Light of Love: How You Can Create A Legacy That Shines On

The light of a distant star continues to reach the earth long after the star itself is gone. In the same way, the light and love our loved ones gave continue to reach our hearts even when their lives on earth are done.

--Holley Gerth, DaySpring Card

I find my favorite chair at the back of my grandparents’ bookstore. The worn leather welcomes me like a hug from a familiar friend. I’m too young to drink coffee but the scent of it drifts by like a warm invitation. I look at the towering stack of books I’ve set down beside me and choose one from near the top. As I turn pages, I catch bits of encouraging conversations between my grandparents and those who enter their store. This isn’t simply business or ministry; it’s my legacy. 

Two ordinary, faithful people helped me become who I am today. Through my grandparents, I learned celebrities are not the true stars in our culture. Instead the brightest lives belong to those who quietly leave legacies that shine on for generations to come. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), and because He lives in you, you have everything you need to create that kind of legacy too.

A Legacy of Faith

My grandparents, Hollie and Frances Brookshire, already had a successful business when God dropped a dream in their hearts to begin the first Christian bookstore in their area. With bills to pay and a family to consider, they could have found it easy to stay in their comfort zone. But instead they left everything and started over.

Years later, I would find my grandma’s journal and read her perspective as she looked back on that act of obedience. By then I was a writer for DaySpring Cards, the Christian subsidiary of Hallmark. That little girl who read books in a corner now had a career as a writer and cards on the shelves of their store. After describing the journey she and my grandfather shared, she closed by saying how she believed I had been a big part of the reason God had asked them to open the store. I stared at the page in wonder. Long before I had even been born, the brave choices of two people had helped set in motion God’s plan for my life.  

In our individualistic culture, we talk a lot about what God wants for my life. But when we look at Scripture, we see God’s purposes span multiple generations. The psalms encourage us to talk about the ways God has worked “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds” (Psalm 78:6-7). A legacy that shines on means living today in a way you will want your family to retell tomorrow... and decades from now.

Send those who have impacted your life a quick “thank you” from our Ministry Appreciation Ecard Studio. And, be sure to check out these related articles:

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