LOVE LEAVES A LEGACY
When we lose someone, or even something, we have loved deeply, there is often a passing down of treasured keepsakes.
A favorite piece of jewelry.
A cherished car.
A worn Bible with notes scribbled in the margins.
A recipe card stained by years of family gatherings.
An old sweatshirt that once hung in the garage.
These precious items have a way of making us laugh, cry, smile, and remember all at the same time.
But some of the most valuable keepsakes are not things we can hold in our hands.
They are the stories.
The lessons.
The character.
The faith.
The courage.
The love that was lived before us and now lives within us.
Those are the heirlooms that matter most.
Every one of us has a story. And every story carries something worth passing on.
The Power of a Story
I always smile a little when someone says they do not believe the Bible because humans wrote it.
That is true. Humans did write it, under the inspiration of the One True God.
But let me ask you something.
Do you believe George Washington was the first President of the United States of America?
Most people would answer yes.
And why?
Because someone wrote it down.
It became part of recorded history. Generation after generation preserved the story and passed it forward. We trust historical accounts because witnesses documented them, and others faithfully carried the baton to those who came after them.
The Bible is not weakened because human hands wrote it down. It is a miracle that God used human hands to preserve His truth.
Speaking of history, here is something remarkable: the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time. While it is nearly impossible to know the exact number of copies printed and distributed across the centuries, estimates reach into the billions.
That is a lot of batons being passed.
A lot of stories being preserved.
A lot of hope being carried from one generation to the next.
And when all is said and done, isn’t that what remains?
Our story.
Not our bank account.
Not our titles.
Not the applause.
Not even our earthly accomplishments.
What remains is the love we gave.
The battles we fought.
The faith we held onto all the way to eternity.
The people whose lives were changed because we were here.
The Dream That Changed Everything
Several years ago, the Lord gave me an extraordinary dream that forever changed my life. It also changed the way I view grief.
In the dream, my deceased son handed me his old college wrestling sweatshirt.
It was worn out, faded, shredded, and tired from years of hard use.
As he handed it to me, he smiled and said, “This one’s a lot better, Ma!”
And suddenly, as the shirt moved from his hands to mine, it transformed into something entirely new.
It became beautiful.
Soft.
Elegant.
Almost cashmere-like.
Across the front were two words:
CHAMPION WRESTLER
There is so much more to that life-changing dream, but I want to pause right there for today.
When my oldest son handed me that gift, I heard his voice.
I saw his smile.
I received that gift from Heaven with my hands and heart wide open.
And then I noticed something very important.
It did not say Wrestling Champion.
It said Champion Wrestler.
The Difference Between Winning and Wrestling
Do you see the difference?
A wrestling champion is often recognized for winning.
But a champion wrestler is recognized for refusing to quit.
The emphasis was not on the trophy.
It was on the perseverance.
It was on the struggle.
The endurance.
The courage to keep showing up.
The willingness to stay in the fight when life gets hard.
That is when I understood something that still strengthens me today.
The baton had been passed.
It was my turn now.
My turn to keep wrestling with life.
My turn to keep believing.
My turn to carry forward the faith, courage, and determination my son demonstrated throughout his life, wanting desperately to become the best version of himself he could be.
And now it’s your turn too.
The Baton You’ve Been Given
Who has already handed you a baton?
Maybe they taught you kindness.
Maybe they taught you resilience.
Maybe they showed you how to laugh through hardship or trust God through uncertainty.
Maybe they modeled generosity, faithfulness, integrity, compassion, grit, or grace.
The question is not whether you have been given something.
The question is whether you will carry it.
Grief has a way of convincing us that everything ended when our loved one left this earth.
But often, something sacred is just beginning.
Their influence continues.
Their love continues.
Their legacy continues.
And now, through us, their story continues.
Running Your Part of the Race
The Apostle Paul wrote:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”
2 Timothy 4:7 NIV.
Notice the imagery.
A fight.
A race.
A faith that had to be kept.
Paul understood that life is not simply about crossing the finish line. It is about faithfully carrying what we have been entrusted with until it is our turn to pass it on.
Sometimes grief itself becomes part of that calling.
Not because we wanted it.
Not because we would ever choose it.
Not because loss is easy or fair.
But because pain, when placed in the hands of God, can become a powerful teacher.
The lessons we learn in the valley often become the encouragement someone else desperately needs.
One day, your story may help another grieving heart survive a season they thought would destroy them.
Your testimony may become someone else’s lifeline.
Seriously.
Your perseverance may give another person permission to keep going.
The Comfort That Flows Through Us
I still have Austin’s shredded wrestling shirt.
Someday, it will belong to his children. It is a beautiful keepsake.
But even more than that, I cherish the new shirt I carry in my heart, mind, and soul; the one Heaven handed me in that dream.
The one that reminds me to stay low and keep learning.
To keep wrestling.
To keep growing.
To keep trusting the Master Teacher; His name is Jesus.
For now, the shirt reminds me to keep fighting the good fight; slowly on some days, more steadily on others, but always staying in the arena.
The Bible reminds us that God is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,” and that the comfort we receive from Him becomes comfort we can offer to others.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV.
What a beautiful picture.
The comfort we receive is not meant to stop with us.
It flows through us.
Like a baton passed from one runner to another.
Like a gift received and then shared.
Like love that refuses to die.
Heaven’s Sweet Mystery
Perhaps that is one of Heaven’s sweetest mysteries.
Those we love never truly stop impacting our lives.
The relationship changes, but the influence remains.
The physical presence may be gone, but the spiritual imprint remains.
And sometimes, in the most unexpected moments, God reminds us.
Through a dream.
Through a memory.
Through a song.
Through a story.
Through an old sweatshirt.
“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”
Psalm 30:5 NIV.
For those walking through grief, that verse does not mean the pain disappears overnight.
It means sorrow does not get the final word.
Hope does.
Love does.
God does.
What Will You Set in Motion?
So let me ask you:
What shirt are you wearing?
What baton has been placed in your hands?
What part of your story needs to be written down, recorded, preserved, and passed on to those who will come after you?
Maybe the greatest gifts from Heaven are not always the ones we receive.
Maybe they are the ones we continue.
So grab the baton.
Carry it well.
Keep wrestling.
Keep loving.
Keep believing.
Keep showing up.
And when your turn comes to pass the baton of legacy into the hands of others, may those who follow find courage because you ran your portion of the race faithfully.
Because in the end, legacy is not only what you leave behind.
It is what you set in motion.
So why not begin today, my friend?
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AMAZON.COM
