Our Children Need To Be Left A Legacy
I was driving with my daughter Sarah in her car the other day and was trying to give her a few words of wisdom about school, work, and being a careful driver. After I got through with my monologue there was dead silence and I thought well, at least I told her my concerns. If it fell on deaf ears so be it. She probably has her mind on other things. After about one minute of silence she said to me, “Dad I really don’t know what I am ever going to do without you.” To me that was her way of telling me that she understood what I was saying to her, and that maybe she actually depended on my ever-present advice.
When children receive an inheritance from their parents, it usually is in the form of money or some other material item. There are some things however that parents leave to their children that no one can ever place a price on. A dad’s words spoken to his children last a lifetime. They are like a lamp that gets turned on in the minds of his children when he is no longer around. There is something about the words and actions of a dad that leaves a legacy in the minds and hearts of his children.
Whether it’s good or bad, we all leave a legacy to our children. What would I like my legacy to be? That my children have learned from me how to discover happiness, and how they can work out the struggles that they will face throughout their lives. I want to know that I have taught my children to know and like who they are and how they fit into this world. I want my children to use their talents wisely and understand their strengths and weaknesses and really develop a life purpose, a purpose that isn’t based upon money, but is based upon how well they serve others and how well they perform the jobs that they are given. Last, I want to know that I have taught my daughters how to be loving and unselfish spouses and parents.
But I want to live long enough to find out if I did anything right with my children. I pray that I will have the chance to watch my daughters begin to raise their own children and teach their children by example some of the values I have tried to impart to them. Once I know that my daughters are independent and are prepared to leave their own children a legacy, that’s when I will die a happy man. It comforts me to know that even once I’m gone, my girls can still turn that lamp on that’s in their head with the word dad on it, and think about the advice that I’d give them if I were alive.
