Well, I broke down and did it on Saturday night. I bought a boat! Well, a canoe. A nice inexpensive 14′. I did it for Alex. He has been asking for a canoe or kayak for a few years. And some recent thoughts and events encouraged me to move forward.
Remember that one of my goals for 2010 was to become obsessed – obsessed with God and to let him impact my life. So with that in mind, I was recently reminded about the shortness of life and the short amount of time our children are in our homes. That reminded me of this picture.
Those 4 men are my fathers. Well, the baby is my actual father, but the other 3 are his father and his father and his father. So that’s 4 generations back in the history of my family. I would be the fifth and my sons the sixth standing on the right. I starting thinking how little I really know about the two men on the left. I know their names, their wife’s and their children’s names, and even their birth and death dates. I have even stood at the foot of their graves. But the only thing I really know about them exists through what I know about my grandfather and my father. I don’t know how they lived each day, but the overall impact of their choices and decisions for sure have had impact on me. So then I look forward and I think about 4 generations ahead and what they will write on their iMinds ( that’s an futuristic Apple product that just connects directly to your brain!) about their grandparents?
Deep stuff, so what does that have to do with a boat? Everything!
I figure that my legacy for those potential future generation is set in the way I approach every single day. I don’t have huge plans of grandeur. But I think that each day, I can live in a way that when the “complete body of work” is examined, it will be something that points one direction – Heaven.
I hope this boat can me an instrument to help. For you it may be golf clubs, the kitchen, or long drives. But I am sure there are things in your life that you can use as opportunities to share the gifts we have been given. Of course that’s on top of living each and every day in a way that brings glory to our Lord and Savior.
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17 (New International Version)
18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, Deuteronomy 11:18-20 (New International Version)
So here’s to flat water, good paddling, great conversations and trips that bring us all closer to our God.