The Bible was given to her by my great-grandmother, Mamaw Lake, in 1976. As my thoughts reflected back on these two women and what a godly influence they both had on my life and our family, I thought about the word legacy.
Legacy is often related to money, property, or material items. It is also associated with the lasting impact of the events and actions that take place over the course of a person’s life.
I thought about my Mamaw Pauline’s legacy…and what she left behind.
Her life was what I would describe as a simple one.
She lived in an old coal company house on a rented lot.
Some of her light fixtures consisted of a bulb and a string.
Her furniture was older than I was.
Her clothes consisted of dresses, jeans, and simple tops. And definitely no shorts.
She walked around more often barefoot than with shoes on.
She never had a driver’s license.
She never went on vacations.
She saved everything...scraps of paper, pieces of aluminum foil, bread bags, and butter containers...and found a way to reuse them all.
In all of my years, I never heard her once complain. She never expressed a desire for more material possessions.
Her life was simple and modest. To the world, it may have appeared that she didn’t have much, but to me, she had everything…she had the Lord.
Looking at that Bible today, I thought, I am an answer to her prayer. She prayed that her children and grandchildren would serve the Lord. Standing there worshiping in song, tears began to stream down my face as I thanked God for her, for her faith, and for the legacy she left behind.
In that moment, the Bible felt like more than just a book that had been passed on to me. It was a reminder of a faith that had been passed down through the generations...a faith that was lived out before me, prayed over me, and is now part of the life I am trying to live.
Her faith didn’t start with her, and it won’t end with her.
So often, when we think about what we will leave behind, our minds go to possessions and the things we were able to provide our family after we are gone. But I think legacy is found just as much in the way we live each day, in our faith, in how we love people, in how we respond when life is difficult, and in what those closest to us see lived out in front of them.
“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17
My Mamaw may not have left behind much by the world’s standards, but what she did leave has continued long after her life here ended. Her prayers are still being answered. Her faith is still bearing fruit. And the example she gave our family is still shaping us today.
It makes me think about my own life and what I am leaving behind for the people around me and what I am passing on to them. What do I want my legacy to be?
And I want to ask you the same thing:
What is the legacy you want to leave behind?
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