Leaving Behind a Legacy
No one has a monopoly on their tomorrows; only a down payment on their today.
Success will not be found on a game board, but in our ‘journey,’ down the road of
life.
If you had a premonition that you would not be around to reach your next
birthday, what would you do between now and then? What we do between our
first and last breath of life will determine the legacy we leave behind. What will
our legacy be after we are gone? Will it have impacted another life? Will it count
for something besides lost time? What changes would you make in your life? The
direction we take determines the legacy we leave behind for others. As a parent
and grandparent this is always something I think about. It is foremost in my
mind. What I leave behind for my children and grandchildren is not mere material
possessions, but things I hope have counted in my life worth real value, without
a price tag attached.
My teenage grandchildren (twins) graduate from high school this week. I think
back, remembering with a clear head, and good memory all the times I babysat
them since babies. There were happy days, sad days, busy or difficult, easy
or stressful; they were all days covered in prayer. But, watching them grow up
into young adults, ready to go out into the world with fresh ideas, unmet goals,
dreams not yet realized and questions unanswered leaves me thinking how
none of us have the answers to the questions in life. I certainly do not.
But, I know the One, Jesus Christ, who does have answers to everything, and will
walk beside them. I know He will lead them along paths straight and sure,
through valleys dark and deep, up steep mountains difficult, and treacherous, and
of course through pastures and fields where the journey is pleasant. I know He
will guide them when, or where they do not know the path to take and confusion
or uncertainty sets in somewhere, sometime. Because, as sure as a new day
comes there will be those times, and I can only pray and hope they will be ready
for the challenges that come their way, as they did for me when I was their
age. Without that hope, we are destined to succumb, or fail at whatever we are not
ready to cope with.
Here’s to you, Kristen and Chris, and to life, new challenges, experiences and
success, and to the rest of the Class of 2012, (high school or college) and to the
Hope they can have in Jesus, the ‘friend’ without a facebook page, but a book
written to His honor and glory, to the One who never changes, grows old with
time, leaves you, betrays you, or departs because He has another agenda, plan or
‘life’ to live.
Congratulations! 
