Thursday, June 22, 2017

Godly Legacies Left

As I stated yesterday, there were possessions passed on to me, but the things that had the real impact were the Christian principles and modeling.

My maternal grandparents had their pew at church. You know what I mean. They sat about halfway back in the middle section. Why would I consider this part of their spiritual legacy? Because it showed the priority they placed upon attending church, being there for worship. This was a huge deal for my mamaw. Her arthritis left her dragging a leg that had dropped six inches. She used a cane and then switched to a walker to literally drag herself into the sanctuary.


Sometimes I would spend the night with Mamaw and Pap. I slept with Mamaw. When she went to bed, she turned on her stack of records (dating myself here) which were of the southern gospel sort. Each record would play and drop down in succession, playing the Gaithers and every other gospel group she could get. She would prop on her elbows in bed and read her well-worn Bible. This showed a little girl that her faith wasn't just a Sunday thing; this was her lifestyle.

Honestly, when I was growing up, passing on a Christian legacy didn't seem as difficult as today. Church attendance took precedence. My parents were never faced with having to decide if I would attend an extracurricular activity instead of a church function. There were no conflicts in schedule. It was a given that Sunday and Wednesday evenings were for church and other activities worked around that. I can even remember teachers not giving homework on Wednesday because everyone was going to church that evening. For this reason, I don't feel my parents had to be as intentional about passing on a Godly legacy. Our very environment supported this transmission.

How about you? What can you remember about the transmission of your Christian legacy? Were there distractions and struggles for your parents and grandparents?

Is there something that stands out about how you "caught" your spiritual legacy? Or maybe a specific person?

Please share.

Tomorrow we will look at what is meant by intentional and why we should be that way about this transmission.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

My paternal grandmother(1898-2000) was a very humble and gentle lady. She was a widow who lived alone for over 30 years. When I spent the night with her, I can remember she always knelt beside her bed to pray before she went to bed. In the mornings, she opened her Bible in front of her kitchen window because the natural light helped her see more clearly. Kneeling at my bedside has always seemed the natural thing to do.

Paula Mowery said...

Thanks for sharing, Gail. Yep, seems we tend to feel inclined to copy what was modeled so beautifully for us.