at the saw mill at that time and he would work long hours each day and come home.  At bed time he would sit in a platform rocker with his feet propped up, my sister would lay on his chest and he would rub her back all night.  This was the only thing that had any soothing effect on her.  This is the way he slept every night for years. When he was a young man he went to church occasionally, but never really gave his life to Jesus until he was older.  When my brother was in Viet Nam and my other brother was in Guam and Viet Nam, every night when he said his prayers you could hear him all over the house praying for all his children, and beseeching  God for the safety of his boys that were in harm's way. He was faithful in church, if no one else would clean it, PawPaw would, if no one else would change light bulbs, PawPaw would, he was always ready and willing to do anything needed in God's house. Sick or well he was faithful, the pastor even carried a recliner to church when PawPaw had back surgery so he would not have to sit on the pew.  In 1959 he  lost his left hand in an accident and he bought a small grocery store.  He never could stand to see a person especially a child go without, any child, no matter who they were.  If he knew of a need  he would try to do his best to see about it.  If someone could not pay their grocery bill because they were on hard times PawPaw would say, " pay what you can and I will carry the balance on the books until times are better for you. But go ahead and get the groceries you will need for this week."  At Christmas time he carried a large selection of children's toys and my sister Bobbie Jo came home from school one day and said, " there is a girl in my class (third grade), that wants a doll for Christmas but her parents cannot pay Santa for one. PawPaw saw that the little girl got her doll, the biggest one he had in the store.  PawPaw suffered so much and for so long before he went to be with Jesus, He had bladder cancer and several surgeries on his back. He prayed, please Jesus take me home today.  It was a relief to know that all pain and suffering was over for him when Jesus took him home. I still  love and miss you PawPaw, but I am glad that you and mama are together around the Throne of God.

Shug, Mr. Powell, and PawPaw are from the "old school" that a gentleman is always a gentleman.and  that" His Word Is His Bond."

Happy Father's Day, all fathers, God Bless and Keep You is my Prayer, Love Gloria.

Copyright 2011 Gloria B. Powell. All rights reserved.