Legacies

Yesterday was June 2 as most of you know, and it was also a special day in the life of my wife's family. It was the 53rd wedding anniversary of her parents. Many of you know that Sondra's dad passed away last September 9. He had fought a valiant battle against cancer numerous times, but slipped into eternity where I know he heard, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Bernard was really one of a kind.

I will never forget the early times in our relationship when I had begun hanging around his daughter and he was in the midst of marrying off his other daughter, Bronwyn. (By the way, Phil and Bronwyn celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last month, which is way too cool and very awesome.) Bernard was pretty skeptical of this tall, skinny kid who had begun hanging around the house. Bernard had a great love for Dodger baseball and Cowboys football and me being a sports nut, it gave us some common ground. I was careful never to take any of his college classes thinking that would be way too awkward for me and probably would have been a non-event for him.

I found myself reflecting quite a bit yesterday and thinking about one side of the legacy that Sondra and I have been blessed to have in our marriage and family. Sondra's mom seems to be doing pretty well. I know that she must have some tough days, but she seems to adjusting to life without Bernard. Earlier this week she packed up many clothes of Bernards' and sent them to the disabled vets. I only hope that she kept the Russian hats that Ben and I modeled at Christmastime.

Legacies are an amazing thing. Sondra and I have been granted wonderful legacies from both sets of our parents and we are committed to helping our girls "love the LORD their GOD with all their heart, soul and mind." Though we are not perfect (yes Sondra, I admit I am not perfect), God has blessed us and our family in amazing ways. Pray that God will continue to use us to not only encourage our own daughters but to encourage others to love God with all that they are.