Our group consists of seven, sometimes as many as nine men, who have been meeting for the past four months. One of the things we do on a regular basis is find out if there are anything we can pray about and one of the prayers requested a few times was from our friend Bruce who asked that we pray for his son Devin who was recently deployed to Afghanistan.
Before our lesson started this week, Bruce was excited to show us this picture. We had heard that President Obama had flown to Afghanistan and Bruce was earnestly watching CNN to see if he could possibly catch a glimpse of his son in the crowd. To his surprise and delight, Bruce saw his son, Tech Sergeant Devin, standing with the President (Devin is the young man directly to the left of the President in the picture).
It was a great start to our last lesson on leaving a legacy. Tony Dungy said that "everything we do adds an element to the story we leave behind". Bruce (the father) served in the Police Department for 41 years. He has left a legacy of service. His oldest son served in the NYFD. His daughter, Danielle, worked as a 911 operator for the Suffolk County Police Department, and his younger son, Darren also serves in the United States Air Force.
The legacy we leave behind is not about money. It's all about the values, faith, character and integrity. When we have faith, when we know that we are in need of a Savior and we embrace Jesus, we have the opportunity to leave behind the greatest legacy of all.
Coach Dungy is correct; everything we do adds an element to the story we leave behind. What are you leaving behind? If you know Jesus and the Holy Spirit lives in you there is a great hope. The Apostle Paul writes about this legacy in his letter to the Galatians, " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:23)
