Leave A Legacy

Ask yourself this question; when you look back at the end of your life, what do you want your legacy to be?  

My Grandpa is a third generation farmer whose whole life revolves around his agricultural lifestyle and values.  Grandpa loves his family, is devout in his faith and treasures his agricultural lifestyle.  The legacy my Grandpa will leave will be one of a strong man who loved the Lord, his family and the land.  This legacy will never be world renowned, but it will be passed on throughout our family.  Sometimes in life, numbers and facts simply can’t measure the values of a person and their legacy that will live on in the hearts of their loved ones.   

My Grandpa instilled the value of hard work into all of his children.  No two days on the farm are ever the same, yet they all consist of the same trait--hard work. All of his children grew up helping on the farm and were encouraged to take their own risks to learn with my Grandpa’s guidance.  For example, while in high school, my Dad and his older brother purchased a swather and thus did custom swathing for local farmers to pay off the cost of the swather and make a profit. My Dad and his siblings spent their free time out hunting and fishing on the land.  My grandparents were never idle and therefore, neither were their children.  Think for a moment about: what values are being instilled in you?

Another value my Grandpa instilled in others was a passion for agriculture and the land in which we live on.  “For I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life” could easily be spoken from my Grandpa’s heart.  Grandpa started working the land with horses and no electricity, yet ended up using tractors with technology beyond what could have been imagined when he was young.  Yet the triumphs my Grandpa shared in are significant.  Because of his passion for agriculture, three of his children now farm for a living within miles of their childhood farmstead.  

These are just a few of the many values that will be included in my Grandpa’s legacy when it is his time to go.  All of us have values that make up who we are and how we will choose to live our lives.  As we go on with our own walk of life, let's all stop and take a minute to look back and see the legacy that we are leaving behind and thank those who help us leave our legacy.