What have you done: Five

Finally, when I look back on my life and wonder “what have I done?”  I want to be the one who failed a LOT. Because I believe the only way that a person truly learns is by failing. What is the saying? Didn’t Edison try and fail thousands of times before he found what worked for the light bulb.

If you have never failed then you have never really tried to do anything.

Now there is a fine line here that needs to be defined. I don’t want to look back on my life as a failure, I want to look back on my life to see that I tried, I worked, I experimented, and I failed a LOT more than I succeeded.

A wise old fisherman was working on a dock that was too new for the boat he was mooring there. While he fixed his nets on his faded skiff he could see the invasion of modernity on his beloved shore in the form of hotels, fenced off beaches, and these new docks. One of these new-wealth 20-something’s came up to him at the end of the dock and watched him work for a while. Hoping to make conversation he asked the fisherman about the depth of the water at the end of the dock; “How many have you seen fall in and drown?” he asked. The fisherman squinted in the sun and his eyes seemed to disappear in the wrinkles on his face as he answered, “No one who falls in drowns,” he answers. “It’s just them that don’t get up again that drown.”

I have failed a lot in my life. Some of those times it caused permanent damage and I had to totally abandon whatever. MOST times I learned from that fall and I got up again a little smarter about how NOT to fall next time.

Edison didn’t fail thousands of times, he learned about thousands of ways that didn’t work. That is how I want to live my life. Because, you see, the alternative is to live your life in a protected shell of mediocrity and security. When you live that way and look back on your life you will wonder why you didn’t try more. You will wonder why this God-given great life was boring and hum-drum and not the exciting ride you wished it could be.

At the end of my life when you ask me what I have done, I want to answer “I have failed but gotten back up again. I tried, experimented, and stretched for things beyond my reach only to fall spectacularly. I’ve traveled, I’ve seen, I’ve experienced and I’ve lived!”

Will you be able to say the same?

What have you done: Four

So when I look back on what I have done in my life. I pray that my relationship are seen as the most important thing to me: my God, my wife, my children and grandchildren.

After my close familial relationships, I guess the next thing I hope to be remembered for is what I did for my fellow man. How have I impacted society as a whole and those in my circle of influence as a part of that? What have I done in my life to make this world a better place?

Today you will hear a lot about protecting the environment for future generations or changing our world for a social agenda or social justice in the world. Many people want to stop global climate change or rescue sex slaves or some such popular bandwagon. Not me.

I believe most social ills are symptoms of a much deeper problem. We live in a world of apathetic apostasy and sinking to the average common denominator in life. And we are happy being average and down the middle of the road. I am not.

The deeper problem is that we are not salt and light in this world. The deeper problem is that God has been removed from the market, the schools, and the body politic. The deeper problem is that we Christians are no different than the world we live in.

Instead of working on climate change let’s work on teaching kids the world is special and created for a purpose. NOT just a random act of some impersonal chance but the PURPOSEFUL act of a Creator God and YOU have a job to take care of it.

Instead of working on social justice issues let’s work on getting the Ten Commandments and God’s justice back into schools; teaching them to love and respect each other as Gods justice demands.

Instead of finding and punishing sex enslavers or punishing women in the trade for selling themselves let’s work on eliminating the desire/need for the trade. Put God back into the hearts and minds of men and women involved and the problem will disappear.

Instead of sending your worn out clothes and extra food to the poor and hungry let’s take them into our homes and our churches and get them back on their feet again through tough love and acceptance both demanded in scripture.

I want to be known for treating the PROBLEM and not the symptoms of that problem. Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us and I don’t think it is a stretch to say that most people need Jesus a lot more than they need food, especially in this country.

What have you done? Are you working on the problems in this world, this country, this state, this county, this neighborhood or are you just feeding the symptoms? Maybe you ARE perpetuating the problem and need to get back into church and Jesus? Do you really and truly need Jesus more than food? If you cannot say yes to that and ACT like it; you are the problem.

I pray that I am not the problem but help give the answer.

What have you done: Three

I want to be remembered for my relationship with God … that people can say of me, “He is a man of God.”

I want to be remembered for my marriage … that people will say that Frankie was able to put up with him for 60+ years!

I also want to be remembered by and for my children and grandchildren. Have you ever thought about the legacy you are leaving for your children and grandchildren? When you look at them will you look with shock and say “What have I done!” OR when you see them will you proudly and silently say in your heart “Look what I have done.”

Most of us don’t abuse physically, verbally or spiritually but there is a lot we do that destroys our legacy through them.

The strongest influence we have on our kids is how we love God and how we love each other. Children and grandchildren THRIVE in a house full of love and absent of fear.

The next strongest influence we have on our children is how we use our time. Do we sit in front of a TV or Computer all day or do we go out on “adventures” and other activities? Children watch how you spend your time and they will emulate that. ALSO do we actually SPEND TIME with them or do we ignore them? I don’t mean watching TV together, I mean playing a game, playing with blocks or Matchbox cars. We need to spend quality time with them. AND the best quality and family time you can spend is to go to church together, as a family.

Food is a BIG influence on children. Not just whether they get it or not but when and what they get to eat. We all know what is junk and what is good for a growing body. Is that what we eat and give them to eat? I am not saying that an occasional McD’s is from the devil but I am saying McD’s or the like every day is devilish and will ruin kids.

Take a look at your kids right now. Or mentally take a look at your future children and grandchildren, what is the legacy you are leaving them. What will they say about you? What would they say about the home they grew up in? What demons are they dealing with that you introduced them to?

One of my favorite quotes from an unknown author, “Children are the living messages a mother sends to a future she will never see.”

I pray that I can leave my children and grandchildren a loving, supportive and healthy legacy. And I will do my part now to work on that. It is never too late to start.