Legacy

When Death comes,
Death does not care....

What you wore,
Who you knew,
How much money you have acquired

He cares not where you lived and what you owned
Or what your Worth....
All your material possessions are worthless to you now.....

It only matters....
How you lived
How you loved and what you gave.....
That's your True Worth...

It's the only inheritance that matters.
It's the only Legacy that Lasts...
What Legacy are you leaving?

If you want a beautiful death,
If you want to leave a legacy?
Live a beautiful life!

Live for others not for yourself....
Live with no regrets.
Love with all your heart
Keep bitterness far from you.

Live with an eternal perspective....
All you can take with when you leave this earth is love and loved ones.
Living souls are all that matter.

All you really leave your loved ones are Memories...
What memories are you making?
What memories are you leaving?

A wise man once said...
"Life is just a dressing room for Eternity."

A Life Well Lived

I have spent the last few hours at the death bed of a saint.
There is most likley no place so holy or so precious.
There between this reality and the breath of heaven.
Is a peace so precious and strong.

I have witnessed a death surely approaching.
But a life so well lived that there are no regrets.
No words unspoken, No deeds undone.
No pangs of remorse, No qualms of conscience.

There is a light and sparke in her eyes.
A strength and urgency her grip.
She is so desperately still holding on.
Ignoring her pain. Making sure each loved one is at ease with her passing.

A mother and a Matriarch to the very end.
Her large and loving family hold vigil.
And I can see she knows this is her Heritage.
Her gift to give the world, her life reproduced in her children.

It's beautiful, she's beautiful.
And humble, She has no real idea of her impact on generations to come.
Of Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren who will, because of her life,
Her love and her example become the hope of new families and communities.
This is the real circle of life.

I know because you see, I married her nephew.
She probably doesn't even know her impact on he and his brothers lives.
And consequently mine and my own girls.
She didn't think of herself as a rock and a foundation for life but she was.

From the moment I met keith I heard tales of 820 and "Grundy"
To three little boys from a Broken home "Grundy" became their ideal and hope.
It was a place of faith, Hope, Family, Hospitality and Love.
Where fathers didn't leave and mothers always put their children first.
Where there were always hot and happy mealtimes.
Values were taught, A place where Faith and Family and Country came first.

A place you were always welcome.
There would always be hot coffee and a tray of cookies.
Aunt Dolly would always hug and kiss you.
And sit and have a talk, and she really listened and she really cared.

Its so hard for them all to say goodbye I know.
But as I watch the beauty of her passing.
I know her secret. I can se it her beautiful, loving eyes.
Shes about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.

She knows she can go on in peace to her Savior and Her Sweetheart Uncle Bob.
Because she has fought the good fight, she has run her race,
And she has led a life to be proud of..... a life well lived.

The Greatest Generation

The Greatest Generation

Today I was asked why I am the way I am about America.
It made me think. Am I that unusual?
I've been reflecting on it all day.
I know why.......................
I was raised by the "Greatest Generation"
I was brought up in a home where we all ate together as a family,
prayed together for our nation, family and our fellow man.
Work ethic was expected and personal integrity was demanded.
My parents didn't believe the government owed them anything.
They believed in the value of hard work.
My father was a World War 2 hero, but he didn't think of himself as a hero.
He didn't serve his country just because he wanted an education.
He believed it was his responsibility to serve the nation he loved, even to the point of shedding blood.
He believed in Liberty and taught me" Freedom it is never free."
He came back from the war with more than medals,
He experienced Normandy and held his American brothers as they payed the ultimate price.
He walked the streets of Post war Poland and drove the trucks that carried the Holocaust survivors.
He knew The Holocaust happened because he was there.
He saw the worst that Man could do and He saw the best that man is capable of.
Yet he didn't return home bitter he came back filled with love and compassion.
It made him a better man, He would tell me never to forget.

My parents lived through War, the Great Depression and the turbulent 60's and 70's
They faced disappointment and the heartbreaking loss of their beloved daughter but they were strong.
They never lost faith in God or Country.
I wondered why? Because they grew up in Godly homes and prayed in School.
They studied History before it was rewritten.
They came from good, large hardworking families that were always there for each other.

I was blessed to have had Parents, grandparents (who died before my birth) aunts and Heroic Uncles.
All served their God and served their country,
and told the stories to me at family reunions and Kitchen tables.
I am their heritage. I will never forget their stories and I will always teach my children their values.
Maybe one day a generation will arise and become "The Greatest" again.
I pray for that with all my heart!

Throw out the lifeline.....................

Throw out the lifeline.....................

Have you ever heard that old hymn? I grew up on it and It always conjured up images of cold seas and battered men drowning in the dark waves reaching so desperately for the lifeline. A lifeline that was in my imagination a simple utilitarian rope. Of course the rope was not really that special as were the men in the lifeboats who would pull the cold, hungry nearly dead survivor from his watery grave. I've always had a vivid imagination. Tonight as I was trying to sleep I kept hearing the words to this hymn in my heart then I realized that it was coming from me. It is the desperate cry of my heart, It is my prayer and my only hope.....Someone throw out the lifeline I pray.

Have you ever watched the climatic scene in the movie Titanic where Rose is shipwrecked? All is lost she has experienced the most horrific tragedy of her life.She has watched all she loves die and she herself is slipping away, her lips are turning blue and she has no strength left not even enough to whisper. All around her are lifeboats that are partially empty yet also all around are the sounds of men and women dying. Suddenly she grows desperate without a care for her pride and self sufficiency she summons all her courage and shakily puts a whistle to her lips and blows with all her heart,with her last breath, her last resort. all it took was for ONE of the many lifeboats to hear her...just one to throw out the lifeline and she is saved.

Do you ever wonder about the lifeboats that cold and horrible night that stayed still? What did they fear? did they fear that throwing out the lifeline would cost them too much? I'm sure they were afraid that it might cause them to sink it might make them unstable or cause a shift that might topple them.All I do know is that all it took to answer that desperate cry was one lifeboat of strong, loving and caring hands that threw out the rope and then pulled her to safety.

It's not very "spiritual" to admit you need a lifeline today, to confess that you are sinking and need your brothers and sisters to rescue you. It's uncomfortable and makes you appear needy and desperate.
But aren't we all desperate without the lighthouse and the community of lifeboats patrolling the shores of our life? Haven't we all been shipwrecked at one time or another? Why are we so afraid to sound the call for help?

I don't know if you are another soul that is being tossed by the storms of life or if you are my brothers and sisters in the lifeboats but if you are shipwrecked put the whistle to your lips and blow with all your might and if you are so fortunate to already be in that lifeboat will you please throw out the lifeline, throw out the lifeline, someone is sinking today........


lyrics: Edwin Smith Ufford\
Music: Edwin Smith Ufford

Played by Jerry in the JGB with Melvin Seals. Based on a hymn by Edwn Smith Ufford, apparently written after observing a lifesaving drill at Point Alllerton near Boston, Massachusetts in 1888.
Chorus
Throw out the life line
Throw out the life line
Someone is drifting away
Throw out the life line
Throw out the life line
Someone is sinking today

Throw out the life line
Across the dark water
There is a brother that someone could save
Somebody's brother needs help today

[chorus]

Throw out the life line
With hands big and strong
Why do you tempt me
Why must you wait so long
You see me sinking
Hasten today
Throw out the life line
I'm drifting away

[chorus]

Throw out the life line
Danger from man
Someone's in trouble
Do the best you can
Ain't in temptation
Pillars of woe
Throw out the life line
When darkness takes over