Talking to Ellen Beene at Keith's funeral, she thanked BCA for the tribute page that Cam Tracy had assembled and on which several members had posted their remembrances.

"Keith would be so proud of this," she said with a smile. "And he didn't have to pester anyone."

Nearly anyone who's been an officer of BCA in the past dozen years knows what it's like to get a phone call from Keith. He had a knack for gently prodding us to do the things we needed to do. And he was quick with praise as we completed our tasks. We at the funeral noted how Keith had adapted the same skills he used to parent Erik and Miranda to guide the leaders of BCA.

Keith's prodding and encouragement was just one of the many things we remembered at his funeral on Nov. 19. The event was distinctly Keith. Before the service began, baseball-themed music played. One of the wreaths at the church was adorned with a San Francisco Giants license plate and a Louisville Slugger. Near that was Joe McKeever's cartoon sketch of "Big Daddy," drawn during the workshop last year in Mobile.

BCA members came from Nashville, Florida, west Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama to pay tribute to Keith's influence and to thank Ellen for "sharing" Keith with us. Several more of you wanted to be there and many of you prayed for Keith's family as the funeral began.

As we celebrated his life and influence, we also celebrated the fact that Keith was reunited with his Dad, Sam, in heaven. And we celebrated that Keith was with his Heavenly Father.

Please continue to pray for Keith's family during this holiday season. And stay in touch by checking the Web page or the Facebook group page. BCA must address several issues in the coming weeks and months, but for now let's spend this Thanksgiving week being thankful for Keith's life and ministry.