True Heritage

This past year my grandma died at the wonderful age of 97. She had lived 6 years without my grandpa and had missed him so much - she knew where she was going when she passed from earth and she was ready. This was the last of my grandparents to go and the great-grandparents of our children. We were very blessed that we had so much time to enjoy with my grandma, but it was certainly very hard to say goodbye.

I have found the past months have left a noticeable hole in my life with her gone and it is for many reasons, one of them is that it was the closing of an era. And not just any era but a godly one, that has left me knowing that it is my turn to step closer to the plate and hold the torch higher as I carry on her without her. This is what I consider True Heritage.

Not everyone is blessed to have a true, godly heritage to look back on, as I have shared, but thanks to God's goodness and grace we ALL have the opportunity to move forward and create one. What does a True Heritage look like? I believe it has many appearances but some very common threads - one is that we must be looking at our present as an opportunity to plant seeds for the future. I wish I could have known when my grandpa and grandma were busy raising their boys whether they paused much to look to the future, I know that prayer was a very important part of their lives and they would have prayed for the future of their sons, but I wonder how far ahead they tried to see. Did they really see that when their sons would have been entering their sixties that their grandchildren would be having children and carrying on many of the rich heritages that they introduced? Did that know that almost daily their granddaughter would think back to the special times of baking or fishing or reading or knitting that was shared together? I have been blessed in so many ways and I am so grateful for the heritage given to me. Not only do I want to pass it on to my children, but I want others to know that through God's strength all of us can pass a godly, true heritage on to our children.

How far ahead do we try to see? Are we so overwhelmed with the two year old that is struggling in defiance to remember that they will be a parent with kids of their own in the not too distant future? Do we stop to think that the way we are speaking to our kids today is the way that they will naturally lean towards with their own? It may seem far away on a challenging day, but I am beginning to realize how soon it will come for me. I want with all my heart to be laying the foundations that will leave a True Heritage for my children.

God gave us a great direction in establishing a True Heritage and I believe it is laid out well in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

That is a big task but achievable because it should be the focus of our days with our children. Yes, there is laundry to do, groceries to buy, bills to pay and much work to be done but my hope is that those things are done alongside our children as we share life in laying these very important foundations.

A true heritage is a gift to be passed along and it is something that God honours and blesses. It is also something that He gives strength and wisdom to establish as we seek Him for it. May you be blessed as you continue in laying the foundations of a true heritage.