Rey(es) of Light

Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp 2010 - at Arcadia Bluffs

I was watching the ESPY’s this week and saw the presentation of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to the family of Ed Thomas.  The award went to this family for their courage to forgive.  If you don’t know the story, Ed Thomas was shot and killed by one of his former high school football players who was diagnosed with a mental disorder.  The courage part comes in where the Thomas family, during a press conference, expresses their concern and asks the community to pray for the family of the son that murdered their father.  This was an amazing testament to the values taught by Ed Thomas to his children on how to do things right and forgive even in the most trying of circumstances…an awesome legacy to leave.

In the acceptance speech, Aaron Thomas mentioned his father focused on 3 things: Faith, Family and Football.  I believe faith and family should always be 1 and 2 in that order.  The third can be whatever else you are passionate about but something that will compliment faith and family.

I encourage you to CLICK HERE and watch the entire presentation and acceptance speech.  It’s well worth the 15 minutes.

To all the dads out there, I hope you realize the impact you have on your children.  They just want to spend time with you.  They truly do listen to you even though they might not respond right away.  They trust you.  They want you to affirm them.  To me, that’s an extremely important role to fill and really was re-emphasized when I was on vacation and got to spend 7 full days with Julianne and the kids.

Right before we left, my oldest said to me, “Daddy, I’m glad we’re going on vacation because you don’t have to work and I can spend all day with you!”  I knew right then the week was going to be special.  I made every effort to enjoy my time with my family and just relax.  I came back completely refreshed and with wonderful memories.

Like Ed Thomas, the most important legacy I want to leave my kids is my faith.  An important statistic I heard from Kensington Community Church was that families that are led in their faith by the father are 90% likely to have a strong faith of their own.  The percentages dramatically drop after that.  Another proof point on the important roles fathers play in kids’ lives.

How am I going to do this?

• ACTION: Lead by example
• PRIORITIES: Evaluate my priorities frequently to make sure I’m focusing on what’s important: faith and family
• TIME: Spend time with them…that’s easy because I already enjoy doing that

These are my small steps in leaving a legacy.  Hopefully if I put complete faith in God and trust Him in everything I do, my kids can enjoy fruitful life and lay the groundwork of leaving a legacy of their own.

What legacy do you want to leave?