Legacies and Memories

Yesterday, we celebrated Catey’s 15^th birthday. We have a tradition in our family where we give daughters a beautiful heirloom ring on her 15^th birthday. Last night, Pat and I gave Catey a ring that I had worn for over 20 years. The ring celebrates our love for her and how we cherish being her parents. We hope that she will be reminded of what a treasure she is every time she looks at her ring. It carries with it the hope that she will wear it until her future husband replaces it with an even more special ring.

I was stunned at the emotional impact this “ring ceremony” had on me. As I looked at my beautiful daughter and my ring on her long and elegant fingers, I felt a squeeze of time with her running short, which matched the tight squeeze on my heart.

Catey is named after me. She is like me in so many ways. Each of my children exhibits some of me. Bess has inherited my relentless discipline. David has my love for writing. Catey talks with her hands, and bless that Mary Moore; she has embraced my love for story telling. They each have grafted part of who I am into who they are. In families, this seems unavoidable.

They are part of our family legacy. I have listened to my husband teach my children about the importance of legacy. He has instructed them to remember what their last name is every time they leave this house. He reminds them of the examples their grandparents have set, and he encourages them to hold those memories close to their hearts as they grow and learn and make decisions.

Legacies and memories are building blocks that help us and our children establish who we want to be. We learn from our past and take those lessons to heart, and sometimes, we just can’t help but become like the people we love the most and spend the most time with.

Last night with Catey, I was flooded with memories and hopes for her future. In my teary state, I thought of a random bible verse:

 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also”. 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)

 

Catey is part of a legacy of women who love Jesus. I got the awesome privilege of praying with her a few years ago when she knew she wanted to become a Christian. I can’t even express the joy I would receive if people looked at Catey like Paul looked at Timothy and expressed the feelings stated in 2 Timothy 1:5.

Catey had no intention of ever being one of those people who talks with her hands. She just has spent so much time with me that she can’t help but pick up some of my traits. Catey has also been constantly exposed to my love for Jesus and she was intentional in choosing Him as her Savior.

Like Catey, I have made choices that I hope will reflect the kind of woman I want to be. I am intentional in choosing my role models and I hope to emulate them. I really want to be more like Jesus and I often pray that I will act like a daughter of the King of Kings. My faith is sincere and I want my life to reflect that sincerity.

I also know that the more time I spend with Jesus, my life will include unintentional reflections. We (and our children) reflect characteristics and qualities of the people we spend the most time with. How beautiful and exciting this truth is when applied to our relationship with Christ. The more time we spend with Him, the more we will become like Him.

Thank you all for considering with me, the momentousness of  building legacies and creating memories in our journey of  raising children.

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NIV)

“What is down in the well comes up in the bucket.” A proverbial Carey Moore-ism.