A Legacy of Love

"Well done good and faithful (one)..." Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

For those of you that read my last post...the clock ticks on. My Granddaddy is fighting the good fight. There must still be lives he needs to touch. He was able to return home from the rehab facility. He sure left an impression there. Everyone was sad to see him leave. Many tears were shed. They said that he was such a wonderful patient. They were right. He was obedient. He tried hard in his rehab. He wasn't demanding. In fact, we had to keep telling him that if he needed something...or wanted something (like chocolate ice cream)...that he should just ask. He didn't want to be a bother. He just wanted to encourage them...to love them. He would tell the nurses how pretty they were...or what a great job they did. He would pat them on the back or kiss them on the hand. He showed interest in them. He asked them about their families. He told them about the blessings of his own...his "sweetheart," his beautiful daughter and his son (that awaits him in heaven), a preacher son-in-law and grandson-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He loves.

The song, "Legacy" by Nicole Nordeman keeps playing in my mind as I think of him.
She writes:
"I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love?"

My Granddaddy chooses to love...no matter what...a wife with dementia...people who don't return the love...those who've failed him...no matter what.

He walks the message of "the Love chapter," 1 Corinthians 13.

It says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy, and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

In "Legacy", there is a line that says, "Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred, Just want to hear instead, 'Well done, good and faithful one.'" That's my granddaddy.

1 Corinthians goes on to say, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." That's my granddaddy. Well, I do have to laugh a little...about that rejoicing with the "truth." He sometimes tells the truth like a fisherman! Do you get my drift?

Aaaah, a legacy of love. That's what I want to leave. That's what I want to be remembered for. Thanks for setting the example, Grandy, for showing the way.

Lord, thank you for Your amazing, unfailing, unending, sacrificial love. Thank you for your mercy and your kindness. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for walking the path of love for us, for setting the example for us to follow. Lord, help us to remember that "the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)