Yesterday I attended the funeral of a woman from our community. Although I did not know her personally, some of her children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren are friends. During the course of the service, much was said of her commitment to Christ and of a lifestyle characterized by faith. Growing up in a solid Canadian prairie Mennonite background, I wrongly assumed that she was born with a 鈥渨ork hard鈥� gene firmly implanted in her DNA; in a beautiful but fun-filled tribute to their grandmother, one of her grandsons told of how as a child she would hide in the outhouse with a book, trying to avoid detection and household chores.
Another story the same grandson avers has never before been revealed, involved his distaste for trigonometry. Seems a particular assignment was the last hurdle to overcome; by failing to successfully complete that work, he would fail the course and be required to re-take it. Grandma heard about it and being a woman who cared deeply about the feelings of her offspring, she paid another grandson to complete the work. He got $20 out of the deal and the errant child didn鈥檛 have to repeat trigonometry. Say what you will about the wisdom of such a move, it removed a lot of stress from a teenager鈥檚 life. For those in attendance, the revelation of that long-held secret also provided a lot of laughter.
Attending that funeral made me think seriously about what people will have to say at my celebration of life. There are things that I鈥檓 proud of, things that I wish I鈥檇 not done or done differently and things I鈥檇 like to have accomplished but never did. Above all, though, I long to leave a legacy of personal integrity and faithfulness to God.
鈥溾�ut the prudent man (or woman) considers well his steps鈥︹�� Proverbs 14:15
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