I’ve had an opportunity to watch some of my grandchildren in action…Kaylee playing basketball, Ayden tumbling, and Noah mastering video games without reading a word of instruction. I can see their fine minds, flexibility, quickness—I can actually see them learning new skills or improving on the ones they have. They have the whole world available to them, where nothing is impossible to access or learn.

I long to run and jump with my grandchildren, or to share a winning strategy to defeat a virtual foe. But the reality is my children and grandchildren are climbing the mountain, and I’m on my downhill slide. So, what legacy can I leave my loved ones that matter?

At this point in my life, I realize the best legacy I could leave my family is to share my Christian faith. If the idiom, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” then I should be showing them the fruit of the spirit by exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

What does that mean? It means that I should be kind when I’m talking about someone, patient when I’m waiting in the grocery line, or generous if I see someone who needs a helping hand.

I’m reminded of Deuteronomy 6:5-7, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

What do I hope for? To have children and grandchildren who love God and have a personal relationship with him, to be genuine, and have a heart for people. Am I asking for too much? I don’t think so.

(I won’t be taping a video segment for this week)