Beautiful Legacy ~ 22 years later
Every now and then her beautiful face comes to mind…
The last time I saw her was 3 months before my wedding in 1991. Even in her wheel-chair, she radiated beauty! Holding her babe on her paralyzed legs, seeing her face brighten when she saw me walking towards her.
We just happen to run into her as we were entering the mall that day… 2 weeks later Amber went to be with her Lord.
Last night I found myself thinking about my life and how it hasn’t all turned out how I thought.
How the hardships weren’t what I thought they would be… and how the Lord has been faithful to use them to shape and mold me.
As I was thinking about this, my mind drifted to think about Amber… and I remember as a junior high girl, watching her from a distance with her gorgeous head wrap and walking with her cane.
I noticed how amazingly beautiful she was…
Sure, she was beautiful on the outside, but there was something deeper that was so bright I couldn’t miss it…
and I was drawn to it.
I knew it was the Lord in her life… and seeing her love for Jesus, in the midst of her struggle against cancer, made me want to have Jesus impact me that way too!
I was in 8th grade… our youth pastor asking us to write in our Bibles…
“Choose this day who you will serve.
Either Jesus or self.
Choose and write it down.”
I was already saved – but, made a commitment to choose to serve Jesus that day. I clearly remember praying,
“Lord, whatever it takes…
I want you to mold and shape me the way you have Amber.”
The Lord used her (and, honestly still does!) to greatly impact my life… and I am forever grateful! Such a beautiful legacy, even 22 years later…
Makes me think about my own legacy.
Am I passing on the lessons she taught me?
Am I being purposeful in the ministry I have to my family… my husband, my children…
Am I pouring into young women, encouraging them to grow in Jesus? Challenging them to ‘always pursue righteousness’, as Amber had challenged me?
Sure, sometimes I don’t feel very ‘worthy’ to be pouring into others… sometimes I don’t even feel ‘worthy’ to pour into my own family…
I am broken… and so very weak…
But, I am reminded that if we don’t share the ugly, we can’t share the beautiful.
It isn’t about having it all together before we pour into someone else…
It isn’t about being ‘worthy’…
It is about sharing our story… sharing HIS story in our lives.
We might feel like we have nothing to give…
but Jesus’ story in your life is always, always something to share!
