I look back on the friendships I’ve had in gospel music, the memories we’ve made and times we’ve shared that live on in the stories we tell about our experiences on the road and in hotels and restaurants all over the Northern Hemisphere and abroad, the places we’ve been privileged to visit and the wonderful people we’ve been honored to meet.

I think of friends who have walked through the trenches with me, who, when I was wounded from the battles of life, bandaged my wounds and got me to a place of healing, much like the Good Samaritan; some names you might readily recognize, some you will probably never know. But they stand along the road of my memories like monuments to mark the places where God met my needs through their generosity and caring concern.

Contemporary Christian artist Michael W. Smith’s most famous song, “Friends,” tells the story of friends who are parting, yet reminding each other that “friends are friends forever when the Lord’s the Lord of them.” Proverbs 17:17 says that a friend loves at all times, and 18:24 says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Someone once stated that there are friends who are in our life only for a season and some who are in our life for life. But whether for life or for a season they are all in our lives for a reason! And the time we share our journey through life, whether briefly or for many years, comes with the opportunity to be a blessing.

I recently called a friend who has been relieved of a position he has held for twenty years … a man who, by any measure, is a successful godly leader. I called to let him know that I was his friend and there was nothing he could do about it. Just this morning I sent a quick email to a friend primarily to remind him that I loved him and treasured his friendship.

We have special days to honor mothers and fathers and grandparents. I don’t know if one exists but maybe we should have a day to honor friends, when we spend the day calling or emailing or visiting with the people who grace our lives with their friendship.

As you’re reading this, I can imagine there are people whose faces cross the screen of your mind and you recall their special place in your life. May I encourage you to let them know how much you treasure them. I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t enjoy being honored and made aware of how valuable they are to someone else. In fact, what if we took five minutes out of every day to do that? One call, one email, one person a day. Let’s start a movement!

For questions or comments you can email Billy@Blackwoodbrothers.com.

UPDATE: Funeral arrangements added at the end of this page.

Growing up in Mountain Grove, Missouri, Dwayne taught himself to play guitar in the style of Chet Atkins and became well known for his classic fingerstyle playing. He would go on to perform with The Happy Goodman Family, The Blackwood Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, and The Smitty Gatlin Trio, among others, and he was hired to play on numerous Gospel albums over the years. He also recorded several solo albums, appeared multiple times at the Grand Ole Opry, and performed at Rex Humbard’s Cathedral of Tomorrow.

In 1969, at the very first GMA Dove Awards, Dwayne was the winner in the Instrumentalist category. Then in 1970, he won in the same category and also received an award for Song of the Year as one of the writers of “The Night Before Easter.” In addition to that song, Dwayne wrote or cowrote many others, including “The Little Boy from the Carpenter Shop” and “I Came Here to Stay.”

During the 1970s, Dwayne traveled for a while with Jimmie Snow (son of Hank Snow) and Carol Lee Cooper (daughter of Wilma Lee Cooper). He sang harmony, played guitar, and even preached occasionally during their evangelistic meetings.

Dwayne had a passion for preaching and evangelism, and he started his own ministry, Dwayne Friend Ministries, in the 1970s. He had a successful 30-minute Sunday morning television show, performing music and preaching, and he also held crusades from coast to coast, seeing thousands come to know Christ.

Gene Reasoner (Jubilation/White River) shares these words about Dwayne, with whom he was good friends: “I met Dwayne when I was 14 years old and his superb musicianship captured my heart. He became an icon and mentor to me. His greatest asset was not his skill on the guitar, it was his heart for evangelism. He won thousands to Jesus in his crusades and became known for his powerful invitations to the altar. His preaching hero was Billy Graham and he patterned his preaching and altar call style after Rev Graham. He will be missed.”

Funeral arrangements for Dwayne Friend are as follows:
Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. CT, followed by the funeral service at 10 a.m. CT, both at Crossroads of Faith Church, which is just north of Mountain Grove at the address 8515 Highway 38, Mountain Grove, Missouri, 65711. For more information and directions, or to post a tribute to Dwayne, visit the Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home website or call (417) 926-4111.

I started having children late in life and tried to make up for lost time. As such, I am old enough to be my five children’s grandfather! That is something that in hindsight I might not recommend but it is what it is and the net result is that I am sensitive to that reality in their lives. I give special attention to culture that is part of my kids’ world because being relevant and having a good relationship with them is one of my top priorities. I eat a pretty healthy diet because being there for my children is a priority.

The article you’re reading is part of a journey I committed to a number of years ago when Danny Jones approached me and asked me if I would be willing to write a monthly article for Singing News Online. I was honored that he would ask and I agreed to do just that. So, pretty much every month for the last several years I have written that article. At times that has been a struggle and I have missed a few months here and there for various reasons. This summer has really been a struggle. My last article was written for May, so I am going on six weeks behind in my commitment to write for SN Online.

In case you don’t know, Memphis has been the hometown of the Blackwood Brothers since the group moved there in 1950. In 1957 we formed and held the first National Quartet Convention there at the old Ellis Auditorium, and in the ’70s and ’80s we held an annual event called the Blackwood Brothers Homecoming in that same auditorium. In 2013 we began to help host an event in Memphis every June called the Memphis Quartet Show. It is four days of nothing but great gospel male quartet music sung and performed at its best. It is held in the Cannon Center, which sits on the sight of the old Ellis Auditorium. So, Memphis and, in particular, that spot of ground, has great historical significance.

In 2015 I had an idea to host a bar-be-cue lunch for our fans and friends during MQS. Memphis is famous for several things, among them, bar-be-cue and Beale Street, the home of blues music. So, we combined great bar-be-cue with Beale Street and the Blackwood Brothers and began what has now been five years of a fan appreciation lunch at a BBQ restaurant on Beale Street held during the Memphis Quartet Show. It just so happens that our initials are also BBQ (Blackwood Brothers Quartet). It was almost as if it were meant to be! Several people have mentioned that the luncheon is the highlight of their weekend in Memphis. It is very impromptu, informal, and fun! But, it does require quite a bit of forethought and preparation, which translated means work for me.

The weekend after Memphis Quartet Show, I took my son, Will, to Gettysburg National Civil War Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and to Antietam National Civil War Site in Maryland. He loves military history, particularly Civil War history, and we had a great father/son weekend touring the battlefields.

The next weekend my wife and I flew to Phoenix for me to lead worship at an annual event called Athletes International Ministries Conference. AIM is a weekend of spiritual renewal and transformation for both professional and collegiate athletes. Packed with great speakers like Mets and Yankees star Darryl Strawberry, Olympic gold medalist Madeline Manning-Mims, and Pastors Tommy and Matthew Barnett from the Dream City Church in Phoenix and the Dream Center Church in Los Angeles, it is a battery-charging, life-changing four days of teaching and impartation.

And then this past weekend my youngest daughter, Ellie, GOT MARRIED! To say the last few weeks have been busy would be an understatement. It has been CRAZY at the Blackwood house with back-to-back weekends of varied but wonderful experiences. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife, wonderful children, wonderful friends, and a wonderful job/ministry with the Blackwood Brothers. I am truly a blessed man!

So, where is all this headed? I’m glad you asked! It’s about that third definition from Mr. Webster; something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives. With all those blessings comes the responsibility to prioritize. Managing to make time for my marriage, my children, my friends and my job requires making them a priority. Those who know me well might say I have just a little bit of perfectionism. (That was a joke. Please laugh appropriately.) I can also struggle with people pleasing. (Again, laughter is permitted.) Those unwelcome attributes being what they are, it is often difficult for me to say ‘no’ even when ‘no’ is the most appropriate response, or to let things go when I’d rather cross every ’t’ and dot every ‘i’. This article is an example. I completely missed writing one in June and I’m ten days late for July. (Maybe I’m recovering from my people-pleasing perfectionism after all.)

But there’s an even deeper point I want to share in this self-disclosing process. I’d rather not write or submit something just to meet a deadline. If I don’t have something that I think will benefit someone or be of value in some way, shape or form, I’d rather let it go. In the grand scheme of things, not submitting an article for a month or two will really not affect anyone’s world in any significant way. However, failing to make my wife, my children, my friends, and my ministry a priority will. I hope I’m learning to say ‘no’ and ‘let go’ when necessary.

If going through this process in a public way helps you to do the same, that’s great. Most importantly, make the Lord, your spouse, your family, your friends, and your ministry a priority. Let go of the little things that really don’t matter in the big picture. Someone once said that, “one of life’s greatest tragedies is climbing the ladder of success only to discover upon reaching the top that it’s leaning against the wrong building.” Someone also once said, “If you don’t put it on the calendar it won’t happen.” Plan time with the people who are most important to you.

In closing, let me encourage you to ‘keep the main thing the main thing.’ One of my life verses from the Bible is Proverbs 3:5&6, which says, “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” Say ‘no.’ Let go. Trust Him.

Billy Blackwood / July 2019

For questions and/or comments please email Billy at Billy@BlackwoodBrothers.com.

All Episodes of Danny’s Diary

Then came the phone call from Butch. The bus had picked up something from the highway that flew up into the engine compartment, taking out the fan and the radiator in the process. Any of my guys will tell you I’m not the most mechanical person in the world, unlike Wayne who can build or repair just about anything. But I know enough to know that with no fan and radiator, the bus was not moving from that spot unless it was being pulled by a tow truck.

God always provides for our needs and did so that day through a man at the church who had a truck and a trailer. He drove the 45 minutes to where the bus was, helped the guys load all the equipment out of the bus and into the trailer, and brought them back to the church so we could do the concert. Then, after the concert, the reverse process began as we loaded the trailer and he took them back to the bus, where they loaded all our gear back on to the bus. By that time, the tow truck was there to tow the bus back to Nashville to Eagle Nest, where our friend, Mark Chadwell, and crew take care of our baby.

An insurance adjuster verified that the problem was covered under a road hazard clause (can we get a BIG PRAISE GOD!), and parts were ordered to begin the repair process. We also had the unusual situation of having nearly two weeks off, which we naively assumed would be enough time for the repairs to take place. Well, that was an incorrect assumption. And ahead of us loomed a two-and-a-half week tour to the Pacific Northwest, including three days in British Columbia. And we had no means of transportation.

I don’t know the last time you’ve tried to rent a tour bus but the cost is in the $500-$600 A DAY range plus a $300 A DAY driver. It didn’t take a mathematician to realize that a seventeen-day tour would put us in a deep financial hole. But, again, God provided. As I began to explore options and try to piece together a plan, my wife, in her usual brilliance, asked the question, “Is there a way you can reach out to other group managers who have faced similar situations and ask for their input?” Looking back, that seems like an obvious question. I simply hadn’t thought of it, but once she said it I realized the wisdom of it. So, I sent a group text to friends in our industry and said, “HELP!” One of those was Gary Casto of Tribute. I think he relayed the need to Josh Singletary, who knew that Kasey Kemp, leader of Avenue Trio, had a couple of weeks off and a van and trailer that would be idle.

So, he contacted Kasey, who also happens to be good friends and next-door neighbors of our own Jonathan & Sarah Mattingly, and Kasey called me and said, “Hey, I have a Sprinter van and trailer I’m not using for two weeks, and if you need it you are welcome to it.” He didn’t balk when I told him we were headed on a 5,000-mile round trip to the Pacific Northwest, but said that would be no problem. To make it even better, we actually wouldn’t be home before Avenue Trio’s next trip out, but Kasey had already reckoned that with just the three of them, they could make the weekend trip in his SUV, which they did.

There are some obvious points to make from all of this; God provides; He goes before us to make a way where there seems to be no way; listen to your spouse’s counsel; present the need to people God can use to meet it, etc. But, what I really want to say is, “That’s a Brother!” When you have opportunity to see and hear Avenue Trio in concert, go and support them. Anyone with a heart like Kasey & Company will minister to you. I know for a fact!

—Billy Blackwood

Please direct your comments or questions to Billy@BlackwoodBrothers.com.

I have not been so fortunate and have seen that dynamic from both ends of the situation, both as a kid growing up with my dad on the road and as a dad on the road leaving my family to go sing. It is just not easy. I often wonder how people in the military do it being gone for months, if not years at a time. They are stronger than I!

If you dig a little deeper into the feelings of one who is away from loved ones for extended periods of time you’ll probably discover reasons why it is so difficult to be away. While I can’t speak for someone in the military or anyone else for that matter, I can say that one of the hardest things for me is getting to a place to sing and the people there look at you like their face would crack if they dared to smile, or like they just ate a bowl of sour fruit and a smile is the furthest thing from their mind. Sometimes they sit there with ‘ATTITUDE’ written across their forehead as if to say, “Okay, show me what you’ve got.”

And sometimes there are people who have grown up in a church where they have been taught that the proper thing to do in church is sit down, shut up, stand when they tell you, sit when they tell you, and by all means, do not, under any circumstances, even consider enjoying any part of the service and, if you do, make sure no one knows it. Obviously, I’m exaggerating, but anyone who travels and sings has stood before congregations who display those qualities. You still give it your best but in the back of your mind you’re thinking, “I left my wife and family at home for this?!”

Then you go to a church like we sang in Sunday night in Bradenton, Florida. We had the privilege of singing at Pastor Bill Bailey’s Happy Gospel Church there, and does it ever have an appropriate name! They understand that “the joy of the Lord is my strength!” Those folks know how to have church! Pastor Bill is about to celebrate thirty years of pastoring there, and it is proof that the local church reflects the attitude of the pastor. If you know Bill, you know that he is a positive, happy guy and a joy to be around.

The audience was receptive and appreciative and we quickly developed a rapport with them. But the real prize came at the conclusion of the service. On the second half of the program we sang several songs from our Classics CD; “Who Am I,” “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power,” “He Touched Me,” and “If That Isn’t Love,” followed by an a cappella rendition of “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.”

As we concluded I shared some remarks about the forgiveness and friendship Jesus offers us and, as people bowed their heads for a closing prayer, I asked if anyone wanted to receive Christ. Toward the back on the right an elderly man raised his hand and prayed the sinner’s prayer as the congregation joined him.

As we minister the gospel in song we know that people’s hearts are warmed and encouraged and they are reminded of the goodness of God, but the ultimate joy is when someone responds by giving their life to Christ. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Leaving home and family is never easy, but seeing people come to faith in Christ because we came to share Him makes every mile worth it.

—Billy Blackwood

We spent two weeks of January ministering in Arizona, Texas and Southern California. As is my custom when preparing for a trip I checked the weather for a week before we left to get some idea of what to expect. When we’re headed to the Southwest I often don’t bother because I’ve come to expect balmy temperatures there regardless of the season. But I had caught a few days of news in the days before we left and it was actually as warm or warmer in Nashville than it was in Phoenix! So, I paid closer attention than I would normally.

Also, we were on tour for two-and-a-half weeks and experience has taught me that being gone that long can include some unforeseen weather events. When you’re 2,000 miles from home and encounter a cold snap you can’t exactly run back to the house and grab a jacket. And I must admit that I don’t have a lot of reserve body heat. I get chilled easily and it’s not an experience I relish. I’m probably telling you all this to justify the fact that I took enough clothes to last me all winter in any climate from Antarctica to the Sahara. I never participated in Boy Scouts but their motto, “Be Prepared,” is my motto as well. I really dislike being somewhere far from home and thinking to myself, “I have a jacket hanging in my closet at home that is perfect for the weather today.”

The net result of all this is that I had about four different jackets in anticipation of changing temps and precipitation, and clothes for hot, cold, wet, dry, and everything in between. It looked like I had left home when I loaded my clothes on the bus before we left town.

It strikes me that life is a little like that. You think you have things figured out or at least you’re in a comfortable routine of habits and a schedule that makes sense at least most of the time. And then life sends in a cold front that defies predictions and logic as far as we can tell. January has been that way for Butch and his family. Most of you know Butch Owens, our bass vocalist. Butch has been with us for almost seven years and is about the best quartet guy I have ever worked with. He not only sings bass, but is our road manager as well. He contacts the people we’re going to sing for and schedules our leaving and load in times, etc. He also does the lion’s share of the driving. If and when he ever chooses to leave, it would take at least two, if not three, people to replace him.

Butch comes from a very close knit family. He and his wife, Margaret, have been married forever and have two adult children, Adrianne and Ian. Ian sings bass with Soul’d Out Quartet. Butch graduated high school with Margaret’s older sister, Sheree and, as such, they have been close for many years. At Christmas, Sheree was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of biliary cancer and given 6-12 months at best. As she is single, Butch and Margaret, with Sheree’s agreement, made the decision to move her from Mississippi to their home in Spring Hill, TN where they could take care of her. When she had been there a week God chose to shorten her suffering dramatically and He took her home January 29th. Her funeral is tomorrow, Feb. 1st.

If life is anything, it’s uncertain. The only certainty is death; unless you have placed your faith and trust in Christ’s atoning death as being sufficient for your sins. If that is true of you there is yet another, even greater certainty and that is eternal life! Sheree is in the presence of her Savior as I write, seeing things we can only imagine.

Life can be like the weather—ever changing and unpredictable. But eternal life can be certain with one decision—the decision to trust Christ for salvation. I often say I’m glad that God didn’t make it so complicated that only the intellectuals could figure it out. And I’m glad He didn’t make it so expensive that only the wealthy could afford it. No, He made it simple for people like me and paid the price ahead of time so all we have to do is believe and receive. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. But eternity with God is available to all who will believe in God’s provision for us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone complicate the message of the gospel for you. It’s simple enough for whosoever will.

—Billy Blackwood

Please direct your comments or questions to Billy@BlackwoodBrothers.com.

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About a week into the New Year I went out to the shed to get some tools to work on a project, and in a few minutes I began to notice I was hearing music from what seemed like a fair distance away. At first, I wasn’t even consciously aware of it, but I began to realize that I was hearing it as I continued working. Initially it sounded like an old ice cream truck, but I knew an ice cream truck wouldn’t be coming through the neighborhood the first week of January. I don’t even know if there are ice cream trucks anymore. What a favorite childhood memory when I’d be playing outside or even inside and hear that little melody. I recall when my kids were young how much joy it brought me when they’d come running to me wanting some money for the ice cream man and how I loved being able to bring them so much pleasure at such little expense.

But I knew this couldn’t be the ice cream man, and then I realized that what I was hearing was Christmas music and I thought, “Where on earth is that coming from?!” The project I was working on was immediately put on hold until I solved the Christmas music mystery. As my search intensified I realized the music was coming from the back of the shed, where a week earlier I had stored all the tubs and boxes filled with Christmas decorations. I recognized the music as being familiar, and slowly but surely matched the music with a battery-operated Santa Claus we have who sits at a desk writing a list of kids’ names and the toys he plans to deliver. It’s electric, and he moves as if he is actually writing. There is another rotary switch in the back of the base that, when turned on, plays Christmas music.

Having finally made the mental connection of the source of the sound, I then had the task of trying to find which box it was coming from. Of course, it turned out to be one in the back corner of the shed and I had to move almost all the tubs and boxes I had just put there a week ago. (Am I the only one who has things like this happen?) As I opened the box, the music jumped in volume and confirmed my conclusion: Santa was the culprit. I reached in and found the rotary switch and turned the music off, albeit somewhat reluctantly. As I did so, I had a couple of thoughts. One was how this toy had somehow gotten switched on (I still haven’t figured that out) and the other thought was wondering how long it would have played before the batteries finally ran out. It had obviously been playing for a week unbeknownst to me or anyone else. Here it was, stuck back in the corner of a storage shed, playing its little medley of Christmas songs for no one to hear.

I also had a third thought that is actually the reason I’m sharing this story. I understand this was a mechanical toy and there was no conscious decision on its part to play music, but I couldn’t help but see an application to real life. Sometimes we can feel like we’re stuck in a box, wedged in the back of life’s storage shed covered up with other boxes, and no one hears us or even knows we’re there. We can think we’ve been packed away and we don’t know if we’ll ever see the light of day. I realize this might seem silly to some people, but may I encourage you to be like that Santa, sitting at his desk, making his list, continuing to play his song even when no one notices and you think no one is listening. God hears. The world may have packed you away, but God knows where you are. You may have made choices that resulted in unintentional consequences and you feel like no one will ever listen to you again. But God does. He hears your cries in the night. He knows the hopes and dreams you are afraid to even whisper. God hears your prayers. And He answers prayer, not necessarily on our time table or in the way we would have supposed, but He answers prayer.

God makes the impossible possible. He redeems the unredeemable. He uses the vessels that others may discard or pack away. God plus nothing equals everything. Don’t give up on God, because God hasn’t given up on you. Keep singing your song. Keep making your music. If God is the only One Who hears it, that’s okay. He is enough. And He hears your song!

Keep singing your song!

—Billy

Please direct your comments or questions to Billy@BillyBlackwood.com.

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger….” (Luke 2:7)

God has an amazing way of choosing the undesirable things of earth and placing His beauty there. The presence of God changes our perceptions. It opens our eyes from the physical into the spiritual. It illuminates our vision. God takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary; the natural, supernatural; the worthless, priceless. So it was that first night in Bethlehem. Only the God of the universe would have chosen a manger as the place to bring His Son into the world, a feeding trough for Mary and Joseph to lay the Word made flesh; certainly not a place of splendor or a palace for a king.

For many people that night, thoughts were anywhere but directed towards a stable in Bethlehem. How different today. Now nativities are found in homes or front yards of families right in your neighborhood. The manger today has been transformed into a thing of beauty and holiness. But the beauty of the manger is not because of what it is, but because of Who resided there. When we see the manger, we see Jesus. And He makes it beautiful.

Far from the material extravagance of Christmas today, the first Christmas was born of humility. And Humility is the great extravagance, even to the death on the cross.

That first night probably found many people staring down wrong paths and dead-end streets. But I have a feeling that on that same night, all of heaven had their eyes fixed on a tiny manger. Outside the atmosphere may have been noisy, but I wonder if all heaven was suddenly silenced as the Son of God came forth from the womb of a virgin. There were no scents of cinnamon or potpourri that evening, but surely Mary and Joseph breathed the very fragrance of God as they cradled the Savior in their arms. No sparkling lights hung from the exterior of that little manger, but the Light of the world filled the interior. And although there would be no decorated Christmas tree in the corner, God would choose another tree for His Son: the cross.

The manger seems such an unfitting place for God to have chosen for His only Son. And yet, even today God still looks to place His beauty in undesirable places, dirty and unlovely mangers that now take the form of you and me. It is the love of God to look down from heaven and say, “There is another manger, and I would love to dwell there, too.” And so He knocks to see if we will let Him in. And if we do, He takes our manger and transforms it. And over time it becomes a beautiful and a holy thing.

But the beauty of our manger is not because of what we are, but because of Who resides in us. And I pray that when others see our manger, they will see Jesus. For He alone can make a manger beautiful.

Merry Christmas!
—Billy 

Please direct your comments or questions to Billy@BillyBlackwood.com.

Mona has had two best friends since they were barely teenagers who happen to be sisters, Jane and Judy. I feel like I know them because I have heard of them all my life and have seen them on occasion. Jane passed away this week, the first of their circle of friends to leave. Jane was a strong Christian and we know she is with the Lord and Mona will see her again. But the loss has still hit Mona very hard.

This morning I received a text that one of my closest friends lost his dad last night. He, too, was a strong believer and we will see him again. While “we sorrow not as those who have no hope,” the immediate loss of relationship is monumental. There is something about death that goes against everything we know to be true. It was not supposed to be a part of our life experience. Thankfully, death has been defeated at the cross!

I spent time last night talking and praying with Mona about her loss and time this morning texting with my friend, and can’t help but think about how fragile life is and how “it is appointed unto man once to die.” As I pondered those thoughts I immediately thought of the message that we sing in all of our concerts; a message of salvation, of hope, of consolation, of peace in the midst of storms, hope in the time of sorrow, and faith in the face of doubt.

Death is an interruption to life. It is a reminder of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sinful choices. And while death goes against everything we feel and believe, we as believers have the assurance that, though life has experienced a major interruption, it will continue on the other side of the grave. To answer the question Peggy Lee sang years ago, this is not all there is. There is life eternal and unending awaiting every believer.

If you have loved ones, friends or neighbors who don’t know Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to open a door for you to share your faith in Christ with them. It may be the most important conversation they will ever have and potentially the greatest gift they will ever receive.

Abundant blessing, peace, and joy to you and yours.

Billy Blackwood billy@blackwoodbrothers.com