How Will You Be Remembered?

The Lord is not compelled to use theologians. He can take snakes, sticks or anything else, and use them for the advancement of his cause.  Billy Sunday

“You can never give up because quitting is not an option. No matter how dark it is or how weak you get, until you take that last breath, you must fight.” ~ Wayman Tisdale (1964-2009)

I am a big music lover and I love listening to music in my car.  I have plenty of drive time every morning so it is great to be able to turn on the music, (with no commercials), and sing and listen. 

I like all different types of music and sometimes I will go out to iTunes and randomly select songs.  It allows you to hear the music before you buy.  So this weekend I went to iTunes and found a song from 2009 that I had never heard before.  What drew me in was the music because there was a saxophone playing in the background.  I ended up buying the song but what I loved about this particular song was that it was a farewell song from Toby Keith (a country artist), to Wayman Tisdale (a jazz musician). 

I admit I didn’t know who Wayman Tisdale was until I heard this song.  I wanted to know what it was about this man that made a country music singer write a farewell song to him. 

Wayman Tisdale never liked basketball growing up.  His brother’s played in the yard but he didn’t care for the sport.  He was 6’9” with a smile that could light up a room.  When he learned how to dunk the ball, he went on to become a three time All-American at Oklahoma, an Olympic gold medalist and a 12-year NBA veteran. 

His first love was his wife of 27 years, Regina, and his second was music.  He never took a lesson and didn’t know the key his songs were in but he loved to play bass guitar at his father’s church.  He recorded eight jazz albums after his NBA career was over. 

In 2007 he fell in his home and broke his leg.  During that time doctor’s found cancer in his leg and when chemotherapy didn’t help his leg was amputated. 

In an article by Anna K. Clemmons, she wrote about what made Wayman Tisdale an unforgettable person.

"He loves people and meets no strangers," Weldon says of his younger brother. "He's one of those guys you think wouldn't be touchable, but he's extremely touchable. Even as my brother, I can say that. He didn't allow the accolades or the notoriety to cause him to become egotistical. My father and mother helped to keep him grounded in who he was, where he came from, and now, who he continues to be."

The best evidence? His smile. "I've been blessed with this great gift, but I think it's not music or basketball," Tisdale says. "My greatest gift is to make other people feel better. What better tool than to have gone through something like this? If you see me smile, you see the genuine love. That's me."

One day in 2009 at the age of 44, his wife Regina took him to an Oklahoma hospital because he had trouble breathing and he died later that day.

As I read the articles about this remarkable man, I thought about the words of Toby Keith’s farewell song Cryin’ for Me. 

Got the news on Friday morning but a tear I couldn't find
You showed me how I am supposed to live
Now you showed me how to die
I was lost 'til Sunday morning, I woke up to face my fear
While writing you this goodbye song I found a tear

I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss you my friend
Even though it hurts the way it ended up, I'd do it all again
So play it sweet in heaven 'cause that's right where you wanna be
I'm not cryin' 'cause I feel so sorry for you, I am cryin' for me.

How do you want to be remembered after you are gone?  Will people say you were kind and generous or that you spread joy wherever you went?  I pray that one day when I am gone that people will say that I exhibited the fruits of the Spirit to others.  I still have a long way to go but I want to leave a legacy of love so that others can see God through me.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as I read this story of someone who brought joy to others through his life, it reminded me of the type of people You want us to be.  This giant of a man showed others how to live and also how to die.  I pray that I can be half the person this man was to so many others.       

Scripture: Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:3-8