What's Your Legacy?

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In 2017, I wrote a blog post called, The Dot.  It was in regards to a simple way we can visualize eternity.  If we draw a line horizontally across a sheet of paper and stopping after 2 inches, and make a dot, then continue the line, we have a simple sketch of our life.  The line before the dot is time before our birth. The time we spend on earth is the dot, and the line after the dot is eternity. Late last year, I was talking with one of my close colleagues and she asked me, “when you leave this job, what will be your legacy?”  Hmmm…. I think it was first Sunday of 2019 that our Pastor gave us the homework assignment to, “go home and write your obituary.” Hmmm…. I haven’t quite completed this assignment, but it has been on my mind. ​

I’ve been told by multiple former students that I made them enjoy the study of Science. I’ve been called the abstinence teacher.  My sister-in-law says, she has never seen anyone get so excited about learning and want to share everything she’s Iearned.  My children say I’m strict, but they also know I love a good laugh. They like for me to illustrate things for them in the form of a story.  We like to travel and take lots of pictures. Recently, I was told that I was very practical in my approach to solving problems. I wrote in a blog post some time ago, that one of my favorite quotes was an Einstein quote: “Everything must be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I said I wanted to use this on my email signature, but wouldn’t because it could easily be misunderstood.

Hopefully, I am leaving a legacy through my books and through this blog, as well.  I’ve been told that my novels are very realistic, I’ve been asked multiple times if they are true stories.  They are not, but we can learn from the mistakes of others. My business name is Human Terms. It comes from Romans 6:19.  “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.”  I write for people to gain understanding about God’s truth.  My writing is realistic. It is not a stretch to believe, understand, or empathize with my characters or themes.  One thing about writing is that it lasts.  The words we speak can be restated in a different manner, but that which we write endures.  I hope this blog and my books can be used as lamp to someone’s feet and a light to someone’s path (Psalm 119:105) as they are written with the Word of God in my heart.   

My family will lay to rest one our elders today, my children’s great-grandfather, Mr. Bennie Anderson. Tomorrow would have been his 99th birthday. A big part of his legacy, to me, is in his ability to remember the past and share it with the younger generation. He told us about attending school in a one-room schoolhouse in the 1920s. He’s even told us about things his parents said to him about their childhood. He’s talked about riding on a horse and buggy on a cobblestone road. He told me about the first time he rode in a car with an automatic transmission. He told me about his first job and how it led to him having a social security card. He’s talked about his time in WWII. Last March, when we visited him for his 98th birthday, we were driving home when my then 10 year-old said, “Mom, I just realized Grandpa lived through most of the stuff we’re learning about in Social Studies. The Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, 2 atomic bombs, WWII!” I was glad he finally noticed that. Another big part of his legacy is his faith. When he was bothered, he would talk briefly, then say, “but the good Lord knows best.” This, to me is the biggest part of his legacy. Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” Mr. Anderson acknowledged that he had his preferences, but always allowed the good Lord to direct his steps.

What's your legacy?






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Amen!
Thank you for reading!
Kim`