Whether we intend to or not, we each will leave a legacy, good, bad or indifferent, for those whose lives we have significantly touched. A legacy is more than just temporal material goods listed in someone’s will. It also means leaving behind a part of yourself, a remnant of your essence interwoven within the fabric of another’s experience. To make it meaningful, would it not be better if we were purposeful about it, include the beneficial, exclude the dross. Yes, we say, but how many of us accomplish this? I cannot say that I have been as intentional as I would have liked throughout my life.
Thinking myself an inadequate example, I thought about those who have significantly impacted my life, searching for their legacies sewn into my being. I only had one grandparent, the others were not present in my life due to divorce and distance. I deeply cherished my grandmother. She was in my life from my earliest memories, and by her example she instilled in me a deep devotion to the Lord and to family. My mother has shown me generosity to a fault, perseverance through great financial difficulty and how to laugh out loud unashamed. My stepfather, whom I considered my Dad regardless, imparted to me unconditional love though not originally his own, and the comfort of his steady commitment to provide for us with my mother. My father, who has always been my Dad though I was separated from him at an early age by irreconcilable differences between parents and a discouraging number of miles, has taught me quiet strength and determination, the dignity of inconspicuous hard work, and survival is possible after gut-wrenching broken relationships. Outside family members, friends shared loyalty, laughter, and late-night counseling. When I first entered the workforce an experienced elderly supervisor taught me work ethic and attention to detail that served me well throughout my career; another exhibited trust in my abilities when I was a young pre-college graduate to prove I had diligent initiative, was a fast learner and self-taught when needed; towards the end of my career, one exemplified confidence, patience and mercy as my health declined yet my skills remained intact.
From all these people, most of whom I’m not in their will, I have nevertheless received a legacy from them by their investing in my life, as I have hopefully reciprocated in theirs. But not as successfully as if I had been deliberate about it. Have I been deliberate about leaving my children a legacy? Not financially, not materially; for a lifetime of working hard, I have precious little to show for it. Because of health issues I had to retire about ten years early. The 403B really needed that additional decade if I was going to have enough to live on let alone leave my children a financial legacy, so there is no windfall when I am gone. Since I was a single mom for virtually all my children’s lives, all money earned was spent on living expenses, which did not allow for many frills or extra purchases. Nothing extravagant sits in my house for them to inherit – and the house itself I may lose because my health does not permit me to work any longer, so they will have very little in material things to inherit. What will they have of me when I’m gone? Or the others I have known and may have influenced? Has my being here meant anything? Then the Lord reminds me I live my life subject to Him. My behaviors, my actions, my choices, my course corrections are colored by the influence of His Word, His still small voice telling me this is the way, walk ye in it (Isaiah 30:21).
For my children, though I have struggled with the lifetime pall of depression, they have managed to see God’s eternal light shining through my battle with darkness and learned to love the Lord despite the attempts of life’s burdens to snuff my light out. They know of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty because I purposefully provided them the opportunity to learn of Him, to flex their own spiritual muscles to build their own devotion and confidence in Him. As adults they follow Him still, confident that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).
In II Corinthians 3:3-5 it says “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” My competence as a parent, as a family member, as a friend, as a professional, comes not from my broken self, but from the legacy of love the Lord shows me as He puts me back together over and over again, re-writing my story from one of defeat to His of ultimately shared victory. Perhaps I have woven a meaningful legacy in the lives of others after all.
