As I grow older I am more aware of how small our circles of influence really are. At best we might touch the lives of a handful of people through our lifetime and then, as sad as it sounds, we will be remembered by only two generations...our children and grandchildren. Then, like the rest of humanity, we fade into the background...forgotten but for our name on the grave stone somewhere.
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Sounds negative? A little, but it's true, so how do we best impact and influence these few lives for these few years we are here? The key to all of this is what Jesus told us to do in relationship- love one another. To truly love someone you must listen, care, think about them, connect with them, reach out to them, cry with them, in other words really love them. That is the one life changing decision we each make that changes the lives of those few other lives we influence. A genuine love of others is the secret to influence that will last beyond your memory....it's the one decision that has impact into eternity.
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(The photo? It's one of our amazing grandchildren, Vaughn. Isn't he cute?)
1 comment:
Thanks for this post, Mike. It does remind me of one of my favorite country songs by Micheal Martin Murphy, "Long Line of Love." The gist of the song is celebration of coming from parents who loved each other and continuing that long "line of love." I am blessed to have had that and I pray that even though I'm known by only a couple of generations, I am part of something bigger. And even better, as believers we are part of His line of love! I need to go listen to that song!
Jill G
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