I Knew A Man

I knew a man.

And then there were two boys.

And what a tale they could tell.

Death is never easy, it really doesn’t matter who you are.  If someone that you know dies it is not important whether or not they were family, it was someone that you knew and now……….. they are gone.

Yes, someone died.  And yes, it was hard.  Yes, it was sad.  But harsh as it may sound the reality is that life goes on.  And it does.  So I don’t want to make this about death, I much prefer to make it about life, and the wonderful gift we are given, living.

That man?  His name was, or is for that matter, Wayne “Peabody” Hillhouse.  Wayne was born in 1941 to a loving home.  His family was a “nickname” family.  And what I mean is that everyone in his family has nicknames.  And everybody that knows them only refer to them by their nickname.  His dad Bubba Hillhouse and his mom Sis Hillhouse. 

Those two boys?  Well, let’s just say that one of them lives every day of his life with his own struggles, but he deals with it in his own way, mostly by writing.  The other, was the younger brother to the first.  These two rambunctious, sometimes mischievous boys were blessed to be born into a large family by most people’s standards.  Certainly they were blessed to be born into a family filled with love, from the grandparents down to their mom and dad, and their other two brothers and two sisters.  Yep, these two boys were blessed each to have two older sisters plus two older brothers.  Growing up the family was poor.  But these two never knew it.  Their bellies were full every night when they went to bed, and they had clean clothes every morning when they woke up.  No, these two knuckle heads had no idea what poor even meant.

They had an older sister that became a nurse.  She was like a second momma to them, and affectionately they often called her Momma Joan.  To this day, they still do.  Upon high school graduation Joan went off to Nursing School at Georgia Baptist School of Nursing way downtown in that huge city called Atlanta.  When these two boys were just boys Atlanta was a world away from their country farm just outside of Canton, GA where they grew up.  Joan did well in school and in just a few years she finished and began work almost immediately ending up at Kennestone Hospital where she worked until her retirement a few years ago. 

I can’t remember exactly the date, but somewhere in the mid 1960’s Joan met this man, Peabody, and they dated.  They fell in love.  And they married. 

But back up just a bit.

During that dating time, Joan brought Wayne home to meet her parents and the rest of the family of course, including those two rambunctious mischievous boys.  That was quite a sight to see I am certain.  Here’s this fine upstanding young man that grew up in a family as an only child.   He was I am sure accustomed to a very ordered, very calm, very quiet life at home.  Well, not in this house.  Oh no.  These two boys fit that old saying that they’d drive the preacher to drinking.  They were wilder than a wildcat, noisier than a bunch of dogs fighting, and fit perfectly that old saying, like a bull in a china shop…..except there were two bulls.  Imagine what must have been going through this young man’s mind to be witness to such apparent craziness.  He had I’m sure never seen anything quite like it.  But, he never said a word, never complained, never questioned anything.  He just stared, and somewhat smiled.  But the amazing part………  He came back.

Yes, after that first time Joan took a chance and brought him back to her house a second time.  This time, he surprised everyone; he actually got down in the floor with those two wild boys and started playing with them.  He never had a chance really, they attacked him of course.  But smiling and laughing with them, he let them pin him down on his back so that they could say that they won.  What a guy huh?

I’m 57 years old now.  I was probably 7 or 8 years old then.  But I’ve never forgotten it, and I hope I never will.  He made quite the impression on those two little boys.  And at that moment I think, he became part of our family.  It seems we couldn’t scare him off, so he just joined right in. 

I am Gary Fowler, the other little boy is my brother Gene Fowler, and from that day forward Wayne became more and more a part of our life and a part of our family.  He was or is my brother-in-law, but he was as far as I was concerned like a brother.

When I was 18 years old during a revival at Holly Springs Baptist Church on one night of the services after praying about it, I testified that I wanted to share my calling of the Lord.  At that time there were other things happening around me, and I did believe that I was called.  It was a few years later that I began to have many doubts as to just what my calling was, or if it was for that matter.  Of my salvation I have no doubt.  Of my calling I just wasn’t sure anymore.  On those times that I stood and tried to present a message from the Bible, I struggled mightily.  I just never was able to really put together a sermon of any real substance.  Just ask anyone that ever sat though one of my “sermons”, they will tell you.  And it’s okay, I know it was hard.  It was very difficult for me.  It was during that time that I felt like I needed to talk to someone, to seek counsel from someone wiser than me, someone that might be able to help me sort everything out.  And I did.  I went to a pastor friend of mine.  He told me, and I believe he was earnest about it, that the problem was that I was just not trusting God enough.  That I just wasn’t praying enough.  That I needed to pray and I needed to trust God to lead me. With everything that is within my being, I believed that I was doing that.  But I knew something wasn’t right.

What I’m about to share with you I’ve never told anyone.  But one day I went by my sister’s house, and she wasn’t at home.  But Wayne was there.  I’m not sure why, but I had a very strong feeling that I needed to just tell someone what was going on in my life and how unsure of everything that I was.  And at that moment the only someone available to me was Wayne.  So I just started talking.  He looked at me straight up; he gave me his total undivided attention.  I could tell that he was listening.  And when I was finished I finally said, “I just don’t know what to do.”

Wayne looked at me and gave me the only advice that he ever volunteered.  He said to me “Gary, nobody knows what’s right for you but you.  You can’t listen to other people telling you what you are supposed to be.  You’ve got to listen to you and what you are telling you that you are supposed to be.  ‘Cause that voice that you hear, that’s God.  He’s telling you, you just need to listen.”

You know I did that.  And it was not long that I knew, it wasn’t preaching that I was supposed to be doing.  Not at all.  My work was in sharing the gospel through song.  And I began to listen to God, and God began to open doors.  And for many years many doors were opened and I had the privilege to share the Good News of The Gospel of Jesus Christ through music. 

After a few years another door was opened to me, I began to teach.  Over the years I’ve taught many young people, and older people too for that matter.  And of the young people that I taught and coached musically, a few of them now are in full time professional music careers.  There’s a few that like me share the Gospel through song.

Now you almost have to ask the question; “Would any of that have ever come to pass if you had not sought counsel from Wayne?”  And the answer is, I don’t know, I simply don’t know.  But what I do know is that I did decide to share my heart with Wayne, and I listened to what he told me.  And I know how things worked out.  But would any of that happened had I not been there at that time on that day?  I sincerely just don’t know.  But I do know this.  His advice that day changed me.  It made me a better man, a better person, and ultimately, a better Christian.  So I’m thankful that I did open up to him that day, and I give all the glory to God.

On the morning of February 10, 2015 the Lord called Wayne to come home.  It was sudden and unexpected.  Yes, it was sad.  And on February 12^th, those two little boys, now grown men, walked with their Momma Joan, and their other sister Cheryl and brother Eddie.  And as a family Joan laid her husband and our Brother to rest. 

To those that are reading this I want to thank you for allowing me to share.  And if I can, I want to encourage you as Wayne encouraged me that day; nobody knows you better than you know you.  When you hear that voice inside you directing you, pulling you, encouraging you to go a certain direction.  You know what’s right for you, listen close.  If it’s God you will know his voice.  Trust him and live your life as you know God wants you to.

Thanks Wayne, I won’t say bye, just I’ll see you in a little bit.