Our Legacy

Last November I posted a poem entitled Legacy.  I also wrote an article for Ruby for Women about the importance of raising our kids with a legacy of faith and a relationship with God.  Here is an abridged version of that article:

What do we want to give our children? We have many hopes and dreams for them. That they are more successful than we are, that they are more skilled. That they have faith, friends, and love. We want them to make good grades, have a sense of humor, be hardworking, honest, kind, forgiving. We want them to know how to cook and clean and be self-sufficient, manage their money, be responsible. If you can’t home-school – which we can’t because we cannot afford to not work – how do you do it all – how do you find the time to pass all the important things down to the next generation? It is all important.

I used to get discouraged at how to teach my kids to become adults. I used to worry that they were not ‘involved’ in enough things. I don’t worry anymore. I sat down one day and thought, where to start, what is the most important thing I can pass to them? If I were to die before they are grown, what do I want them to remember? FAITH! God is the most important. None of that other stuff even matters in the face of salvation!!!! (And yet a lot of that stuff will come along with a true faith.)

I grew up believing in God. I grew up knowing all about heaven and how to get there. I still did not read my bible. I would leaf through it occasionally, maybe read a verse here and there; I would pray ‘pretty much’ daily. We went to church, usually. I didn’t even know about tithing. I went through a rough time when I was around 30 and I FOUND my bible; I began my TRUE faith walk. And it has grown and grown and grown and grown some more.

I don’t want my kids to wait until they are 30 to learn the truths of the bible. I don’t want them to wait until they are 32 to know exactly how God wants them to live their lives. I don’t want them to wait until they are 36 to walk hand in hand with Jesus wherever they go. Think of what this kind of faith will mean as they go through their lives! They need it to make choices in high school. They need God to choose a spouse. Most of all, if Jesus comes tomorrow, they need their faith to LIVE.

The most important thing we can give our kids as a gift or legacy is FAITH. And the biggest part of passing them faith is the bible. Matthew 4:4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”NLT Jesus himself quoted that from Deuteronomy 8:3, when he fought off the devil’s temptations. We all want our kids to have the weapon to fight off Satan! You teach them the bible, you show them how to apply it through examples in your own life and whenever you can in their lives. You show them how important they are, and how important time in God’s word is by investing time in them all! Give them the tools through bible study. Show them how to use those tools in life by using them yourself!

Just what would your life be like if you had started your true faith, your personal walk with God, your close relationship with Jesus, and the constant company of the Holy Spirit in your early teens? How would it be different than it is now? What would God have used you for if you were listening to his voice way back then…? That is the legacy we should strive to leave for our kids. That is the legacy that will truly give them a life of peace, and joy, and happiness. That is THE LEGACY! The only one worth having.

Those were my thoughts last fall... and so... I wrote a book.

Our Legacy: Bringing Families Together with God (Volume 1) is like lesson plans for the gospels. Each lesson includes a reading, questions, a reflection on the passage (to further explain and apply the passage), activities to help retention and understanding and life application, and a prayer. I wrote this book to help God's word become an integral part of our lives and spread God's word as far as I possibly could. This book is a compiles the gospels, so you are reading the same bit of history from each gospel at the same time from each gospel author's perspective. Volume 1 (the beginning of the gospels through Jesus's walk on water) is available now, and Volume 2 (the water walk through Jesus's ascension) is currently in the printing process and should be available by Christmas. I am currently working in Acts.

Here is the link to my book:

https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781681428994

or you can contact me directly at angkev07@gmail.com.

https://youtu.be/GPKxo5RJDzg

I hope you enjoy it and pray that it will bring a blessing to your lives!

Persecution

Have you ever been persecuted for your faith?  Has anyone picked on you, put you down, or criticized you for your relationship with Jesus?  Have you been abused or beaten because you love the Lord?

Persecution seems like a terrible word.  It sounds evil and hurtful.  Persecution is generally feared.

Living my life in small town Nebraska, I have rarely felt the sting of persecution for my faith.  But one day my husband informed me that his ex-wife had said we should not be ‘pushing the religion thing so hard’ where their daughters were concerned.  At first I was confused, ‘that’s our job’ I thought.  Not in the exact words of ‘pushing religion’, but God expects us to teach and instruct our kids in his ways.  And the girls love to pass that instruction on to their mom’s side of the family.  Then the thought occurred to me … ‘we were persecuted!’  Now, I do realize this is a very, very, minor form of persecution – but persecution can be named.  And do you know what?  It didn’t sting, it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t bother me a bit.  In fact, it felt amazing!  It was awesome to have it confirmed that our faith (and our daughter’s faith) shows so much that I was told to quit.  Wow, I thought, I really must be doing something right!  In Acts 5:40 the apostles were beaten and told not to speak in the name of Jesus ever again.  Acts 5:41 says “The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus” Wow!  They were excited!  They were excited because the persecution told them they were doing their job well.  Persecution is not to be feared.

If you are persecuted for your faith…  

WELL DONE! 

God is proud of you.

Goats and Forgivenss

My husband wants to raise goats.  I do not like the way livestock (farm animals) ties you down.  If you have livestock you are tied to you home, every outing has to be weighed with feeding times and other chores.  So one day last month my husband wanted to go to an auction of goats, sheep, and other small livestock, just to get an idea of start-up costs.  I said “Fine, have fun, but do not buy any goats.”  He climbs in his truck.  “I won’t buy any goats.”  We exchanged hugs, love yous, and a kiss, and he drove away.  As his truck rolls away from me I shout after him, “Don’t buy any goats!”  

The sale was a couple of hours away, so I knew he would be getting home late.  The kids and I watched a movie, I put them to bed and went to bed myself.  A while later I heard the truck return, but no Kevin came in the house.  I waited longer, still no Kevin.  As I am laying there, I began to seethe.  The phrase – he bought goats – kept running through my mind.  Soon I hear him come in the door and immediately leave the house again.  He bought goats.  A little bit later I heard a sound not original to our little ‘farm’.  The distinctive bleat of a small goat.  He bought goats!  I was angry.  That was an understatement.  I was livid.  After an entire discussion of cash flow and time, not to mention a promise not to buy goats, he bought goats!  I know myself well enough to know that I am unreasonable after 9:00 p.m., so this was not the time to discuss the issue, and I knew there would be a reason (valid at least in his own thought process).  I feigned sleep.  Soon Kevin came in and went to bed; with much prayer, I continued to ‘sleep’.  The next morning, I got out of bed – he bought goats-.  I put on my shoes – he bought goats-.  I walked into the early morning sun – he bought goats-.  I slogged my way across the yard – he bought goats-.  My anger had not diminished much – he bought goats – but I was willing to hear his reasoning – he bought goats.  I opened the door to the chicken house knowing that any livestock would be stashed in the unused half of the chicken house turned barn – he bought goats!  And I saw this…

 

I forgave him.  Not just because the animals are cute – but because that is what God wants us to do.  My husband has a fault of getting livestock without discussing it first.  But God says to:

“Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others”.  Colossians 3:13 NLT

Where would we be if we could not forgive?  What kind of miserable lives would we have if we could not let go and forgive.  I could have remained angry.  What would that have accomplished?  Would I still have goats in my barn?  I could have sulked and moped all day, I could have thrown a fit.  What would that accomplish?   Those choices would lead to my husband not being treated like an adult, my kids tiptoeing around us, and all of us being miserable.  My other choice – God’s choice – was to forgive and be happy.  Satan uses our unwillingness to forgive to put iron in our hearts, to harden them against God’s grace.  The verse above says “Remember, the Lord forgave you,”.  Are we above the Lord, thinking we are too good to forgive?  Un-forgiveness is like a festering wound, it causes pain all around, it poisons, and it can even cause death.  As gangrene causes physical death, un-forgiveness can lead to spiritual death.  Forgiving can be hard, but all good and worth-while things are difficult.

“Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others”.  Colossians 3:13 NLT