Our life will, even now, be leaving a legacy to those who watch from the sidelines.
There are stories that will be told about our life long after we are gone , that will shape our legacy for future generations.
I was listening to a story this morning about a man who had spent time with his 95 year old Aunt. The man asked his Aunt to tell him about his great grandfather. She immediately replied, "Well , let me describe to you Elisha Shroebel Carter like this. She said every night after the meal was over,Elisha and his brothers would pull out the checker board and play checkers... you see there really wasnt much else to do.They had a great time..and then one morning Elisha came to breakfast with his brothers. He said "boys.. I can't play checkers any longer." His brothers replied," Why? What in the world is wrong with checkers??" Elisha replied .. " Well you know evey night when I go to bed, I spend that whole time focusing my whole heart and mind on Christ. I talk to him.. go through the things of the day that have happened and think about the next day.Its a very special time with him... and last night when I went to bed, all I could think about were the moves I could have made on the checkerboard... and I had vowed , Elisha Shroebel said, years ago, that I would never let ANYTHING come between me and my relationship with Jesus Christ."
The mans aunt continued.. "You know he never played checkers again!".
Now you might be thinking.. thats kind of silly.. whats wrong with playing checkers.. and the answer is really nothing.What impressed me is not the issue itself . What impresses me is the tenderness of his conscience, the teachability of his heart, I love the immediacy of his obedience and his desire to not let anything dilute a simple pure relationship with Jesus Christ.
You might say what did that gain him?? Well heaven knows and I know this. He raised 6 Godly Sons and Daughters and THAT is the legacy of this mans life.
It reminds me of a time when we, as a family, had become completely obssessed with everything that was THE LORD OF THE RINGS. We watched the movie, played the games, painted the figurines and collected everything from chess sets to statues to books, playing cards and stickers. We would share stories with anyone who would listen about the similarities of the bible to the Lord of The Rings, and share what Jesus was teaching us about our spiritual lives through the movie.
For those who remember our family at that time would confirm everything that I have said. My youngest twin boys, Benjamin and James when they were only 2 years of age, could repeat quotes from the movies. Their favourite game was getting a stick (turning it into a bow and arrow, with a tea towel tied around their shoulders as a cape) and pretending to either be Legolas killing the Orcs or Gandolf standing face to the face with the Barog as they would declare loudly.."YOU SHALL NOT PASS!! (they would even echo the words at the end.. You shall not pass....ass..asss! Hehe!!)
One night before going to bed, God clearly spoke to my heart . He showed me that we all loved The Lord of The Rings as much as we did him. It floored me to be completely honest, but once I put pride down, I could see it so clearly.
We had all become obsssessed and it was taking away our hearts from the Lord. We still had Jesus in our lives, but he wasnt in his rightful place. He wanted to be our only obssession .. the focus of our passions..our all in all.
Without hestitation the next morning , I explained what God had told me to my children . It was hard for them to completely understand, but they trusted me and that God had spoken to my heart. We built a huge bonfire and took several wheelbarrows down and poured every LOTR item into the fire.
I knew we had done the right thing unto God.. as we were all in tears.. it was breaking our hearts to be obedient as we watched all our treasured items burning. It was one of the hardest things we have ever done jointly as a family.
These items had truly taken up residence in our hearts and our broken hearts and tears were proof of the fact.
It took a few weeks to be completely free of the obsession... and I want to make it quite clear that there is nothing at all wrong with the Lord of The Rings. In fact we still love and have since purchased a few Lotr items.. but the obessession is completely gone now. We have things back in balance. It was a valuable lesson to learn as a family... never to put things before God as it is too painful to let them go at a later date hehe.
I am so grateful for what God taught us during that time. It is a beautiful story of our obedience and love toward Jesus and his love for us. He is such a gentle teacher as he woos us tenderly whispering.. "I want nothing to come between us and our love for each other. Nothing on earth can begin to compare or even satisfy.Trust in me .. as you put me first I will give you your hearts desire"
Looking back over the past 8 years I know that to be completely true.
This story will be shared with future generations as part of a legacy that we shall leave behind. For that I am forever grateful <3 a="" href="http://photobucket.com/images/lotr" target="_blank">
