What's Your Legacy?

I was checking my email this morning and someone sent this out on one of my yahoo groups. What IS your legacy? What are you doing to leave something lasting and good for the next generation? Are you mindful of what you're doing, saying, how you're acting? How's your spiritual life? Are the little ones around you seeing you in the word daily and living a life that's pleasing to God?

I'm sure not perfect and I'm sure my kids will remember some awful things about me. However, I hope and am praying that the legacy I leave my kids is one of love, Christ-like-ness, faithfulness, purity, and strength. I hope they learn from me that it's my job as a Christian to stand for what is right and true even when it doesn't feel good. Life isn't about "feeling". It's about truth and what's right and wrong. I pray they see that in me. I pray they don't allow the pressures of the world to sway them away from what is right and true, that is God. I'm trying to live that way for them. I pray that's my legacy.

Below is the email, written by Kendra Smiley.

Greetings!
Each Thursday I have the opportunity to be on WMBI's Morning Radio Program with Mark Elfstrand. Today we talked about a recent article on "what's on your t-shirt" that caught my attention.
People display all sorts of messages on their T-shirts..." Have Car. Will travel."..." I used to have a handle on Life, but It Broke." ... and the list goes on.. They say something about the person in the shirt.

Have you thought about the lasting legacy you're leaving? One that will live on after you're gone and your T-shirts have been thrown away? More than once I've wondered how my family would remember me....what they would write on the back of my tombstone?

How can we be more certain we'll leave the kind of legacy we hope to leave?

1. Be intentional. If you want your family to remember you for being a loving parent, then that's the kind of parent you must be. If "hurry up" or "I'm too busy" are phrases they hear more frequently than "I love you," those will be your legacy. Think about the words that come from your mouth and be certain that what you do illustrates what you say. We have to remember that our actions and decisions give us away.

2. Emphasize the eternal. Place your emphasis on what is truly important... what has an eternal significance. Let your words, your actions, and decisions demonstrate your commitment to the Lord. Be a living illustration of a life devoted to Christ.

2. Don't be confused by what the world says. You'll hear the message that your kids need or want "stuff" more than they need or want you. Not true. Most children would trade the well-advertised toy for time with mom and dad. The chances exist that while you are busy having regular-every- day "quantity time" with your children, you just might get a dose of "quality time" too!

3. Remember that past mistakes are in the past. I'm guessing that there isn't a parent who would not like to redo some interactions they had with their kids. But that's not possible. So begin now and simply make the next right choice. Begin today to build a loving legacy as a parent.

4. The future is unknown, but we know who holds the future. We don't have to worry. When you focus on making the next right choice in your responsibility as a mom or dad and then follow that with the next right choice, you're well on your way to building a positive family legacy.

What will your family write on the back of your tombstone? Live the way you would like to be remembered!
What are ways you concentrate on leaving a positive legacy in your family?

Let me know at Kendra@KendraSmiley .com.

Blessings, Kendra