Smith's accomplishments were legion. He constructed the first studios for WREC Radio and later Television in Memphis. He once built and piloted a 98 ft. yacht for Hoyt Wooten, the owner of the station. He built a 5600 sq. foot fall-out shelter on the Wooten estate in Whitehaven. He loved mission work and made four trips to Malawi after he was 77 years old. The last one at age 91. In Malawi he designed a Bible College, a church building and an orphanage to care for 500 AIDS orphans. He was a dreamer and a doer.
Of all the opportunities I have had in life and ministry the privilege of knowing Smith has been a highlight of my life. I was 42 and he was 86 when I moved back to the area where I grew up and began preaching for the Goodman Oaks church. At that time Smith had been serving as an elder for nearly 50 years! In my first meeting with the elders Smith was asked to pray. He cried as he prayed. His words were so sincere and meaningful. He prayed for me and my family. He prayed for the church. He told God how much we all loved Him and how much we needed Him. As I left that initial meeting I knew that I had been in the presence of a spiritual giant.
Of all the opportunities I have had in life and ministry the privilege of knowing Smith has been a highlight of my life. I was 42 and he was 86 when I moved back to the area where I grew up and began preaching for the Goodman Oaks church. At that time Smith had been serving as an elder for nearly 50 years! In my first meeting with the elders Smith was asked to pray. He cried as he prayed. His words were so sincere and meaningful. He prayed for me and my family. He prayed for the church. He told God how much we all loved Him and how much we needed Him. As I left that initial meeting I knew that I had been in the presence of a spiritual giant.
Over the past eight and one/half years Smith and I have grown closer. We have made many visits together in hospital rooms and in people's homes. Sometimes we would just ride around old neighborhoods or rural settings as he would talk and reminisce. While we would nearly always talk about God and "church stuff" on occasion Smith would say, "today we are not going to talk shop. We're just going to enjoy ourselves." Inevitably we would end up at the Picadilly Cafeteria or Captain D's Seafood. Smith always paid.
Many evenings my phone would ring and Smith would be on the end of the line. "I just called to tell you I love you," he would say. When my wife was suffering the ill effects of chemotheraphy he would call nearly every day to check on her and tell us he was praying for us.
Several years ago he walked into my office one morning and said, "I want you to have this." He laid a set of keys and a vehicle title on my desk. They were to his blue Cadillac. "I don't need to drive anymore and you need a good car to get around in." That car was especially meaningful because Smith had purchased it from another long-time friend and preacher, C.W. Bradley.
He was 94 when he went home last week. Though his body had steadily weakened over the past several months his mind was clear, crisp and sharp through his final days. "I am ready to go home," he told me. "Please pray that I can go home." I did. Peacefully and quietly the angels slipped in and beckoned. He left with them without a trace of discomfort or pain. He was ready.
At his funeral I made this statement. I have worked with approximately 45 different men who have been elders in the various places I have preached. They have all been good men. A few of them have been exceptional men. With no disrespect to any of them past or present, however, I must say that Smith was in a category all to himself.
He often said, "It only takes being there one time at the right time to make a difference for a lifetime." Smith, you were there for me at the right time. You have made a difference in my heart for a lifetime. I love you!
That's The Way I See It
