"‎Pass Him on" - 12/10/12 - Philemon 1:1-25, Philippians 1:1-2:11

^"Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, “Oh, thank you, God!” I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers."(Philemon 1:4-7)

How will I be remembered?  How am I known now?  What will I pass on?

Perhaps it is because I am now on the downhill run of life  I find myself thinking about death more than I used to.  It has become a reality, rather than some far off event that doesn't have much to do with me.  The sweet ignorance of youth.

There are times that I seem to be standing in the center watching while life is swirling about me.  I see that my g'ma is nearing the end of her life here, my parents remind me of my grandparents more and more.  Last Sunday we had to take my dad to ER and in my minds eye when I see my Curt supporting him to the car it looks more like my grandfather than my dad.  Our Adam will be 28 this February - only two years from 30. 

30 - wow. 

Because of Adam, Nichalas, and Amber's places of living, we only see each other two times a year.  It causes the changes in them to be more evident.  It causes me to see more clearly that we have two adult sons - no longer children. 

Too fast - too soon.

So in my thoughts, my death does come to mind. 

How do people see me?  What will be remembered about me?  They say that we are only one generation from being totally forgotten.  With a sense of urgency I wonder more about what I am passing on to the generations that will not even know my name.  My time here is so fleeting compared to the generations to come.  I am only one small ripple in the lineage that I am in.  How very thankful I am that His Word, in which we have raised our sons, is alive and will continue to live on.  That they are in an intimate relationship with Him, and it is my utmost prayer that they too will carry on His teaching to their children.  I pray that they will be the spiritual leaders in their families with God as their role model - training those to come.  

I am so very thankful that God helped Curt and I break the cycle.  That even with all our mistakes and flaws, His glory has shone through and continues to do so.  That we are part of the legacy that belongs to Him.  That is hope for the future of those that do not know Him. I don't know if we will watch from above the future generations, but how exciting to think about those they will touch in the future because He used us today.   When I think about my death, I don't think about it being an ending, but rather that of readying me for my next leg of my journey.  Of my going "home". 

I pray that if there is one of my future generations that is into genealogy, who happens to be standing at Curt and my headstones years from now, it will be said, "they were my great, great, great, great, grandparents who walked intimately with God. 

 

Because of them, we know Him."