CHOOSE: TO LEAVE A LEGACY

You cannot impart what you do not possess. (Howard Hendricks, DTS)

You leave what you live. Legacy in a nutshell!

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Psalm 71:17-18, ESV)

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. (1 Peter 1:12)

A spiritual legacy is what I choose---so that my children and my grandchildren might walk in truth. 

Legacy Building

"Legacy Building." Where does it all start. 

According to scripture, building a spiritual legacy begins in the home. (Deuteronomy 6:7) 

With five sons, a dad might need to be intentional about finding some one-on-one time in order to follow these commandments. (Deuteronomy 6:1-9)

Or....take advantage of a spontaneous moment on "the "front steps."

Building a legacy takes many moments, both intentional and spontaneous.

You leave what you live.

Building a legacy side by side. Dog included!

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!

Nos-TEA-algia

A good [man] leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: 
(Proverbs 13:22, KJV)

Memories can warm you from the inside out. Other memories hold the pain of loss or loneliness.
Today's arrival of my class of '64 group picture, had recent memories of that "fun" event flood my mind. But recalling those whose faces were missing from the picture, tugged at my heart.

Not only that, but the memories, from that place where so many of my yesteryears were spent, are buried deep......but not so deep that they don't surface. Family memories.

Those memories had started surfacing as we turned toward "home" at least 24 miles out. I felt them in the pit of my stomach. No longer was a family home available in "my hometown."
No longer would Daddy dance with me at my reunion as he had done just 5 years earlier. I would visit Riverside Cemetery, not 2211 South Virginia though I would drive by.

Yet, when I visited the Christian Village homes of my parents' friends, we shared memories of happy times with Mother and Daddy. Bittersweet, yet somewhat healing. I indeed had a rich inheritance and it was therapeutic as I shared and recalled special events and funny times with their friends. Sharing was a two-way street and I think each of us took a little edge off the loneliness we all felt.

Sometimes a cuppa nos-TEA-algia is easier to swallow than at other times. 

Sharing that cuppa with "old" friends helps.

Propensi-TEA : a Heredi-TEA additive

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, ......... And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1:12-15, ESV)

One's inclinations or propensities are often passed down to his/her children and grandchildren. Not necessarily intentionally. At our house we use the idiom "by osmosis" when the kids have learned something by watching or listening. Maybe that's how are own leanings and proclivities have been passed down. More "caught" than "taught."

Owen's comment at the zoo today seemed to support such thinking.
"Shug, I'm good at maps like you---I'm really good at maps."

Are map skills inherited? 

What about a fascination with birds? "Pop-Pop and I are good at feeding birds." 

Pop-Pop feeds the blue parakeet and Owen feeds the green one.

The way we live, what we believe and care about are all apart of the heritage we leave. "If we don't intentionally pass on a legacy consistent with our beliefs, our culture will pass along its own." (Focus on the Family, notes)
Love of the Lord, love of maps and love of birds are just part of the legacy passed down from this house.

Heredi-TEA: a shared cuppa blended with propensi-TEA, procivit-TEA and spirituali-TEA provided by family.

Pick of the Litter

4/2/10 Fifty-nine years ago today, I chose my baby brother, or so the story goes. It was a snowy day in April in Hopkinsville, KY when my Aunt Dot Seay came to tell me of the predicament. My mother had gone to the Jennie Stuart hospital to pick up our new baby. I don’t guess we “birthed” babies back then and there had never been any “where babies come from” discussions at 2211. My Aunt Dot, who was Dr. Cost’s assisting nurse, came to tell me that 4 babies had been delivered that day----3 really ugly little girls and 1 precious little boy with curly blonde hair. She wanted to know which one I wanted since all along I had thought I would “get” a baby sister. I guess ugly didn’t appeal to me because I chose my baby brother. I made a good choice.

Our heavenly Father chose each of us. Was it a good choice?

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)

Because He sees us through the love and sacrifice of His Son, He sees a good choice. Do others see that as well? Our lives reflect the choices we make. Do we make good choices?

….choose you this day whom ye will serve;…..as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)