by Pastor Josh Trojak

I can be a sentimental man. I hold onto stuff longer than I should. One example of this are the t-shirts that I have received from the many different teams, musicals, groups, and trips of which I have been a part since high school. As growing up and growing out catches up to me, I am not able to fit into any of those shirts from high school, or sadly even college. However, I can’t part with these mementos of good times of many kinds.

 

Many years ago, my grandmother took my high school shirts and created a beautiful quilt to make my shirts, that were useless to me, become useful again. She later made one from my college shirts and this past Christmas my wife commissioned Heidi Bortner to turn our old camp shirts into a blanket as well. I hadn’t given these quilts much thought until we moved into our new house in Spring Grove just a couple of months ago. With new bedroom assignments and beds to go with them, we needed to use these blankets that I have acquired. That first blanket from high school is now one of the covers on my son’s bed to help keep him warm on our chilly nights.

I never would have thought the swimming or musical shirts I got while in school would someday help keep my kids warm. Judson finds the different patches of shirts interesting, but they simply don’t mean to him what they mean to me. What it made me think about is the legacy that those shirts have and the ability to adapt to a new purpose.

 

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. (Psalm 78:4, NIV)

 

We don’t know what effect the works of our labors will have on the next generation. This view of the past affecting the present gives me more of a reminder to make sure I am investing in things that will have a lasting impact long after I am gone. I don’t want my kids just to know about my school adventures. Those blankets will eventually be thrown away. The legacy Jesus can have on their lives and the lives of those they share Him with will last forever. What legacy are you leaving behind?