By Tanya McConnell Sherrill
Guest Columnist
If he had lived, Chuck McConnell would have been 100 years old on June 4, 2023.
He grew up in a time when people were made to be hard-working and strong in order to survive and rise above life’s adversities. He was a determined and strong-willed man. He was a man’s man. He never backed down to anything that he thought was right. He always showed strength. Did he show tender moments? Yes, but only a few experienced those times.
At Murphy High School, he was the football coach, girls basketball coach and physical education teacher to many in the 1950s and ’60s, and the driver’s education teacher for the remainder of his career.
He was passionate in all that he did and gave 110 percent-plus in family, athletics, teaching and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. He shared his faith on the football field, the basketball court and in the driver’s ed car, where he kept a Good News Bible in the glove compartment, at church, and at the houses of friends and strangers.
My dad was respected by many. I respected him, and some of that was respectful fear. He demanded one to do his best – not just me, his daughter, but everyone he encountered. “If you are going to do something, it should be your best and try to do it right the first time.”
I’m sure that he just wanted everyone to succeed physically, mentally, emotionally, and, above all, spiritually. Yes, spiritually. He always wanted a person to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I would like to make the statement to anyone reading this that Jesus Christ is your only hope.
In the book of John in the Bible, it says Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. I believe this with all my heart, and He is my Savior, hope and peace.
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? It is the good news. The book of Romans states that all people are sinners and the wages of sin is death, but Jesus came to die in our place so that we may spend eternal life with Him.
So I would like to reinforce my dad’s wish and invite you to accept Jesus Christ today so that you may experience freedom, peace and joy, both now and forevermore.
The writer, who is formerly of Murphy, has been a resident of Boone for more than 30 years.