Tag Archives: Willie Wales

Deathbed Speeches and Uneven Blessings. Deuteronomy 33.

In the spring of 1985, our family of four drove to Baton Rouge to see my grandfather one last time. The man was born in a house in the woods in 1897, and doctors said he had little time left. After nearly a fifty-year career in the world’s largest oil refinery, the emphysema had takenContinue reading “Deathbed Speeches and Uneven Blessings. Deuteronomy 33.”

“DO YOU SWEAR?!” James 5:12.

When Hurricane Camille came ashore on Sunday, August 17, 1969, three people showed up at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge: the pastor, there to keep an eye on the building, and Willie and Vercie Wales. Paw Paw, my grandfather, figured it was Sunday morning, time to go to church. What’s a little rain? HeContinue reading ““DO YOU SWEAR?!” James 5:12.”