Legacy of Faith and Thanksgiving

In the Old Testament, the Lord instructed His children, the Israelites saying, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord, our God is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-7).  I am an imperfect person and an imperfect parent.  I serve a perfect God who can work through me to teach my children and others when I am obedient.  He lives within me.  He teaches me.  He fills me with His spirit and gives me wisdom.  He is the Living Water in my life.  In order to be filled with His Living Water I must learn more about Him, study the Word, talk to Him in prayer, praise Him, worship Him, and be still so I can hear Him in my heart.  I trust Him for direction, guidance, and wisdom in times of joy and in times of pain.  He is always with me.

I recently came across a devotional which our church compiled prior to Easter in 1990.  Both of my children wrote a page in the devotional.  It was a daily Lenten booklet given to everyone in our St. Luke Lutheran Church congregation.  I would like to share their stories with you today, twenty three years later.

Christa was 7 years old.  She loved to read and write.  Her first grade teacher told me that she was either going to be a journalist or be the President of the United States.  Christa’s story was entered in the devotional to be read on April 10, 1990.  The reading started out with the Bible verse from John 3:16.  It is one of the first Bible verses which the children learned in Sunday School.

Her story is as follows:

“Jesus was a man who helped all men.  He died for our sins.  He was crucified and put on the cross.  He arose on a Sunday and this Sunday is now called Easter.

God created the earth, the animals and everything on earth.  God loved the earth and us so that He gave His only Son for our Salvation.

We talk to God by praying.  I remember a time when God answered my prayer when I asked for a puppy.  I prayed and prayed.  Finally I got an answer.  My sister found my dog at a campsite in Florida.

My Dad said I could keep her.  She was black and only a few weeks old.  We brought her home with us in my camper.

I call her Penny because she is my ‘Penny from Heaven’

I talk to God every day.  Jesus takes care of me.  He loves me and I love Him”.

Erica was 17 years old.  Her writing was entered into the Devotional Booklet to be read on March 11, 1990.  She started her entry with the Bible verse from 1 John 5: 13-15.     

Her story is as follows:

“Jesus is the pearl of great price, but He considers us His pearls of great price.  He cares about the large and small concerns in our lives.  I became more aware of these truths this past summer after a St. Luke’s Woman’s League Softball game.  At the end of the game I discovered that my pearl earring was missing.  The entire team searched the field from first base to home without any luck.  My Mom continued to search when everyone else gave up.  As she walked from third to home, something in the dirt struck her eye.  It was my earring!  She asked me, ‘Had you prayed about it?’  I had to confess I hadn’t.  I knew she had. 

As we got into the car to go home, I dropped the earring again.  I couldn’t find it.  Then she asked me, ‘Did you say a prayer of thanks when it was found?’  Again, I had to answer ‘no’.  She said no more.  When we arrived home, I searched the car and found it again.  This time I prayed about it before and after I found it I offered a prayer of thanks to God for being concerned about the little things in my life.

Lord, help me to pray my way through each day and help me never to forget to come back and say ‘Thank You’.    Amen”

I love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, and mind.  Love is a verb, an action word.  I love God and my family.  I cannot only spend my time thinking about my love for them; I want to show them my love.  I show God how much I love Him by learning more about Him, obeying Him, and by coming to Him in worship, praise, and thanksgiving.  I thank Him for my children and my grandchildren.  They are my legacy.  I show my children and grandchildren how much I love them by caring for their needs, being available to them, kissing and hugging them, and by sharing my faith with them.  I want to share the knowledge and wisdom which God has given to me over the years.  I want the gift of faith which I have received to be contagious.  I cannot give them my faith but I can spark the desire within each of them to seek for their own truth.  I want them to know that faith isn’t a religion, a denomination, or an intangible hope.  The Truth, the Way, and the Life is a person.  It is Jesus, God’s promise of reconciliation in each of our lives.  Believing and receiving the gift of faith will be a personal decision in each person’s life.  I pray for every member of my immediate and extended family daily.  God hears me.  The work being done in their lives is His.  I pray; the Holy Spirit convicts.

Thank you, dear Lord, for your love.  Thank you for your plan in my life.  Thank you for the gift of faith which you have given me.  Thank you for the physical and spiritual legacy of my family.   I am encouraged by the words in Psalm 100:5, “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations”.