Legacy

My sister recently went to see a Specialist to have grommets inserted in her ear. Sounds ghastly and painful to me. Requires a specialist and anesthetic. Of everything else involved I am rather ignorant, so fortunately you will be spared the details.

The one thing I do know of this event is that visiting a Specialist for any reason is expensive. Yet in this situation, my sister walked away without having to pay a thing. Incredible, unheard of – most definitely! Like many stories though, there is often a back story and this one is no exception. As it turned out the Specialist knew my Father. Not of recent years, but many years ago, when my father was starting out as a Curate, the Specialist’s parents (and the specialist himself as a child) were part of his parish. My Father made an impact on this family’s life.

And in the Specialist’s words “Out of respect for your Father, there is no charge.”

In that moment, my sister received a blessing from the seed sown by my Father all those years ago. Joel Osteen wrote this, of which I think is quite apt, “There are some seeds that you’re sowing, some people you’re helping, that you won’t reap the fullness of what you’ve sowed. God designed it for your children, your grandchildren—It’s a generational blessing.”

That, right there, is legacy. And that right there is what my Father had done.

Right there is also the challenge for us to live a life of legacy. To live so that those that follow you walk in a blessing, a victory that was won, not by them but by you. For us to not focus on immediate fruit or rewards for our actions, but to  sow with legacy in mind.

Live a Legacy.