Leaving a Legacy of Faith

January 20, 2011

Leaving a Legacy of Faith

I must admit that I've been working on this particular blog for the past two months. I'm not sure if that was a product of my need for perfection, my interest in conveying all of the details, or if it was the fact that I had no idea how to express my love and appreciation for my grandparents.

Thanksgiving was my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. My Mom and her siblings had spent the last year debating what to do fo

r them in order to celebrate. Seeing as how my Grandma might have disowned them if they would have thrown a party, the only other option was a trip. My Mom was raised on a dairy farm and her family never once took a family vacation because of their responsibilities at home. Not to mention, my grandparents are not big on traveling. So, the decision was to go to Rock City, Tennessee. Rock City is where my grandparents went on their honeymoon 50 years ago. We recreated all of the pictures that they had taken at Rock City and at Lookout Mountain from their original pictures. It was such a great afternoon spending time with my family.

That Friday night, we all had dinner together and were able to share some of our favorite memories and hear stories from my grandparents about their 50 years together. I heard how they started dating, how my grandpa propos

ed, the fact that the preacher was two hours late to the ceremony, and lots of other funny stories.

I sat there for those few hours that evening thinking how incredibly blessed I am to have grandparents who have set forth an example of love and a marriage that is defined by trust, compassion, love, and a willingness to work at the relationship every day. No, my grandparents are not perfect and would never say that they were. However, my Grandpa said it best when he said that

there is only one reason why they had made it 50 years. He said that is because from day one their relationship was centered around the Gospel and the fact that life is first and foremost about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was at that point that tears began streaming down my face, because I realized that my grandparents and even my own parents have lived in such a way that I can see their love and dedication to the Lord. I love that my Grandpa then preceded to say how proud he his of his children and grandchildren. I did not know until that moment that their had been a pastor in my family for the past 5 or 6 generations. We then laughed because who knows what will happen within my generation, but my Grandpa told me that even though I will not be a pastor he could not be prouder of me for following the Lord in some type of ministry.

I thank the Lord continually for the fact that I'm a product of my grandparent's legacy. My Grandpa was the first person I told after professing faith in Jesus Christ and I hope that in the years to come that I too can live to pass on this legacy of faith within my own family.

My entire family on my Mom's side.