A Legacy

What do you most desire to leave as a legacy for your children? 

When you think about what you would leave for your children, do you think of trust accounts, an education fund or family mementos?  While it may be well and good to prepare these things, I am thinking of something a little more eternal. 

What are your highest hopes for your children?

 I believe that the greatest gift and most beautiful legacy you can give your children is the opportunity of life with God.  It is a gift that I am forging each and every day, from the moment I get up, to the moment I lay down.  Children learn by instruction, that is true, but they most often learn by example.  I want them to see me living, breathing, loving Jesus each and every day of my life, through the good and the ugly.  I want them to know that a relationship with your Savior is not just awesome, but essential.  I want them to know that they can trust him with their life, no matter what it looks like.

Children watch very carefully. I am a teacher, I see them watch the world around them.  Especially their parents.

  I desire for the legacy I build for my children to not be bound to their younger years, but be a solid rock from which they can build their own faith and a life eternal.  I believe the only way to do this is to practice what we preach.  Our boys pray and praise with us, in good times and bad.  They see God fight for them again and again.  They see God say yes.  They see God tell us to wait.  They see him say no.  And in every situation they learn about the nature of God and why we love him so much. 

For the Lord grants wisdom!

From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.

He guards the path of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

(Proverbs 2:6-8)

I do not pretend to know how to raise my children.  This is the first and only time I get.  I don't get a re-run if it falls in a heap.  So I want to know that I am trusting in in someone bigger than myself.  Someone who knew our children before we conceived them and who knows their future.  The best and only thing I can promise them as a legacy, is my walk with God, my love and care of them, and my encouragement to walk in godly faith.
If we are honest with God and walk in integrity, we will be granted common sense to deal with the day to day challenges, and God will protect both us and our children because we put our faith in Him.  God only wants the absolute best for his children, so I trust him with both my life and the lives of my children. 

What is the greatest treasure you hope to give your children?