Legacy

It’s impossible for me to capture the essence of a life in mere words on a page. There is no way to do justice to the legacy of a great person in a few brief statements. It would take volumes to begin to touch the simplicities and the complexities of the man I called “Dad.”

Many of you already know that my Dad, Billy Scott, went on to be with the Lord a few days ago. Our family has witnessed such an outpouring of love and support in the past week. We have been blessed by so many who knew Dad and who felt compelled to share special memories with us. We have been comforted by so many such stories.

Even though losing Dad was something we never wanted to happen, God’s timing for this life-changing event was perfect. Seven weeks ago, we all had reached the point at which we were certain that Dad would never be able to go home again, that he only had a few days if not moments left on this earth. God in His infinite wisdom knew that we needed a little bit longer with him, so He miraculously gave him a few more weeks. Dad died peacefully in his sleep in his bed and in his home just like he wanted. Isn’t that the way we all want to go? What a blessing!

No one was ever any more ready to go than Dad. He really couldn’t wait to get there, and I can imagine that there was a “great cloud of witnesses” (as described in Hebrews 12:1) that stood just inside heaven’s gate to greet him, including many who were there because he led them to salvation. I am sure that when he caught his first glimpse of heaven, he was speechless, probably for the first time ever.

If there’s one thing I know about Dad, it is that he was a soul winner. There have been only a handful of people I have ever known in my life who were able to so freely talk to anyone and everyone about their relationship with Jesus like Dad. We joked that when he made it to heaven, he was going to be disappointed to find that there were no lost people there to witness to. In recent months, he had expressed the feeling that his time here on earth was short, since he was not able to win souls like he had always done. He really had the gift of soul winning and the compassion for others that must accompany it.

My life will never be the same without my Dad here. And although there will be many sad times in the coming days, and I will miss him terribly, I do not grieve as others who have no hope. The promise of eternal life shared not only with God, but also with those we love who have gone before us, is for all who will receive it through faith in the One who died so that we might live, Jesus Christ our Savior.