AROMATIC MEMORIES

9 years ago today Daddy died. I feel sad all over! I still miss this gentle giant in my life.

A punctual man. His kids could pretty much set their watches by him.

Early to rise with his 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast to always be on time at Hopkinsville Livestock Company on 1st street. Sick day was not a term in his vocabulary.

Daddy always worked. In earlier years he workd in Clarksville on Wednesday & Russellville on Sat.

His Post Office run would be followed M, T, R, & F by lunch at Roundies, with jello as his dessert. 

As I said in a 2018 blog entry: Remembering Daddy........

His character is etched on my heart. My hope is that the next generations, his grandchildren  and "great grands" will consider the character of their Grandaddy Brud and emulate it as they remember him.

Of course, the greatgrands will ony remember as they have been told be cause the few who were born before he died were youngsters. 

It's important to tell those of next generations of the goodness of the Lord as we share the memories and stories of ones in our family who followed Him. (PSALM 78:4)

MONDAY MEDITATION

Monday prayers include (along with Wynellen) many of my "M" friends & my "M" family. Family girls include "my" Molly, MJ, Megan, Maeve, Marion (Lucy) & most recent addition, Marigold. Praying and meditating on Psalm 78:4, 6-7 and Proverbs 20:24 My phone "dinged"----so glad I checked the messages. What I saw blessed my heart and enhanced my meditation.

I often look at pictures from my prayer journal when I pray for youngsters in my life.

Here's my newest "M" youngster!

FRIDAY FUNERAL

Funerals can be a celebration of a life well-lived. 

Such was today's funeral of 88 year old Lilly Laughlin!

Lilly, a woman whom I have called friend for 50 years, showed me throughout all those years that God was her refuge. Nearness "to her Lord" was evident to all who knew her as she told of His works and lived a life of faith and fun! 

"Her flesh and her heart may have failed but God was the strength of her heart and portion" up until she took her final breath and God received her in to glory. (Psalm 73:24, 26, 28) 

Lilly holding hydrangeas, from my daughter Molly's yard, is one of my favorite pictures. Plus, it's in a "Dotsy" frame.

Lilly did not hide her love of the Lord from her descendants; she told her girls and grands and most of us in attendance, many of whom have told their next generation (grands and great grands) of the "praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done," as it says in Psalm 78:4.

This "Friday Funeral" for one of God's faithful was indeed a celebration!

Our loss of sweet Lilly is heaven's gain! Glory be to God.

CHOOSE: STORYTELLING!

Storytelling. An oral tradition that binds families together with shared memories.

Donald Davis is the master of such a tradition. He leaves his audiences "limp from laughter and with a lump in their throats" reports the New York Times.

Our kids and now our grands have grown up with his tales. Caleb (11) was privy to hearing him in person last year in Texas. This past weekend Owen (10) attended a storytelling festival at Balmoral Presbyterian in Memphis. 

A few years ago, hubby and I shared his Grand Canyon CD with family on our Westward Ho trip. We laughed "all the way to the bottom of the canyon" with him.

Davis says, " Storytelling is not what I do for a living---it is how I do all that I do while I am living."

I first met Donald Davis at the Methodist camp at Lake Junaluska, NC as a 17 year old. He worked in the bookstore and I was a camper. As a librarian, many years later, I heard him at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.

As a Methodist minister, Davis understands the importance of passing on stories, both Biblical and personal to the next generation. (Joel 1:3 & Psalm 78:4) We should all do the same.

That's why hubby and I both choose storytelling and the importance of passing on that oral tradition.

3 FUNERALS IN 3 DAYS

Life lessons can be learned anywhere, even in the midst of death!
Many different lessons I learned as I attended 3 funeral events, three days straight. Some lessons varied.
However, the one constant, in the lives honored, was  that of a godly life well lived.
A spiritual heritage!
Having heard eulogies and commendations from family members of the deceased, I understood their true legacy. Not just an "inheritance," which more often than not, is equated in financial terms.

I couldn't tell you anything about those "inheritances" they left to others, but I clearly saw the legacy their lives had imparted to each of their loved ones.

They hid God's word & deeds of faithfulness in their hearts and then shared them throughout their lives. That's the legacy they left, each in his own way.

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. (Psalm 78:4)

Their faithfulness has endured to all generations----at least their "generations" I have met and known. (Psalm 119:90; Psalm 145:4)

They left a legacy. So what's the one BIG life lesson from the 3 funerals?

One must a have a legacy in order to leave a legacy!

"heredi-TEA" : an individual cuppa

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. (Psalm 78:4, NLT)

In the Christian faith, one is not born a Christian. Everyone comes to the Lord on his own. Acceptance of faith is not hereditary. Heredi-TEA in the Lord doesn't come through the bloodline of the parents, but through an individual's acceptance of the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. One claims faith for himself; it's not ascribed by birth.

However, God's word instructs us in several ways to guide one's children to that end: to share the goodness of the Lord; to tell of His deeds and power in one's own life; Recalling all the ways God has shown His hand.  

Legacy in the spiritual realm is a lifestyle as you can only leave what you live.

As DTS former professor, Howard Hendricks, said, "You cannot impart what you do not possess."

You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.
Our older son brings each of his sons to Memphis the summer prior to his kindergarten year for a “heritage trip.”  A trip to Daddy’s hometown to see us, the paternal grandparents, along with Daddy’s former homes, schools and favorite places, and a side trip to Pickwick---where his daddy spent his growing up years.

A time of one-on-one events, coupled with lots of BBQ.

May each Liles generation "set its hope anew on God,..." (Psalm 78:7)

Building relationships is key to sharing a faith that "sticks"......"so the next 

generation might know them, even the children not yet born and they in turn 

will teach their own children." (Psalm 78:6)

"Heredi-TEA" : an individual cuppa of faith served singly (one by one) by the Lord Himself.