When you begin to think you are the center of the universe God sends a servant’s heart your way to show you that you are not. And if you’re lucky, they’ll stay and become your friend and the world becomes a better place. Here is a beautiful testimony from one of the kindest hearts I’ve ever known.
Legacy
“The Lord knows the days of the upright and blameless, and their heritage will abide forever.” Psalm 37:18
They sit inconspicuously tucked away on a shelf in my living room. Some of my most treasured possessions. I have other ones-newer, fancier, and more contemporary. But their worth is from something money can’t buy. Their value great enough to stand the test of time. Five Bibles who belonged to 5 people I loved and admired. Five Bibles that represent a rich heritage and the enduring legacy of a life lived for Christ. Five women who’s faith-filled lives continue to teach me even after they have gone to their heavenly home.
The first belonged to my great grandmother on my mom’s side. Her Bible reminds me of the sacrifice it took to ensure her family and others in the community would know Christ. She and my great grandfather were founding members of the country church where I grew up. They gave freely of their time and of their meager income because they wanted a place that would point others to Him. I have an old ledger book where she kept track of their finances carefully documenting her monthly tithe. Service in their church was a blessing, not an obligation. I see her Bible and wonder if I’m willing to sacrifice so that other’s can know Him or do I buy into the lie that someone else is will do it.
My mom’s mom owned the second Bible. Meme was an amazing lady who put others before herself. Looking at her Bible, I am reminded of her ability to really listen to others, see their needs, and minister to them. She had surgery one summer and I spent a month with my new learner’s permit driving her from house to house where she sold Avon. After the first day, I knew selling cosmetics might give her an income, but her real job was ministering to the ladies she met with. She would sit unconcerned with the passing time listening to their problems and praying with them. Her Bible reminds me of the importance of slowing down enough to see people’s needs and then caring enough to meet those needs.
The third Bible belonged to my grandma on my dad’s side. Mama Gee was the most determined person, some might say stubborn, I’ve ever met. This determination gave her the confidence to tackle any challenge. She raised 10 kids, worked in the fields and later in a cafe, and was push mowing her own yard in her 80’s. I remember one day when she had to be in her late 70’s walking into her small home to find the toilet from her only bathroom scattered in pieces across the floor. When my mom in disbelief asked what she was doing, she confidently informed us that the toilet wasn’t working so she was going to fix it. And she did! That’s how she lived her life. She saw the problem and fixed it, no matter what it was. She didn’t complain about how hard it was, wait on someone to do it for her, or give up when things got rough. Her Bible reminds me that in Christ nothing is impossible and I need to use that determined streak I seem to have inherited (ok, I’ll admit it tends to be more stubborn in my case) to face every challenge.
My mom owned the fourth Bible in the stack. She was a wonderful example of courage, strength, and unwavering faith in the midst of life’s storms. As a child she was thrown from a car suffering a very serious trauma. As an adult she faced the sudden death of her father, the death of her mom and my sister in a car wreck, an excruciating trial of the man who hit them, serious complications from a surgery that caused months of horrible pain and required a second surgery, and later a stroke, heart attack and congestive heart failure which took the use of one side of her body and required months of rehab. Any one of these could have caused her to doubt God’s goodness. Instead each new trial strengthened her faith. When it would have been so much easier to give up, she clung to her Heavenly Father and let Him carry her through. When I face trials and challenges, I pray I remember her example and trust in the fact that although my footing seems shaky, my foundation is on the solid rock who will not let me fall.
The last Bible in the stack belonged to my younger sister, Stacy who was killed along with my Meme in a car wreck when she was 14. Stacy was easily the most incredible person I have ever known. Her faith in Christ was deeper and her relationship more intimate than most Christians four times her age. Her entire life was a testimony that pointed others to Christ. She was musically gifted, playing the piano for Sunday worship and singing specials for a couple of years before her death. She unashamedly witnessed to those around her by her actions as well as her words. Even through her death, others came to know Christ. I am reminded by her a Bible that no matter how short a life is, it can have an impact on others for eternity and that while we are here everything we do needs to count for Christ because in the end that is all that matters.
What may look like an ordinary stack of Bibles, is a daily reminder of a Christian heritage and the lessons learned from 5 amazing women of faith. I pray these are lessons I not only take to heart, but pass on to my girls and that in the end, my life will be added to that legacy of women who made a difference for Christ.
