Adding to Your Legacy

Dear Friends,

Nothing causes one to examine one’s life quite like attending a memorial service for someone who lived a life worthy of emulation. Patricia Boss Lawrence was such a person. At her memorial, family and friends spoke of a woman who lived as if the words of Etienne de Grellet served as her life compass.

Pat was an educator — a teacher of teachers — who, associates say, left her mark on thousands of children. One close friend put it this way, “Pat had the ability to entice the best out of everybody.”
“Specificity and clarity should be your goal,” Pat would say. “Look someone in the eye and focus on what they are saying, not on what your next question might be.”

Pat was a mother and a businesswoman — she started a consulting business at age 72, after retiring from teaching. Pat was also an adventurer, with travels that took her from a hike in the Himalayas to a bike ride in South Africa — from a climb at Machu Pichu to a 40-mile trek following the path Jesus took from Jerusalem to Capernaum.

A devout Catholic, Pat served and supported her local parish. For five years she was a docent at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Her love for children was seen in the mission trips she took to Mexico and South Africa where she worked to educate the poor.

Pat had boundless energy. She packed a lot of living into her 82 years. She ran the race GOD had marked out for her. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

With all her adventures and accomplishments, I was certain Pat’s page on Wikipedia would make interesting reading. What I found was one simple line: The page “Patricia Boss Lawrence” does not exist. And that’s what it going to be like for most of us. Besides an obituary in a local paper and possibly a memorial service attended by a small group of family and friends, our only earthly legacy will be the impact we had on others.

Want a way to add to your legacy? Jesus gave us the way:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34

In 1 John 3:18 we learn that loving involves action, not just words.
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 1 John 3:18 (NLT)

Each day offers fresh opportunities to add to our legacy by sharing God’s love.
Let your loving actions show that you are a true disciple of Christ.

Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ