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Leaving a Legacy - 5/2/2008 8:53:56 PM
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ladyichigo
Posts: 333
Joined: 10/23/2007
From: "The Pit of Despair...wheeeze"
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I’ve been thinking about what people, more specifically my children will remember about me. This coming Monday, (May 5th) will be 11 years since my dad passed. I remember that he was a hard worker, but I also remember that he wasn’t home too much. I remember him praying and reading the Bible together with my mom early every morning, but I often wonder how he applied the scriptures he read every day to his life?
I don’t want my children remembering me as a busy working mother who didn’t have enough time for them…but I’m afraid that is what I am doing. I don’t want to be remembered as a critical, judgmental-hypocrite, but that is what I see myself as right now and it has to change…fast. If I were to drop dead this second, I think that is what I would be remembered as, and that is so sad. What I truly want my children to remember about me, is that I serve Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior, and I love Him with all my life, and that I love my family.
Perhaps “being remembered a certain way” isn’t important and perhaps I shouldn’t even be thinking about this because it’s actually putting focus on myself, and not on Christ.
What are your thoughts about leaving a legacy?
_____________________________
Mari
Attending church and being confirmed does not define what a Christian is, though it may define a “religious” person.
David Wright - AiG
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/2/2008 11:27:30 PM
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LCannon
Posts: 1381
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Lebanon, OR
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One's legacy is like mercy; it always occurs in the past so create a good one. Where and how we live will determine what we will be remembered for. Live well.
"...As the world watches, these people persevere. They live, love, trust and obey Him. Eventually the world is forced to say, "How great their God must be to inspire this kind of loyalty." -Joni Eareckson Tada-
_____________________________
"[Prayer power] hasn't never been taxed to[His]full capacity.
His standing challenge, 'Call on Me and I will answer with great and mighty
things which thou can't imagine." Hudson Tayor
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/2/2008 11:39:08 PM
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Ignited-Faith
Posts: 310
Joined: 2/22/2008
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I was pondering this the other day!
(I was thinking about my Grandparents...
And the little I remember about them.
My conclusion is:
I will be forgotten.
I pray that my love for the Lord,
and my love for people will be remembered!
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/3/2008 11:50:47 AM
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colliefan
Posts: 1773
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Raleigh, NC
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I believe we leave a legacy by living a legacy.
It is the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy. The mild serenity of age takes the place of the riotous blood of youth. I bless the rising sun each day, and, as before, my heart sings to meet it, but now I love even more its setting, its long slanting rays and the soft, tender, gentle memories that come with them, the dear images from the whole of my long, happy life—and over all the divine truth, softening, reconciling, forgiving!
My life is ending, I know that well, but every day that is left me I feel how my earthly life is in touch with a new infinite, unknown, but approaching life, the nearness of which sets my soul quivering with rapture, my mind glowing, and my heart weeping with joy.
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821–1881)
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One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/3/2008 11:59:58 AM
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colliefan
Posts: 1773
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Raleigh, NC
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My paternal grandfather was a very sucessful man in terms of the world. Served in the Parliment of Sakatchewan. Owned a chain of grocery stores, Founded a Bible college.
Yet, had two children, My father who was a homosexual and an abusive father and husband. My aunt who thinks that being succesful is all that is needed in the world.
Now the baton is in my hands. I am single and have no children. My passion is to take the emotional and spiritual healing God has given me to those in prison. I have had few instances of people recognizing me on the street and have had them tell me what I meant to them in ther time of crisis. It won't be until I reach heaven that I will see the eternal impact of my life.
_____________________________
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.
A. W. Tozer (1897–1963
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/3/2008 12:02:42 PM
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timf
Posts: 791
Joined: 10/20/2006
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I remember that he was a hard worker, but I also remember that he wasn’t home too much. ?
I think we will discover that the public school approach to training children has been a mistake. The apprenticeship model of training was universal until after the Napoleonic wars led Prussia to consider the "benefits" of collectivism.
When children learned from their parents, they were able to learn their character as well. There is a very sad line from a George Burns movie where he plays an old man reflecting back over his life. He tells a friend, "I had enough of everything, except money, and the guys that went after that paid too high a price".
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
The Bible describes parents raising and teaching the children God gives them. This may not be an anachronistic description of a primitive culture but an important step in insuring a continuity of faith. It may also explain why in just a few generations we have turned from a Christian nation to a secular one.
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/3/2008 12:47:25 PM
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crh737
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Hi Ladyichigo~
What I have been doing for my son and it's not much, but I have a journal for him.
I write about his growth and inquisitiveness, the things we did together, things he did that made me smile or laugh. Little songs that I sing to him, etc...
I've also saved pieces of garment from his birth that I am turning into a quilt. Every year I save something, like last year I saved a shirt he decided to autograph with a pen he got a hold of, lol! (So I cut that piece and saved it.) It will come with a letter of what each year represented and what a blessing he has been to me.
And the best legacy I will leave him is hoping he can grasp and having a personal relationship with our Lord.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.
CRH
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/3/2008 1:38:20 PM
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rcjames
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From: Oklahoma
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In all honesty all I hope for is for God to say "Well done, my true and faithful servant".
For if I hear that I know I have done right by my wife, my children, associates, jobs, Church associantions, etc.
Thanks
RC
_____________________________
Just a country Preacher's humble opinion
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/4/2008 12:38:58 PM
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RJR_fan
Posts: 591
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: RTP, in sunny NC USA
Status: online
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quote:
The Bible describes parents raising and teaching the children God gives them. This may not be an anachronistic description of a primitive culture but an important step in insuring a continuity of faith. It may also explain why in just a few generations we have turned from a Christian nation to a secular one.
Billy Sunday was a failure. He had a million notches on his Bible, but fumbled an assignment far more important than those million people he talked into "walking the aisle." He lost all three of his sons to booze, broads, and boodle.
Billy Sunday had the opportunity to jump-start his career by 20 years. A cabal of "robber barons," worried about the growing influence of socialism, purchased his services. Bankrolled his "crusades." And he dutifully pushed "the opium of the masses," an emotional, anti-intellectual, and ineffectual pietism. He propagandized for American entry in WWI, and led a nation on a fool's errand that discredited the Christian voice in the public sphere for a century.
He did the best that he knew how, but we're still sorting out his legacy. I pray for grace to leave a better one.
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Tutto posso in colui che me da la forza! (Fil. 4:13)
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/4/2008 6:57:29 PM
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SonInMe1
Posts: 3551
Joined: 4/16/2005
From: my mom by God
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I agree with RC.
It seems to me if you want your kids to act in certain ways its almost best to act opposite of those ways and you will accomplish that goal.
_____________________________
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/4/2008 9:37:37 PM
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Liveloved
Posts: 620
Joined: 1/22/2008
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quote:
What are your thoughts about leaving a legacy?
Hey, Mari! I remember having similar thoughts when our son was young and I found myself, like you, spent and worn out and wondering about priorities, etc. Bless ya. The Lord obviously wants you thinking about such things. And perhaps making some changes in your use of time, opportunities, etc.
I don't know if I concern myself with 'leaving a legacy'. Those who know me, know I love Jesus. That is really all that matters. I'm not perfect. But as one of my favorites says, it's the set of the sail that matters. I'm sailing to heaven's shore. I guess that is my legacy.  LL
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/5/2008 12:31:04 AM
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pstrdebi
Posts: 192
Joined: 4/28/2008
From: So. Oregon, by way of So. Cal.
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ladyichigo
I don’t want my children remembering me as a busy working mother who didn’t have enough time for them…but I’m afraid that is what I am doing. I don’t want to be remembered as a critical, judgmental-hypocrite, but that is what I see myself as right now and it has to change…fast. If I were to drop dead this second, I think that is what I would be remembered as, and that is so sad. What I truly want my children to remember about me, is that I serve Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior, and I love Him with all my life, and that I love my family.
Perhaps “being remembered a certain way” isn’t important and perhaps I shouldn’t even be thinking about this because it’s actually putting focus on myself, and not on Christ.
What are your thoughts about leaving a legacy?
Hi Mari..
The key here is that you remember the good about your father. And that is what you want for your children.
I don't think at all that you are putting focus on yourself... I believe, in your desires, that you are putting your focus on your children and Christ. You want your children to have good memories, not damaging ones... and you want Christ to be glorified through you. There's absoluetly nothing wrong with that.
quote:
don’t want to be remembered as a critical, judgmental-hypocrite, but that is what I see myself as right now and it has to change…fast. If I were to drop dead this second, I think that is what I would be remembered as, and that is so sad.
It is sometimes hard to change 'fast'... however, you can begin today, and whenever you feel that you are being negative... "take 1 minute"... that's all it takes to lean over to your children and tell them, "I'm sorry... I love you... I'm trying to re-act to these situations better... please be patient with me." They WILL remember that! And you will feel 100% better. And when you have extra time (I know that is probably an almost impossible thing for a working mom) Talk to them about whats in your heart. Tell them about how much you love Jesus and how much you want to be like Him. Even if they have to hang out in the bathroom while your putting on your makeup... just those few minutes of "talk time" will make a world of difference. And pray with them. And laugh with them.
You will be fine.... they will remember the good as you continue to look to Christ.
On a side note... my children are all grown now... and we had some really tough years when they were younger. They, for the most part, can look at those years and laugh, and know that it was Christ that brought us through. They know this because they lived it and saw the hand of God upon our lives.
God bless you...
Pastor Debi
_____________________________
"For in Him we live and move and have our being..." Acts 17:28a
http://www.therockfellowship.org
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/6/2008 3:28:56 PM
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ladyichigo
Posts: 333
Joined: 10/23/2007
From: "The Pit of Despair...wheeeze"
Status: offline
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Thank you all for your words of wisdom and for the scripture references. It's also encouraging to know that some of you have thought about the same thing. God bless you all.
_____________________________
Mari
Attending church and being confirmed does not define what a Christian is, though it may define a “religious” person.
David Wright - AiG
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/7/2008 1:45:16 PM
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Dakotasunbeam
Posts: 1178
Joined: 6/2/2005
From: Midwest USA
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A wise person once told me, your history begin today. Leaving a legacy is cool and all for my children, I definately want to do that, in the same way Paul points out that the legacy of faith was passed from Eunice to Timothy . . . but, I suppose, my main focus will be making sure God sees a legacy in thought, heart, and deed that glorifies Him enough to let me through those narrow pearly white gates. The greatest legacy my parents left me (althought they are still living) is one of faith. Real faith. The rubber meets the road kind. The down-in-the-trenches kind that lasts and hangs on with everything. Now THAT is powerful. When you know that your lived witness to your children has enabled them to live whole heartedly for God AND make it into the Kingdom, what better a gift can one recieve than the eternal salvation of ones children.
Better tomorrows, and beautiful legacies are forged one moment at a time; considering God in all that you say, think or do.
Difficult, but well worth the price.
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/8/2008 11:57:55 AM
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iamjc-s
Posts: 291
Joined: 8/1/2007
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A spiritual inheritance is far more important & lasting than a physical/worldly inheritance.
Personally, I wish my dad had focused more on being with us & being our spiritual leader & less on being our financial provider.
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RE: Leaving a Legacy - 5/9/2008 6:43:25 PM
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buckifn
Posts: 1958
Joined: 5/23/2006
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this is an ongoing conversation I have with my kids...and the things we all enjoy reminiscing about now are the same ones we will treasure later...plus a few new ones I hope...but really I think the greatest thing you can do is discuss things like this now with those you are close to...that way you know if there are things you need to improve.
one of the things I am most proud of is the fact my family has a greater wealth of memories from time spent together than of material things that will vanish.
when I remarried I pretty much divided the assets and money with my kids so that they understand when I pass away if I do first my wife will be priority number 1 now....and it has worked out well.
My new wife and I also were given those legacy books by our kids mine for father's day one yr and hers was for christmas....it's a neat thing to pass on to the kids and grandkids.
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