I've been away for a while. Sorry about that...to the two of you who check my blog regularly. I don't know that I've got much to say here lately. So many things have been happening and yet so few at the same time.

Many of my friends are losing their grandparents - Kelly, Heather, Leslie. Their hurt is so real and so deep. I saw it on Leslie's face two weeks ago at the funeral and on Kell's as we drove to church and heard it over the phone. I can read it on Heather's blog. My heart breaks for each one of them.

Two weeks ago I went to a funeral. Actually I don't really know if I had ever met the woman but the Songsters were asked to sing. I'm glad I went. Perhaps that sounds odd but hear me out. I was amazed to watch her family walk in and see the legacy that she left behind - officers, soldiers, Christians. She raised a family of believers. They told stories or her preparing for Sunday School on Saturday because just using the curriculum wasn't enough. They told stories of her calling her own children into her bedroom and teaching them about Jesus and how each one would kneel by her bedside and accept Jesus into his/her life. They talked about her loyalty and duty - her focused energy and passion for the Word. They spoke of how she longed to hear the Sunday sermon when she got to the point when she could no longer attend services. She let her sons know that when they were preaching, she was praying.
She ingrained in her children a belief that runs deeper and lasts longer than this world can hold. She touched lives that will enter heaven because of her.

I left that day wondering what kind of legacy I will leave behind. Will my children be able to say that they know the Lord because of me? Will men and women say of me that they knew that I walked with the Lord? I hope so.

I hope they say, "she was passionate about her Savior and let people know about him." I hope they say, "she lived and breathed for him." I hope they say, "she loved her family and friends, especially that husband of hers." I hope they say a lot of things when I'm gone to meet my Father but the one thing I know they'll say is that I'm with him.

I hope I leave a legacy as beautiful and as loving as the men and women my friends tell me about. They've left big shoes to fill - I know that much.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Grace and justice,
Joy