This year marks 110 years that my wife’s family has owned and operated the family farm. My wife’s great-grandfather bought it 1903. My wife’s grandfather bought out his siblings in 1940, and my father-in-law bought it in1994. It is an amazing family heritage. The original survey pole from 1903 is still there. We had to survey it again recently and the surveyor was amazed to realize that the marker was less than one inch off after all that time. Over the years, lots of our family members have worked on the farm. Fathers and sons, father-in-laws and son-in-laws, and all their wives have spent time raising crops, cattle, building fences, and clearing land.

But as remarkable a heritage as the family farm is, it is only the second most important legacy passed down in our family. The most important legacy is our faith in Jesus, and I am struck by the similarities in those legacies. Our family’s faith gets passed down through the generations. Each new generation learns of faith from those that are ahead of them. In fact, each Sunday I sit on a four generation row at church: my in-laws, my wife and I, our daughter and son-in-law, and their two kids.

There are “survey poles” that have stood the test of time for us. We believe that Jesus is the cornerstone of our family legacy. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God. We believe that our greatest calling is to love God, love our neighbors, and to share the good news of Jesus in our world.

Several years ago, the original farmhouse burned to the ground. My wife’s grandfather was 96 at the time. When we talked about rebuilding, he told us to not use any cheap lumber. He wanted something that would last. I do not know how long the farm will stay in the family. I do know that someday it will not even exist. It too will burn up. So we believe that this world is not our home. Heaven is. That is the home that will last. In fact, it will last forever. That is the heritage and legacy that I really want for the generations that will come after me.

You can start that legacy in your family. I would be honored to talk with you about how to do that. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org or join the blog discussion at www.hopeforlife.org.

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