​As long as I’m here the Legacy of Jesus will live on in our family.  For most of you know my wife passed this last September, but the legacy she left behind still stands.  And its not her legacy, it’s the legacy she lived in the name of Jesus.  Loving people like Jesus would.  Being the hands and feet Jesus lead.  She did not move unless God said move.  Her actions were intentional for loving like Jesus.  I ran across a story I want to share that explains just that.
 
            She writes:  I saw you and you sweet kiddos before I heard you.  Initially you appeared to be having a normal morning, treating your kiddos to goodies at the local coffee shop before heading to the store or some other fun mommy activity.  You had your hair up cute in a relaxed pony and your yoga pants and running top completed the narrative I was rehearsing in my mind.  Then I took a seat at a table 4 feet away from you and began to hear the quiet, painful conversation taking place.  I tried not to listen, I really did but the Lord was allowing me to be a witness to the conversation because He knew you needed something. 
 
            Kindness, Compassion, Humanity at the most primal sense.  You are not alone.
 
I could have judged you, I almost did.  The words you spoke to your small children hurt my heart.  In the instant that my mind began to judge the Lord whispered, “she’s hurting too.” Listen…
 
You son was sitting in his chair slumped over the table, resting his head in his arms.  Some moments he was looking at you, most times he had his head down.  He appeared to be older.  Your daughter seemed more engaged in the conversation, I wonder if she is your attentive one and also, possibly ready for a challenging question or two.  I couldn’t hear their words, only yours but I could hear the sorrow, the confusion, and possibly some anger in their tiny wee tones.
 
Your words… ”So you didn’t have any fun with me this week?”,  “You weren’t laughing last night playing with S?”,  “Well then suppose I let you live with your dad and see how much fun you have with Him.”
 
It was the last statement you made that made my heartbreak…
 
            “Do you think that I didn’t want us to be a family anymore?”
 
Really, you all were saying the same thing… your son was sad and resigned, your daughter was trying to put on a brave face and you… You were just trying make the best out of a situation you never imagined you would be in.
 
I can only imagine the many things you might have been internalizing, things you were thinking, maybe even cursing your ex – their father in your mind.  I do know that I prayed for you, I asked the Lord to show me a response… it felt insane but I had to be a moment of comfort and encouragement to you.  

 
 
You finally gave in and began to pack up.  It was then that I got out of my seat and came around to you and tapped you on the shoulder.  I said, “May I give you a hug? I couldn’t help but overhear some of your conversation and I am so sorry for what your little family is going through.”  I said other things, things that were specific to her.  She hugged back and whispered thank you.
 
I cannot help but continue to pray for you, your children and their dad.
 
As I reflected for the rest of that day and since then, one mother to another shared in her struggle, desired to enter in only long enough for simple encouragement, to possibly help her long enough to get from this painful moment to the next and pray that others continue to do the same.
 
I have no way of knowing if I made a difference but I wonder what a difference every single person could make if we would lay down our agenda down, set aside our offenses and personal judgements in order to see people – where they are in their daily lives, amid the mess, the sorrow, addiction, the whatever and lavishly extend love, kindness and compassion…
 
Doing these things listed above is how we create Legacies that serve Jesus for Gods glory, the small acts of kindness and meeting people where they are in their troubles.  We can maybe brighten some ones day by imitating Christ with how he loves us.  We love because He loved us first. Go out a be the light God created you to be in this dark world.

​In my last blog about legacy, a cornerstone, a foundation built on God's true plan I shared with you brief sippets of my past, looking at where I have been so that I can prayerfully define where God is asking me to go.  A plan, a blueprint, and instructions of how we are to build-up and raise our family is key to becoming a Kingdom minded man, husband and father.  Before all that can begin, it has to begin somewhere.  

The foundation for mankind; Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. - Genesis 1:26 (ESV)
 
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, he created them.  And God blessed them.  And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit.  You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given you every green plant for food." And it was so.  Genesis 1:27-31 (ESV)

"Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”"  Genesis 2:18-23
 
In reading this we find that God has given us dominion over everything, from the beginning. God choose man to tender to His creation.  Made in the image of God, invited into His work, for His plan.  You also see that God has given this task to man and woman to help each other.  Which equates to a  partnership “a marriage”.   Kingdom if we look at it biblically shows us that we are created by God to be Lorded over by God, but God gives us the dominion over the earth.  Wow what a game changer, God gave us dominion over the “EARTH”!

The defination for kingdom is this. 

Taking all of that it's become clear to me that we, as men, need to stand up and fight for our family's, our wives, and most importantly our children.  Being minded to look at the big picture of living for Gods kingdom really goes against the world view and against what society deems right.  
 
Living and teaching for Gods kingdom is a “Game Changer”!  We must be rooted in the word first, having our own quiet time, learning to pray, and focusing our minds on God before all else.  In that we learn to discern Gods words, His will, as well as discerning the spiritual battles in which the enemy throws at each and everyone of us everyday.  Becuase, men, there is an enemy, he is real and will do anything in his power to destroy us, our wife, and our family.  The enemy wants to change our game from winning to losing by using our weaknesses, our sinful nature, and our pride. The enemy wants to make us think or feel like we are losing and keep us there.  However, by keeping our "family eye" on God no matter what the enemy throws at us we can't lose.  Even if it means dying for the sake of the Kingdom.

I challenge you, make a change today... challenge yourself to be the game changer for your family.  Step it up man, husband, dad. For the Glory of God. 

What is a legacy?   
 
Legacy is something that is received from someone who has died; something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past. 
 
Then there are different kinds of legacies; money or property given to another by will, something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past; an individual who is either an applicant to an educational institution or a matriculated student and is the child of an alumna or alumnus. 
 
You can have a high school legacy, college legacy, a legacy in business or philanthropy…  But the kind of legacy I am interested in is the family legacy-the eternal legacy.
 
Game changing moments…
 
We all have game changing moments, don’t we?  Moments that cause you to stop, turn and go in an entirely different direction. 
Lately I have been thinking about the trajectory of my life and have come to ask myself, “What one life event has impacted me most or changed the game?”
 
For me, it has been my kids – my kids have changed everything for me. They have, amongst countless other ways, brought me closer to God and that wasn’t something I expected or prepared for.   
 
I say this because I never wanted to have kids.  I kinda liked it just being the two of us, my wife and I. It’s funny because that is something I say to her often, “you and me, kid” … I was happy and content with my selfish life.  I liked whisking my wife off to beautiful destinations and weekend getaways.  One of the places we went often was Disneyland but after being there a few times it just didn't feel the same.  Something was missing, an emptiness, if you will.  It felt as though God was pulling on my heart saying, “don't you want to share these moments with more than just your wife?”  Little did I know what he had in store for our future.
 
The game changer was on the horizon and God was working on me without me even knowing it.  In hindsight, I know now what he was doing.
 
One example is where we live, we moved to a neighborhood and knew no one.  After a short time we realized that a few of our friends lived there as well. This, I believe is no accident, God placed us where he wanted us. He was setting up our community – our “village” we didn't know we needed yet.
 
After going through, not 1 not 2 - but 10 years of infertility – God finally filled that emptiness.  We had a miracle.  Our excitement was short lived…  After a few visits to the doctor that emptiness I felt, that had been diminishing, was no longer filled, our baby girl no longer had a heartbeat. We were crushed.   Another “Game Changer” but our faith or true trust in God was not as strong then at it is today.
 
I had no idea that my wife was praying… Praying big prayers to a big God for big things and He was about to answer them all, two-fold.    
 
Her prayer was out of 1 Samuel -
 
Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.  Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut."
 
I could not have known then effect that would have, and eventually see what God had planned for us.
 
Just before Christmas, the same year as our loss, my wife took a pregnancy test and it was positive-another baby.  It wasn't but a few months later that my wife came home with a couple of pictures.  An “A” picture and a “B” picture.  My response was, “Oh look at our baby…”  She says, “Yep, picture “A” and picture “B”. “I said yep two pictures of the baby that's great.”  I wasn't getting it.  She had to spell it out for me “A picture, B picture meaning two babies’.”
 
Wow, THE “Game Changer”, Not just with one child, but two - TWINS.  God knew our emptiness was big enough for two.  Ding, ding, ding - what did I win-The Kid Lottery!  Going from no kids to two kids overnight “BAM”!  We didn't know how to take care of one kid let alone two, but as I look back I see how God worked out things for our good.
 
Our kids were born early and had to stay in the NICU where we could take care of them for a few weeks. We able to take our daughter home first, our son needed more care, easing us into parenthood – a blessing in disguise. 
 
In this we have learned how God blesses and provides in so many ways, and in this, I have learned why it is important to become a different kind of man, different kind of dad, and a different kind of husband… and here is where the legacy begins… I am learning, along with my wife, what's important and this is the foundation for our foundation -  we have begun with a game changing moment which has led to a cornerstone. 
 
 The End.