I was lying on my back this morning doing a
few light exercises hoping to coax a little more energy into my aging
body to face another day. As I was doing them, however, my eyes and mind
started to wander. I looked up at an old picture of me and my children
back when they were only three, six, and eight years old. It must have
been taken almost 25 years ago, yet it still seemed like yesterday. I
noticed something too. Each of the smiling faces had the same pointed
chin tilting slightly to the right and the same unique grin. I glanced
over to the picture of my parents taken even longer ago. There was the
same pointed, crooked chin on my Dad and the same unique smile on my
Mom. It was amazing to see so much of the same face blended together in
3 generations of my family.
It made me think too of all the things that we
pass on to future generations. It is so much more than just heredity and
genetics. It is everything we say. It is everything we do. What we pass
on can be so helpful or so destructive. It can make this world a better
or a worse place for generations to come. No one can even imagine how
important and vital a single life can be in this world. No one can even
imagine our value here or in eternity.
Each day we are leaving a legacy for those who
come after us. Every tree we plant and garden we grow brings a little
more life into this world. Every dog we save or cat we adopt adds more
love to it. Every smile we share, every person we help, every kind act
we do, every bit of love we give to others makes this world a better
place for all the generations to come. The truth is our lives here are
God’s gift to us and how we live them is our gift to God.
What kind of legacy are you going to leave to
this world? What is your gift to God going to be? I pray that you will
always let it be LOVE!
Joseph J. Mazzella
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.