What are you leaving behind? That’s what I’ve been asking myself lately. As I sat looking around my living room, I couldn’t lay my eyes on anything I thought any of “the kids”–or even any close friends–would want when I leave this world. A few framed photos on the bookshelf, maybe–but they even have copies of those.

When my dad died and my sibs and I had the colossal task of going through all that Depression-influenced hoard, the next-door neighbor said her kids had told her that when she departed they were going to take care of her stuff with a match.

All that “stuff” we accumulate and guard! Worthless to those still hanging around on earth–and worthless in eternity, too. So I’ve asked just what could be of value. And I decided: the stories.  The testimonies of amazing things God did, the family histories and anecdotes and sagas still untold, and the told ones that will soon fade or get distorted.  That’s what I can leave behind: the heritage of faith and eternal blessing–valuable on earth, and valuable in eternity.