Experiencing a season of grief during this festive time, I’ve thought a lot of the legacy my husband left, how people remember him and as I sit at my desk to write, wonder how people will remember me.
Leaving a legacy goes far beyond leaving behind wealth or family heirlooms that can be lost, broken, or stolen. While I enjoy the family pieces I have inherited, I remember the people who I received them from. I think of the long-lasting impact they had on my life through their words and actions.
Reflecting back over forty-nine years of marriage, I see the ups and downs, the difficult times where we chose to stand together and trust God for the outcome. I remember my husband’s love along with his stubbornness. But the impact of his loving me unconditionally for who I am and encouraging me to try things like writing when I had no confidence in my ability or gifting to do so is a legacy of love he left for me.
But what in my life impacts people and resonates with them? Does my writing? Do my words or actions? I pray they do. For the sum of my actions, words, writing, and accomplishments that resonate with people are the legacy I will leave behind. I long for it to be positive and glorify God.
I believe that having an impact that is positive and gives God the glory is how we can be the light to the world around us. Letting Christ shine through us leaves an affirming, positive legacy rather than a destructive one.
I am blessed to have received faith-filled, positive spiritual, emotional and social legacies from parents and grandparents as well as my husband. So even though this season brings more tears, the memories remain in this legacy of love.
My grandfather was a quiet man of faith. He didn’t share many words about what he believed but his everyday actions showed that he followed Jesus. He was slow to anger, quick to forgive, full of compassion. He wasn’t perfect for he was merely a man living through the good and bad times. Yet the impact of watching him live out his Christ-centered beliefs still impacts me today. He tried, with God’s help to live out Ephesians 5: 1 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Our social, emotional and spiritual impact leave a legacy far beyond monetary value and can be shared with many throughout our life and still make an impact after we have passed from this life to glory. How will we be remembered? What legacy will we leave? Does our writing, words, and actions reflect that in our everyday lives right now?
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Thank you, dear Carol, for generously sharing your touching words with us during your season of grief. You've done a beautiful job of reminding us of what matters most concerning a legacy.
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It is our most important thing, I believe... To leave a legacy that glorifies Christ, even if it comes late in life. You are blessed to have had such a supportive life partner. May God continue to strengthen you and hold you up, especially now during this holiday season, which can be so difficult... Be blessed, my friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol, for showing us the importance of legacy. May God uphold you in this season of ‘firsts.’ Big hug.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this profound reflection in your own time of pain. Your questions resonate much with me; I have asked similar questions as I've grieved the deaths of several close family members over my life. I think the following statement that you wrote sums up the best answer one can make about legacy: Letting Christ shine through us leaves an affirming, positive legacy rather than a destructive one. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteYour words are timely and wise. Our 'invisible' legacy is much more valuable than worldly goods we pass along. You summed it up nicely. "Our social, emotional and spiritual impact leave a legacy far beyond monetary value and can be shared with many throughout our life and still make an impact after we have passed from this life to glory." Bless you during this season especially with the juxtaposition of joy and grief filling your heart. It's good to remember the legacy your husband bestowed on you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol, for sharing your heart and the legacies of your family and husband left, especially as you shared through the pain of loss. What a treasure you have! A life that honours and glorifies Jesus is the most important legacy we can leave.
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