Leaving a Legacy

His 90th birthday is in June. He never learned to read or write. But what he lacked in education, he made up for with strong hands and a never-give-up work ethic, still rising with the son each morning, checking on his cattle, tinkering with his farm equipment, refusing to let age be an excuse for quitting. My uncle, Son, and his wife of 60+ years, Doris Jean, raised 4 kids on a 300 acre farm a few miles west of Sterling, Oklahoma.

Sara, Hannah, and I sat with them in their living room chatting about Doris Jean’s recent back surgery. The door flew open and in walked my cousin, Chub, who reached for Son’s cap and said, “Son, get your cane and come out to the barn. There’s something you gotta see!”

Providing an arm to hold, I led Son to the barn, where a thundering noise grew louder as we approached. Exhaust fumes filled the air as we entered the wide doors and stood in front of a giant John Deere combine that was belching out smoke.

“First time she’s been running in 5 years,” hollered Chub. Up beside the combine’s cab stood Son’s oldest son, Dennis, and his son, Heath (lots of sons in this story!). Grinning widely, they had just figured out which wires to reconnect to get this monstrous machine moving again.

A few hours earlier, we had visited my 84 year old aunt, Beulah, now confined to a nursing home. She’s been a widow for about 25 years. When I was a little child, Beulah and her husband, Elmo, took me in at a time when my parents were struggling with financial and medical problems. It was during the many months I lived with them in rural Oklahoma, then and in subsequent years, that I learned what it meant to be a Christian.

Their 2 bedroom farm house was old. Their water was fetched from the well each morning. The out-house was beside the barn. They didn’t have much because they gave away so much, helping family, neighbors, and friends, who were even harder up than they were. During the evenings, the family Bible came out and was read from. Both taught Sunday School classes in the local Baptist church. Laughter was never absent as uncle Elmo found humor in just about every circumstance of life.

This is part of the heritage I have been blessed with. My mother was the youngest of 9, and through this family I learned the meaning of virtue, responsibility, determination, contentment, endurance, loyalty, and even joy. This past Sunday at First Baptist Church of Dallas, I was blessed to hear family psychologist, Dr. James Dobson, speak about leaving a legacy. What will my children remember about me? What values will I impart? As our world declines deeper into moral depravity, the time has never been more urgent for parents to leave behind a godly heritage that the next generation can carry with them as an anchor in troubled waters.