Grace Community Church of Caroline

I’ve been reading a book lately and it went into what your life means.  Think about a tombstone, I know it’s a little morbid right off the top, but keep up with me…. 

The tombstone usually has the year in which one was born and the year of passing.  Between the two numbers, is what is important, really important… the hyphen.  The hyphen in the dates refelcts that there was something that occurred between the year of birth and the date of passing.  So, what is your hyphen going to represent?

Have you left a legacy?  Are you proud of what you are doing in your life?  I mean all of it…not just what you’ve done today or the good job you may do at your place of employment.  I don’t mean the last mistake that you made and that those around you won’t allow you to forget. 

I, like many, have made poor decisions and mistakes.  I was blessed to have a wonderful wife that has stood by me and helped me to become the person I wanted to be.  We’ve taken great strides in our life and have become a family that I am very proud of.  Our belief system has been a strong foundation and has delivered us through many challenges.  I try every day to instill in my daughters those qualities that I think will make them a good person.  I want them to remember me as a good father and loving husband, in the hopes that they will look for those fundamental traits in their future husbands. 

So, here’s my challenge for today… Take a look at your life - from someone else’s perspective.  Are your actions actually enhancing someone else’s life, or merely breaking them down?  Are you being benevolent toward others?  Does your action, words, decisions and behavior reflect the person you want to be?  Do the battles that you choose actually make a difference?  Are you actually rolling up your sleeves to work toward a common goal, or are you sitting in judgment and trying to destroy another – just because you can?

I’ve been reading many articles on-line and many blog posts (especially those related to my industry) and I am dishearten  to see that a majority of them are simply devised to attack others….  My question is: to what end?  What benefit do you and your readership have when you take time to disgrace your company, family, others….   Is it building something?  Does it count?  Does it matter?

Likewise, I see families in turmoil.  I see parents that are attacking their kids or worse neglecting their children.  I am not talking about appropriate discipline, I am talking about cursing at, yelling at, embarrassing them to try to get them to “shutup” or simply be non-existent.  The sins of the fathers (and mothers) will continue for generations.  I know…. For those who are insistent on abusing or neglecting your children, understand that you are doing so to their future children as well.  We learn inherently from our parents and family.

I am forever thankful to those who have spoken wisdom into my life over the years.  They have done so at times that I didn’t even really want to hear it.  They were persistant and now I, my children and their children will benefit from the positive affiramations, trust and enhancements they’ve made in my life.

What will your hyphen represent when your time here, on earth is over?