Scenes from the Northwoods of Wisconsin

*coming off of a holiday spent at my parent's home tucked in the Northwoods of Wisconsin
The home was designed and built by the hard working hands of my grandparents shown in the bottom picture. A labour of love years in the making and home to many happy family memories, this is not the only legacy they leave. They have lived a life of faith in Jesus and have walked 66 years of marriage dependent on His grace. They have modeled forgiveness to those that wronged them, rose up against a past of hardships with fierce tenacity and refused to be defined by circumstances out of their control. Always the first to volunteer at church, faithfully sing in the choir and eagerly attend midweek Bible classes, their priorities have been clear to those around them. Christ first. Despite their actions telling all around them that Jesus is important to them, this is not the legacy either. Jesus Is.  Jesus Is. This is the eternal legacy they leave to the generations after them. This is the legacy left to my kids.
 My grandparents - regardless of how wonderful they are - are still sinful human beings like all of us. As a child I didn't see that. I only saw how much they loved us through Grandma's cookies and cream puffs and Grandpa's riding lawn mower turned into a grandkids go cart! Now an adult, I see their struggles, their health continue to decline as only old age can bring - a reminder that this life is temporary. Death is dependable.
Jesus isn't confined to the pages of a good book. My grandparents are ordinary people made extraordinary through Christ. Jesus has been the one giving them the strength to forgive, to get up after falling and showing them they are defined not by outward circumstances, but by who they are in Christ. He knew they'd be lost on their own. And because death is dependable, they'd be lost forever. He overcame death by living a perfect life in their place, taking the punishment of their sins by suffering and dying on the cross and triumphantly rose again and declared His victory! His power is made perfect in their weakness. He sees them as perfect and worthy to live with Him for eternity. And because He did this not only for them but for the whole world, they passed this down to their children who passed it down to their children and I am passing it on to my children.

Parents don't only parent their own kids. We are parenting generations. Faith can be lost in one generation. It can become lost through spiritual apathy, disconnection from regular time in God's Word, a low priority for church attendance or any number of distractions this world and Satan has to offer. This is not an easy legacy to leave - even harder than the log home it took my grandparents years to build. This is a battle fought over a lifetime against real forces of evil that would have us give up. The stakes are high - souls connected to our biology, family and loved ones. But He promises to help, encourage and sustain us through His Word and sacraments. He loves us and wants us and future generations to be with Him forever. The legacy we leave can be a legacy of death or a legacy of life.
By God's grace, may it be life!