“Jacob. What do you like best about vacation?”

“Family” replied my eight year old grandson.

For the first time since I was a child we had a family vacation. It consisted of two grandparents, five children and seven grandchildren. It took place on a lake in the middle of “Nowhere” New York. Somehow, some way we got everyone away at the same time to the same place.

We spent a week away from the hustle and bustle of life. That alone is a feat. But seeing that the values you have spoken of, modeled and walked in come together is the greater value and full of the goodness of God.

I was living out a legacy passed on to me. I was taking the values of goodness bestowed on me by my family and living legacy today in preparation of a tomorrow.

That is His legacy to us. Family. Value. Love.

In a world of fast changing business and technologies, economy and mindsets; the value and legacy of a family is often left far behind, if thought of at all. (My own parents divorced leaving me with a negative thought process on marriage. Could I turn the corner and change my thinking? I determined there would be a new legacy value established.)

Many years ago, a dear friend said to me, “you add value to my life”. Being family is adding value to one another and creates something that is not only alive but life giving. My family did not come about by sitting on the sidelines. Truth be told, it had many places where it could have fallen on the beaches of destruction. Yet through God and His grace, a few well-placed efforts, our family has come this far.

Many people will talk about legacy, the bequest or handing down of something of value after the death of the benefactor. Yet, I think there is something greater to tell. I think there is something bigger to behold. It is the living out of now and of the present, with an eye towards the future. (In our marriage and our family I have developed that “big picture” thinking, which is to be kept in mind when we may walk through the occasional “whoops” we encounter. Where are we headed? Where do we want to be?)

Over the years I have developed what I can only call “living legacy”. There are two meanings I see. You can live legacy, by keeping your focus on the big picture. The big picture thinking will include thoughts and questions of, who is important. What is important? Why is it important? Your actions today in most cases will determine your tomorrow.

Too often a person will become so involved in their thinking of tomorrow that that will forget about today. Or they will bemoan the failures of the past and not develop the attitude to live in today. Living legacy is a today thing. It can include learning from the past or having eyes for tomorrow, but it is living now…in now…today!

A simple thought to living legacy is to determine how to value someone now. What can you add to someone’s life today?

There is another thought seen in living legacy. It is the values of the past being unfolded in the now. It is vibrant. It is alive. It is the benefits that could be passed on somewhere down the road becoming a living, breathing, life giving force in our lives.

It is His goodness, His love, His grace evolving in our today. Blessing our now.

I have seen that I can be a living legacy in my life, in the lives of my family and in the community I live in. That happens when I recognize the values I have been given and the value I can give or add. I have engaged in the idea that I can be a “live legacy” in the lives of my family if I understand the big picture. If I realize what I have and what I can hand off today.

My grandson Jacob has my vision for family and what that value is. It is everything! He articulates in everything he says or does. My own children experienced some of the more difficult years of my life. Had I allowed it to stop when I was stopped, that inheritance or legacy would have had a negative value.

My encouragement to you today is that you would see your value. You would live your value and you would impart your value.

Live your legacy!

Interested in knowing more? Questions? Contact me!