What we gained from our elders
What we leave to our children
Embracing his legacy
As we completed our trip in Corona Beach and made a last stop to eat, I looked at my husband’s watery eyes as he simply uttered the words, “I miss him so much.” He was referring to his grandfather, “Tata”. All I could do was hug him and say, “You did it, just like you said you always wanted to…you brought your own kids to Corona Beach. You are carrying on his legacy.”
My husband’s childhood memories are highlighted by the fond memories of summers spent with his grandparents in Corona Beach (Baja, Mexico). These times of fishing, boogie boarding, blowing up firecracker and what not, have long superseded a lot of childhood memories. I say this because even before visiting the beach myself I could recall all the stories of his childhood spent in Corona Beach without ever having been there. These memories fill our halls with pictures of those days. These memories have been put on paper then later on a video made to his Tata. These memories seem as real to me as they are to him. These memories revolve highly around his Tata and the love of fishing.
Fishing became the love language between Tata and my husband, Rocky. This is the legacy he left him. Tata never demanded Rocky fish nor belittle him if he didnt’ want to. Tata simply took on his love of fishing and this passion carried on to Rocky and made him interested, dedicated and passionate about it too. Together they fished with Tata passing on his pointers and wisdom on the sport to Rocky. Tata didn’t have to tell Rocky that he loved the sport, Rocky could see this through Tata’s preparedness and dedication to it. Fishing and Corona Beach therefore became a legacy that Tata left Rocky as well as the love of a grandfather. Because all these memories were cultivated with love and sincerity, they remained so pertinent and have shaped my husband’s life forever.
This legacy left by Tata has had me thinking of the legacies that we as parents are leaving to our own children. What is the legacy that I want to leave my boys? I want to leave them a legacy of love, hope, inspiration, joy, purpose and life. I guess this can all be summed up in one word…Jesus. Like every parent out there, I want my kids to grow up living a life of purpose and joy and to meet their perfect mate and live happily ever after. I only know of one way that, albeit not necessarily guarantee “happily ever after”, it will at least provide the solid foundation for a life of purpose, a devoted marriage, and home of love and joy. This way is walking in the truth with the Lord. God who created and knew our children before they came to be, wants the best for them and is why He instructs us as parents of this responsibility and obligation.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” ~Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Obligation and responsibility seem like such “hard work” words…but they don’t have to be. See, when we as parents are ourselves walking with the Lord, we walk with joy, talk with peace, love unconditionally and bear the fruit of the Spirit. Our children who are our mirrors, who mimic us, who are a reflection of us, will embrace this before we even intentionally teach it to them…just as a love for fishing was embraced by a little boy many years ago because of the love his grandfather had for it. Walking the walk as parents paves the way for our children to embrace a relationship with the Lord that is genuine and unmovable.
“Train up a child in the ways he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” ~Proverbs 22:6
It has been over thirty years and my husband has yet to depart from the love of fishing that he gained as a child. It is my sincerest desire that my children grow to love and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and never depart from this Truth. May we all be encouraged by this.
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth”~ 3 John 1:4
- No greater joy
Blessings to you all and your families!
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