L is for Legacy by Carol Harrison

 

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? 

 

Carol Harrison is a writer and speaker who is passionate about mentoring people of all ages and abilities to help them find their voice and reach their full potential while finding glimmers of hope and glimpses of joy.