Heritage

 

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and he worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. Hebrews 11:21

 

 Just a few minutes ago I read this quote as part of a devotional message. The author of that message leaned pretty heavily on the idea of heritage and how important it was to Jacob’s sons and grandsons.  That made me smile because just yesterday afternoon my grandson Joey was talking to me about heritage.  We were in the kitchen and Joey was baking brownies for the first time.  I was talking him through the steps and told him that the recipe he was using came from his great-grandmother. “It was my mom’s recipe first.” I told him. “Now that you are using it you’re the fourth generation on this same recipe.” He grinned at me and said, “So it’s like heritage.”  Yes, precious boy, it’s like heritage.

I am happy to pass on recipes, old family traditions and home remedies to my children and grandchildren but nothing makes me happier than passing on my faith.

The most important person in the development of my childhood faith was my Gram. She was never preachy or demanding, she simply lived her faith. It was a part of everything she did. It made her the wonderful person that she was. I was drawn by her reverence of God but much more so by her complete enjoyment of all things relating to Him. She loved being in church and praying but beyond that, even in the hardest times, she carried that peace that passes understanding. She really knew her Savior.

That is the heritage I hope to pass on to Joey, Faith, Isabelle, Samuel, Madelyn, Grace, Gavin, Abigail, Abram, Harper and the new baby, still being fearfully and wonderfully formed within her (?) mother’s womb. So I will bake brownies, prepare holiday meals, watch movies, play games, listen when they talk and in all those things I  pray to show them the most important aspect of their heritage, that beyond being their Grammy, I am a child of God, just like each one of them.