What a blessing to be reminded!
“I’d better write that down so I can remember!”
Deut. 6: 4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [NLT]
Psalm 71:18 Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. [NLT]
Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouthI will make your faithfulness known through all generations. [NIV]
The point is not, do we have a mezuzah on our door post. The real question is are we going to remember what it means? Any observant visitor to our home will be able to see there is something screwed to our front door post. (see photo above) But will they know what it means unless we tell the story? “That’s different? What is that? I see it says Jerusalem! What’s that about?” Ask us about it! We would be happy to tell you the story!
Mark’s sister, Marilyn Muller, has been writing and sending the Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada church newsletter for several years. This past week, having handed that baton to another capable sister, they published “her story”. It was fascinating. We called her immediately to ask questions to fill in the blanks and talk about the facts we had never heard before. It is so important for her to tell the story of her faith journey to the next generation, to her children and grandchildren. Then I realized…this is something every parent, every grandparent needs to consider.
We have been praying for Nations & Generations at The Hills church! We realize that the next step beyond praying about the next generation is telling the next generation our own faith story! Where should we start? Are there any tools to help? At times we need GPS to help but then… [photo below note the sign: “No thru trucks – GPS incorrect”] Have you had the experience that GPS let you down and you were not sure what the next turn should be?
One way to tell the story of your life that we have used is to utilize question prompts from Storyworth. At the end of a year of answers/stories, your book can be printed and bound complete with your own uploaded photos for your children and grandkids to keep and enjoy for years after you are gone. What kinds of questions do they ask, you may wonder? Here is a sample question from Storyworth.com (Feb 12)
If you could hold on to just one memory from your life forever, what would that be?
Wouldn’t you know that “Legacy Coalition” has been hosting podcasts and webinars as well as posting blogs to help us with some great tools to help us with telling our faith story to the next generation. On their website you will read: “Grandparents are incredibly important to their grandkids. They are uniquely positioned to spiritually influence their grandkids. And they have a Biblical mandate to do so.” We could not agree more!
On two successive recent “Grand Monday Nights” they introduced two resources we would love to share:
- “Telling Our Faith Story: Heavenly Lessons to our Earthly Family” by Dr. James M. & Karon Cecy (book available on Amazon – we have it on our Kindle)
- “A Legacy that Lasts: Preserving and Transferring Your Family Values” by Trudy Cathy White, daughter of Jeanette and S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A.
Click here for a link to past episodes from “Grand Monday Nights”. (Go ahead and click through and register to see past episodes!) What a great way to start writing your own story as you ask your kids and grandkids Trudy’s three questions:
- What really matters to me?
- What values govern the way I live?
- What values do I want others to recognize in my life?
Needless to say, we believe these are both resources every parent of a global worker, with TCK grandkids growing up worlds away, should have in their library. May the Father help us prepare ourselves for holy moments with our grandchildren when we will be able to both ask questions and share a portion of our faith journey.
Now it’s your turn! What else would you add to this list of resources that encourage us to tell, share, write our story? Where will you start writing your story? Please share as we encourage others to pass the torch of faith to the next generation. What guidelines or guardrails to you suggest for the road ahead?
