Celebrating Love

And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

 

I love this picture for the reminder it gives me of legacies and the hope I find in that.  Mother's Day, with its sometimes broken dreams, seemed a perfect time to share. Every family has stories--heartaches and joys.  As the years pass and time sifts each life, the legacy of love is what remains.  The babies remind us that life continues; we are each a privileged link the story God writes.

 

In the picture above, my mom is the tot in the gunny sack on the back of her daddy.   She never knew her dad; he was old when she was born.  Her mother, the 'half-breed' child of a native American probably did not have the luxury of marrying for love.  But this man loved God; I still have the hymn books and Sunday School lesson books he taught from.  The harvest of the seeds of practicality and courage continues still.  My mom is gone now but her heritage--and her legacy continues on.  It grows each generation and becomes larger and more beautiful.  The day after her earthly life ended, mom's legacy expanded with this beauty!  Sidney brings into the family heritage beauty from the islands of the Caribbean.  As family, we are blessed.

 

Back to the photo above.  My dad is the toddler in the rocking chair wearing a dress...another tip of the hat to practicality I imagine.  Disposable diapers were a convenience not known in those years!  His mother and grandmother are the regal women in the photos on either side.  From those generations come stories of great grief.  At least two suicides, a drowning, alcoholism and divorce in a day when it was not done shattered those lives.  Yet, they pressed on and their heritages took root.  I learned to smile and love from my dad.  I learned a love for the Word of God from the disciplined Bible reading of my grandmother.  The good seeds they sowed continue to grow in my life. 

 

The tiny one I am privileged to hold in that same photo is my sister's grandbaby, Immani.  She never experienced the joy of meeting this precious child whose name means Faith.  She loved her though she never met her; and truly, she loves her now.  For she had loved Immani's mom...and those seeds flower in the life of her grandchild even now.  Immani brings the nation of Vietnam into our personal family heritage.  It delights my heart how God weaves both individuals and countries into families.  There is a hint of unity in legacies and heritages that sweetens all our lives.

 

My friends who read this now, you have those stories in your family too.  Commit each day to love and have faith that love is bearing fruit.  Share your stories.  Embrace your heritage and leave a legacy of love!

 

If you do not already know, I also write on another site these days.  I shared other thoughts on the love of a Mother Heart here:  http://www.thebottomline.co/featured/needed-mother-hearts/.