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May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. Genesis 28:3
I was recently at an uncle's memorial service, and I hadn't seen him in approximately 10 years. I was able to visit with cousins and other relatives, some of whom I had never met, some whom I hadn't seen in 40 years. It was so great to be able to spend time with them, to reminisce, to tell stories and laugh. But it was also sad that this happened at a memorial service.
There is no one to blame for this, it just is. We are living all over the United States; the older members have mostly passed away, and no one has taken charge of creating reunions for extended family. Plus, we are all busy with our own children and grandchildren and we allow that to be our focus. But it did make me realize how fast time flies and how quick our lives are over and it made me wonder, What will my legacy be?
What is Community?
I think we get so wrapped up and so busy with our messy lives, we sometimes forget that we are meant to be a community. God never meant for us to "do" life alone, but with others. People who are like-minded, people who care about us, people who would miss us when we are gone. And when I say "community," I don't just mean our relatives. Community is all those who are in our sphere of influence. It's those we work with, it's those we spend time with during our fun time, it's clubs, it's those at church.
Sometimes, life is so crazy that a week goes by and I haven't talked to one of my children, or a sister, or even sometimes, my mom. So how much more time slips by and I haven't reached out to a friend at church, to a lady who has been sick and not at bible study, or even to my next door neighbor?
I believe we all want to leave a good Legacy!
I believe we all want to leave a good legacy behind when it is our time to leave this Earth. We want people to say good things about us. We want to be known as kind and compassionate, empathetic, having a good heart. To be able to say we lived a good life and cared about people is something that is important. But how do we do this when we are running at 100 miles per hour, 24/7? How many times do we just get up and get at it, with no true plan except making it through the next 24 hours? We are rushing through work, we are rushing from school to soccer practices. We are rushing, moving, running! What if we made one small change to that routine? What if, in all the rush, we took time first thing in the morning and made one small intention for the day?
How do we create and keep a community?
What if we got up and said, "Today, I'm going to reach out to ___________________." What if we got up and said, "Today, I'm going to take some cookies to ________________." What if we got up and said, "Today, I choose to focus on ______________." What if we got up and asked God, "Who will you bring to mind today to whom I can be a help?"
If we were to create just one small intention with God every day, I wonder how much that could change one person's day. I wonder how much that person would then want to change one other person's day. And I wonder, as it continued moving forward, how much it could change our world. And it doesn't just bring joy and comfort to others. Doesn't it make you feel full and joyful when you bring a smile to someone's face? Doesn't it make the day just a bit brighter? Doesn't it make a difference in your day, in your life?
So today, I choose to begin with God and I choose to ask him about one person. I choose to reach out to someone I haven't reached out to in awhile. Who knows what changes this will make? But I know it will fill my heart - and that's always a good thing! What is one thing you can do today to help ensure that you leave a good legacy?
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