"WildBill" William L. Hickman Jr. 01/16/91 -- 07/04/05
Welcome!!! We are glad that you stopped by. This page is now in memory of Bill Hickman, from London Arkansas. His fight began in Feb. 2001 with Low Plts and Red Blood. After a year of test and several BMA's we found out that Bill had AML in March of 2002. After several rounds of chemo he had a BMT on March 13th 2003 in San Antonia Texas. After 18 months he relasped in September 2004. He ended his battle with AML on July 4th 2005. Feel free to sign the guestbook, look through the old journels and guestbook entries.
Thanks WildBill's Family
Journal
July 4th 2010
"Happy WildBill Day"
Hey Friends The years just keep rolling on. Its already July. And with that comes the time of celebrating our nations independence, with faith, family and fireworks. This is also a time for us to remember WildBill. This was one of his favorite holidays. I now call it WildBill Day. Hard to believe that he has been gone from our sight for 5 years. Yes Gone from our sight but never for a moment gone from our hearts and minds. I am so thankful that God made us with a memory vault. So that we can recall all the memories that are so precious to us. This year has been extra hard for us. This would have been Bill's senior year of High School. Lots of things sure weighs on us. We sure do miss Him.
As for the family:
Beka is now 11 years old, going into the 5th grade this fall. She will be moving up into the upper elementary school in Russellville. She reminds us a lot of Bill, in her looks and actions. She is enjoying her summer swimming and is ready for our summer vacation.
Stephen is now 17 and will be a senior this fall. He keeps us busy with all that he has going on. and He also keeps us broke from all the expenses that come with a senior in High School. He works at the radio station on weekends as a DJ. He is very active in school and church. His school band just got back from a Walt Disney trip. He has a girlfriend whose name is also Rebecca, so we have a hard time knowing who he is talking about, Beka his sister or Becca his girlfriend.
As for Mom and me, we are about the same, just one year older. This was my last year with the London PTA Board. I served as PTA President and I am sure glad that it is over. We still pastor the Church in Clarksville. It keeps us busy with everything else that is going on. Cindy keeps me in line.
Just wanted to update sorry not a whole lot to say. Celebrate freedom, Honor God, hold your family a little longer, time is too short, make the most with what you have.
Happy WildBill's Day (Fourth of July)
Love The Hickman's
The following newsletter has really blessed me and ministered unto us over the past several months. I wanted to share this with you and hope that it will minister unto you like it has us.
The Ultimate Healing! By David Wilkerson
Resurrection from the dead is the "ultimate healing." I tried to share that glorious truth with the grieving parents of a five-year-old boy who had died just hours before of leukemia. They had begged God for the healing of their dear child. The whole church prayed earnestly. Friends had prophesied: "He will not die; he will be healed." One week prior to the little boy's death, the heartbroken father picked the fevered child up in his arms and walked him around the room. "God, I'll not give him up. Your promises are true. My faith has never faltered. More than two or three have agreed in Your name that he should be healed. I confess it now, and I claim it." In spite of everything, the child died. I was there when that child was laid out in a tiny casket. I looked with horror on all those sad faces of Christian friends who had gathered to mourn in death. The parents were in a state of shock. Everybody was afraid to speak out what they were thinking. I know the church people were thinking it, and the pastor acted like he was thinking it. I know the parents were certainly thinking it. And just what was this unthinkable thought gripping their minds? Simply this -- "God did not answer prayer! Someone goofed! Someone stood in the way of God's healing power! Someone is responsible for this child's death. A grudge, a hidden motive, or a secret sin. Someone or something hindered the healing." It was there and then this glorious truth dawned on me, and I took the parents aside and briefly unburdened my heart. "Don't question God," I said. "Yours prayers have all been answered. God gave your son the ultimate healing. That little, fevered, diseased body has been abandoned, and Ricky is right now clothed in his perfect, painless body. Ricky has been healed! God did exceedingly above all you could ask or think of Him. He is alive and well -- all that has changed is his body and his location." Those parents turned on me with anger. They were bitter and confused, and they left the graveside to enter a bleak five-year period of doubts, questions, guilt, and self-examination. During that time, they would hardly speak to me. But God, in His mercy, always breaks through to sincere hearts. One day, while in prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon that grieving mother, reminding her of my message. She began praising the Lord, saying, "Ricky was healed. God did answer our prayers. Lord forgive our doubts. Ricky is right now alive and well and enjoying his healing." I treasure the moment we stood together, arms entwined, thanking the Lord for such comfort. Ricky's father confessed, "Dave, we were so angry with you. We thought you were heartless, suggesting our son, who had just died, had been healed. Now we understand. We were so selfish, we could not understand what was best for our son. We thought only of our own pain, our grief, our suffering. But now the Lord has shown us Ricky was not destroyed by death, but the Lord drew him to Himself."
The Life Is Not in the Shell
These mortal bodies of ours are but mere shells, and the life is not in the shell. The shell is not for keeping, but a temporary confine that enshrouds an ever-growing, ever-maturing life force. The body is a shell that acts as a transient guardian of the life inside. The shell is synthetic in comparison to the eternal life it clothes. Every true Christian has been imbued with eternal life. It is planted as a seed in our mortal bodies that is constantly maturing. It is within us an ever-growing, ever-expanding process of development -- and it must eventually break out of the shell to become a new form of life. This glorious life of God in us exerts pressure on the shell, and, at the very moment resurrection life is mature, the shell breaks. The artificial bounds are broken, and, like a newborn baby chick, the soul is freed from its prison. Praise the Lord! Death is but a mere breaking of the fragile shell. At the very precise moment our Lord decides our shell has fulfilled its function, so must God's people abandon their old, corrupt bodies back to the dust from which they came. Who would think of picking up the fragmented pieces of shell and forcing the newborn chick back into its original state? And who would think of asking a departed loved one to give up his new, glorified body -- made in Christ's own image -- and return to the decaying shell from which they broke free?
To Die Is Gain?
Paul said it! "To die is gain!" (Philippians 1:21). That kind of talk is absolutely foreign to our modern, spiritual vocabularies. We have become such life worshippers, we have very little desire to depart to be with the Lord. Paul said, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better..." Yet, for the sake of edifying the converts, he thought it best to 'stay in the shell.' Or, as he put it, "abide in the flesh." Was Paul morbid? Did he have an unhealthy fixation on death? Did Paul show a lack of respect for the life God had blessed Him with? Absolutely not! Paul lived life to the fullest. To him, life was a gift, and he had used it well to fight a good fight. He had overcome the fear of the "sting of death" and could now say, "It's better to die and be with the Lord than to stay in the flesh." Those who die in the Lord are the winners; we who remain are the losers. How tragic that God's people still look upon the departed as "losers -- poor, miserable souls, cheated out of a greater measure of life." Oh! But if our spiritual eyes and ears could be opened but for a few moments -- we would see our dear loved ones on God's side of the universe, walking in the pure, crystal river of eternal life -- trying to shout at us, "I won! I won! I'm free at last! Press on, dear earthlings; there is nothing to fear. Death does not sting. It is true -- it is better to depart and to be with the Lord." Did someone you love break out of the shell? Were you there when it happened? Or did the news reach you by phone or telegram? What kind of horrifying feelings rushed through your mind when you were told, "He is dead!" or "She is dead!"? Certainly it is natural to mourn and weep for those who die. Even the death of the righteous is painful for those left behind. But as followers of the Christ, who holds the keys of death in His hand, we dare not think of death as an accident perpetrated by the devil. Satan cannot destroy a single child of God. Satan, though permitted to touch Job's flesh and afflict his body, could not take his life. God's children always die right on His schedule -- not one second too soon or too late. If the steps of a righteous person are ordered by the Lord, He orders the final one, too. Death is not the ultimate healing -- resurrection is! Death is the passage, and sometimes that passage can be painful, even excruciating. I have seen many of God's chosen people die in tremendous pain. But Paul answers that well by proclaiming, "...I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us..." (Romans 8:18). No matter how much pain and suffering reek havoc on these bodies -- it is not even worthy to be compared with the unspeakable glory that awaits those who endure the passage.
God's Magnetic Pull
In my years of watching the godly die, I have note one common experience. I call it the Magnetic Pull. I'm convinced that death comes to the saint long before the last breath is taken. When the Lord turns the key, an irreversible magnetic pull of God's Spirit begins to draw the loved one to Himself. Somehow, God permits that person being drawn to know it is happening. He is given an inner knowledge he is going home. He has already seen a bit of the heavenly glory. While loved ones gather around him to plead for his resurrection, you can sense he doesn't want to stay imprisoned in his shell any longer. A crack has appeared; he has peered through and has glimpsed the New Jerusalem, with all its exciting eternal joys. He has seen a vision of the glories awaiting him. To turn back would be emptiness. Recently, I stood by the bedside of a saintly mother who was dying of cancer. Her hospital room was aglow with God's holy presence. Her husband and children were softly singing hymns, and, as weak as she was, she lifted her face heavenward and whispered, "I feel His pull. It's true -- He does draw us to Himself. It feels like a powerful magnet, and I'm going faster and faster, and I don't want anybody to stop me now." Within hours, she broke through her fleshly shell into God's inner circle. In that holy hour, no one dared interfere with this divine process of changing, when the terrestrial was being swallowed up by the celestial. It's so sad to hear Christians condemn God for 'taking their loved ones from them.' "Lord, it's just not fair," they argue. Though it is difficult to condemn what people say in times of deep grief, I believe such questioning can be selfish. We think only of our loss and not their gain. God only plucks out of this world those He can no longer love at a distance. Their mutual love demands they be in His presence. It is then love is perfected. To be with the Lord is to experience His love in its fulness. So you stand helplessly by as your loved one enters that passage called death. You know it's a dark, lonely path, and you can hold their hand only so far. The time comes when you have to let that loved one go and let Jesus take them by the hand. They are no longer yours -- they belong to Him. You feel so helpless, but there is not one thing you can do but rest in the knowledge that the Lord has taken over, and your loved one is in good hands. Then in a moment, they are out of sight. The battle is over. Only the broken shell remains. The delivered soul has taken flight into God's holy presence. The death of the righteous is a precious thing. David, the Psalmist, wrote, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). God looks upon the death of one of His children as a cherished moment. But we humans find little or nothing in this experience to cherish. A young mother told me a pitiful story of the trauma she endured after the death of her two children. The first child died at the age of 18 months. The second lived only about two months. She had thought God had given her the second child to make up for the loss of the first -- now both were dead. She and her Christian husband went through months of self-examination. Was there sin in their lives? Had they angered God by doubting His healing power? Were they in some way responsible for the deaths of their children? Then, one dark day, a 'good Christian friend' came to them with what she declared to be a message from the Lord. They were, she said, being chastised by the Lord for hidden grudges, dishonesty in their marriage. "Those children would still be alive," they were told, "if your hearts had been purged of sin and if your confession had been right." They were crushed to despair. But God, in His mercy, showed them how ridiculous such thoughts were. Such teaching is tragic nonsense. God doesn't play Russian roulette with lives. Shall we quit praying for the dying? Shall we give up on the terminally ill? Should we just lie down and die, if that leads to the ultimate healing? Never! More than ever in my life, I believe in divine healing. We should pray for everybody to be healed. And the only people who are not healed, according to our concept of healing, are those who are chosen for His ultimate healing. some are not given restored organs or limbs -- instead, they are given the perfect healing -- glorified, painless, eternal bodies. What is there that our minds can conceive as being a greater miracle than resurrection from the dead?
We Are Too Earth Bound
Any message about death bothers us. We try to ignore even thinking about it. We suspect those who talk about it as being morbid. Occasionally we will talk about what heaven must be like, but most of the time the subject of death is taboo. How different the first Christians were. Paul spoke much about death. In fact, our resurrection from the dead is referred to in the New Testament as our Blessed Hope. But nowadays, death is considered an intruder that cuts us off from the good life we have been accustomed to. We have so cluttered our lives with material things, we are bogged down with life. We can no longer bear the thought of leaving our beautiful homes, our lovely things, our charming sweethearts. We seem to be thinking, "To die now would be too great a loss. I love the Lord -- but I need time to enjoy my real estate. I married a wife. I've yet to prove my oxen. I need more time." Have you noticed there is very little talk nowadays about heaven or about leaving this old world behind? Instead, we are bombarded with messages on how to use our faith to acquire more things. "The next revival," said one well-known teacher, "will be a financial revival. God is going to pour out financial blessing on all believers." What a stunted concept of God's eternal purposes! No wonder so many Christians are frightened by the thought of death. The truth is we are far from understanding Christ's call to forsake the world and all its entanglements. He calls us to come and die. To die without building memorials to ourselves. To die without worrying how we should be remembered. Jesus left no autobiography -- no headquarters complex -- no university or Bible college. He left nothing to perpetuate His memory but the bread and the wine. What is the greatest revelation of faith, and how is it to be exercised? You will find it in Hebrews: "These all died in faith... confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth... But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:13-16). Here is my honest prayer to God -- Lord, help me cut loose from the bondage of things. Let me not squander my gift of life on my own selfish pleasures and goals. Help me to bring all my appetites under your control. Make me to remember I am a pilgrim, not a settler. I am not your fan, but your follower. Most of all, deliver me from the bondage of the fear of death. Make me to finally understand that to die in Christ is gain. Help me to look forward with precious anticipation to my moment of Ultimate Healing.
Hey Friends It still just doesn't seem real some days...here it is 8 months since Bill had his day of freedom from this life and entered into the liberty of Heaven. Everyone says "It will get better with time..." and yes it might...but time really heals nothing...
Each time one of our friends lose a child...we feel that pain again...just the ones that we have come to know and beens friends with, knowing their are others out there that we never have met.
In the last 9 months there have been 8 that we knew, Keep praying for these families....
** This was the comments of the family at the Celebration Service, some have asked and commented about what was said, we have posted it for you to read.**
The Hickman family would like to express to you our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all the prayers, love, food and floral offerings, financial support, and many little things not just during this week, but also during the last 4years and 10 months while Bill was sick. Your support and attendance today shows us what an impact Bill had on so many lives.
For Cindy, Stephen, Beka and I; Bill was the rock of our home. He was the one who would always go around and tell us, Mom and Dad, everything is going to work out alright. If we heard it once I know we heard it a thousand times. As most of you know Bill always tried to encourage others if he was at home, or at school, and especially at church and clinic we would try to encourage someone that was feeling down.
Bill had his own way of during things. Many have told me that Bill never did anything by the book. During treatment and extended hospital stays the doctors would tells us what to expect, things like tiredness and sleepiness. But not Bill, how many times have we had to run him down when the doctors were making their rounds. He would be down at the nurse’s desk entertaining them or singing to them. I remember those times when they had to get their work done so they would have to ask Bill to leave, you could hear him like a freight train, I.V. poll and all coming down that hall, slinging that pump, quickly plugging it in, jumping in the bed, knowing that he wasn’t happy that they made him come back. Just to jump back out of bed 5 minutes later and unplug the pump and head right back down there and do it all over again. That was Bill’s way.
The water gun fights and alcohol foam fights with the nurses in the hall. He never did anything by the book.
I remember when his counts were real low after treatment a few years back, and he couldn’t get around a whole lot of people and for several weeks couldn’t go to wal-mart. He began to make plans to invent what he called “Cancer Golf cart and Mobile wheel Chair. His description and model was, for kids with cancer that want to go in stores. A glass enclosed cart. It has a fan and a hepa filter system so kids can go into the stores and shop.
Every musical instrument he picked up, he could play. During treatment he would entertain the nurses with his harmonicas. Playing even in the doorway of his room in a chair if he had to so they could hear him. I remember when he was going back to school during the second semester of his 6th grade. He wanted to learn to play the trumpet and knowing the challenge was great and with help and encouragement of his band teacher, Mrs. Nivens, was able to get caught up with the class. I remember Mrs. Nivens telling me one day that she was not sure if he was going to be able to do it, then maybe a few weeks later telling me, that he came in one day and played “Amazing Grace” and from then on was doing fine.
I remember how he just picked up the bass guitar one day at church, and ask me which key was I playing in, I told him and before I knew it, he had found it on the bass guitar and was flowing righting along.
This is Pastor William Hickman, and welcome to God’s word for today, that may not be a familiar phrase to you, but it was for Bill. I can say that he was my number one supporter, it was he who inspired me to begin that radio program over 2 years ago, by telling me one day on one of our clinic trips to Little Rock, that People need encouragement early in the morning, it would make their day go a little better, believe me we had our many days of travel to ACH early mornings. One of his favorite programs was when I was talking about our to-days and how we need to realize that our troubles and difficult times are just for a little while, and my favorite one liner for that day, was “You will never have to live this day again, tomorrow will be a brand new day.”
He felt led that God had called him to preach, and preach is what he did, He would preach to me all the time. Though he may have never been able to stand behind a pulpit many times and deliver a message, his life and testimony sure spoke volumes to people each day. It was one of Bill’s highlights when we were able to License him to preach through our local church.
We could go on, and on, the stories to many to tell.
We are so thankful for the wonderful staff of doctors at ACH. Dr. Sacentee, Dr. Saylors, Dr. Becton, and Dr. Stine also Doctor Wall in San Antonio TX. For all your work and wisdom during the treatment and transplant process.
Thanks to the nurses at ACH, Hemoc clinic and 3 gold, that had the task, and you know it was a task, in doing things the way Bill wanted them. There was your way, and then their was Bill’s way and who always got his way, that’s right; Bill
Thanks to all his teachers, staff, and counselors who helped with his studies, being so understanding, too many for me to list them all, but you know who you are and we appreciate all you have done.
Thanks to family and friends that supported us and helped us during the last several years and know you will be there for us in the days to come.
Thanks to our church family: the support of a loving church during the struggles of their pastor’s Family. I could not ask for a better congregation.
Thanks to Bill’s friends and fellow students; he was always so thankful for your support, you meant a lot to him. I know he impacted your lives. His best friend since the first grade, Dustin Curry wrote this about him and I Quote, “I’m sure that Bill wouldn’t want us to be saddened and mourn his death, he’d rather have us celebrate his life. I just know that he is in a better place…”
Bill has inspired and challenged so many…we will miss him, we will let him go, but one day we will find him again, and remember, We will never have to live this day again.
Thanks and God Bless
The Hickman Family
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For Your Information!!!
We added up that Bill ate close to 75 steaks from October 94 to June 95. I don't know if that is a record or not...but I know he enjoyed everyone...
New Photos of Bill when he was a Baby!! We hope you enjoy them...
Enjoying all the Birthday wishes and stories...we would like to hear more stories. If you have a story about WildBill please let us know. We would like to later write them all down... Today was a day of mixed feelings...it is hard to explain...keep praying for us... Love The Hickman's
Jan. 15th 2006 Hope all is well, today is Bill's 15th Birthday...Seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and now it has been 15 years later and we still wish we could bring him home. The hurt and the emptiness is still just as hard today as it was on July 4th. Thanksgiving was hard to celebrate, even though everyone told us, you still had so much to be thankful for...we still struggled with being thankful...than after that came Christmas. Last year we were overloaded with gifts and things that this year we really didn't want to get anything...we forced ourselves to make it through the Holidays...and now came a new year and Bill's Birthday. We are going to get a cake, balloons and we are still going to celebrate his birthday. So send him greetings on the webpage we would like to hear your Bill Birthday stories!!!
P.S. Enjoying all the Birthday wishes and stories...we would like to hear more stories. If you have a story about WildBill please let us know. We would like to later write them all down...
God Bless The Hickman's
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The following is the words to a song that really does minister a lot to us...we know that sometimes, God chooses not to heal here...but healing took place there... let these words touch you...
"Across the River"
I’ve often prayed for God, to heal a loved one I’ve pleaded for his touch, upon their lives I’ve rejoiced with every prayer, I’ve seen him answer But at times I’ve had to watch, and wonder why
Why would God not chose to send his healing To a precious saint, in their time of need Oh but I believe that just across the river He’s performing miracles I cannot see
Across the river – there is no sickness Across the river – there is no sorrow on that shore All the pain will be erased With one look on Jesus face Across the river – we’ll be healed, forevermore
If I live, I live because of mercy To serve Him with each borrowed breath of life Oh but if I die, I’ll still receive a healing Waiting for me, over on the other side
July 4th 2005
Bill received his healing today. He received his Day of Independence with a big bang. Free at last.
Let me tell you about Bill. For four long years he has showed me how to live as a Christian. Faith is more than escaping something, Real Faith is going through. Bill was my example. He was my rock. I depended on him, when he thought he was dependent upon me. He was my friend, we share laughs together and cries together. We knew how to pick each other up. He showed me how a Christian should really be. He was strong in what he believed...and that is what helped him through the last four difficult years of his life. Our hope is not just in this world, but our blessed hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He not only showed me how a Christian should live, but he also showed me how One should die. Full of faith, full of love, and full of hope. So if you might be at a lost for words, remember this, There comes a time in every mans life that he must face the setting sun, but not with your head bowed low, bury your sorrow in doing good things, we will miss him, but we will never let him go...
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