day no. 15,260: while legacy may begin with you, it certainly doesn't end with you

"Think of parents who were never educated, and who were unable to read. They know their limitations, and they can accept those limitations without accepting the same limitations for their children. Wise parents in this situation will sacrifice a great deal to provide the education that they know they were never provided." - Douglas Wilson, Church Music and the Other Kinds

In attempting to begin a new legacy and trajectory for what it means to be a Van Voorst, I realize I am at a disadvantage in that I am attempting to do something of which I have no experience. I was not raising in an environment of assiduity where Jesus was Lord from top to bottom, from left to right, from side to side. I grew up knowing that Jesus was above us and the rest was more or less a crap shoot. 

There may be reason to despair in this thinking, "How am I supposed to give to my children something I never had?" or "How am I supposed to enjoy the benefits of what I believe without being there to enjoy it?"

First of all, God's promises ensure us that He can provide us with what we need in order to give to others what they require from us. Secondly, if your goal is to produce a generation whose great, great grandparents have been earnestly engaged in assiduous, faith-filled Christ-honoring, legacy-building, kingdom citizenship, you are signing up for something you cannot see. That generation will look back to you as the linchpin, but they won't see your face in person. If that is your goal, you should know that you won't see the fruit of everything you're attempting to accomplish. And if that is your goal, you will throw yourself into it anyways, because while being about legacy may begin with you, it certainly doesn't end with you. Although it is birthed in your mind, it cannot ultimately end with you in mind. To be legacy-minded is to begin building bridges that your great grandchildren will cross or lay foundations on which your great great grandchildren will someday stand. 

Faith works now believing that the fruit will come and that it will be consumed in gratitude by generations to come and that your part in it may not be the taste of it on your tongue, but the hope of it in your callouses.