There is a quiet legacy that has already passed from one generation on to the third or even the fourth. I used to think it was just me, but as I reflect I can see the seeds from decades back!
If you had met my father when he was young you would have recognized him as someone rebelling from the institutions around him. For him, status quo had little appeal, position for the sake of glory was an foreign concept, and enjoying life to the maximum an automatic part of life. I initially thought that he must have be injected from another family, given how conservative my grandfather was. However, after a few conversations with my grandfather's peers I had a very different picture.
In his way he always looked to enjoy life to the maximum. Quiet evening at home? Sounds like it is time to take the jeeps out into the jungle to see what might be on the prowl. Think we should play it safe? We have a tool kit so why not head out now so the people can get their supplies in time. No road to that village? Jeeps can handle steps so what is the problem?
Clearly stories grow with age yet I continue to sense that a lot of my father's freedom was a gift from his own father's legacy. As I look at Whitney approaching yet another birthday I can see the freedom growing even further. I don't know that I would make the same choices she has and is making, yet I do know that giving her the same freedom my father and God gave me is critical. Along with the freedom comes the same words Wisdom has given to us all over the ages.
“Fear GOD, dear child—respect your leaders; don’t be defiant or mutinous. Without warning your life can turn upside-down, and who knows how or when it might happen?” (Proverbs 24.21, 22)
God loves you just the way you are. He offers unconditional freedom and liberty knowing it only comes with love, mercy, and grace.
