His Life Smiled

“We can’t all leave a prestigious background or lots of money to visit our children, but we can leave them a legacy of love.” – Naomi Rhode

Our legacy is what we leave behind, what others remember about our lives. We lost the person that touched my life most, Byrd Baggett Jr., on December 20th, 2010. He was not only my father, but he was my best friend and hero. As I thought about sharing his story and why he had such a positive impact on my life and the lives of all he encountered, I thought of the fruits of the spirit that the apostle Paul references in Galatians 5:22:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Gentleness
• Faithfulness
• Self-control

These were the fruits of dad’s life. He was always kind, gentle and patient and his goodness just made others feel at peace when they were in his presence. He was ever faithful to his family and friends – you could always count on him being there. 

Dad also had the right pace and grace. He never seemed to be in a hurry and lived every minute to its fullest. When you were in his presence, it was always about how you were doing and never about him – he genuinely loved others. And finally, as my good friend Lawson Magruder stated after dad’s death, “Byrd, your dad lived a life of grace.” That’s the word that I will always have in my heart about dad – his grace. I’ve heard it mentioned that grace is when God gives you what you don’t deserve, and mercy is when God doesn’t give you what you do deserve. And that was dad – a man of grace and mercy, slow to anger and quick to forgive. And who can ever forget dad’s ever-present smile. I now know that his joy was just an outward expression of his grace.

In closing, I’ll always be warmed by the words that our pastor, Wade Lindstrom, said about dad at his memorial service, “His life smiled.”

May your life smile,

Byrd Baggett III, proud son