Legacy, family and birthday celebrations

I have just finished attending the Retirement Lifestyle Expo in Cape Town. Over lunch yesterday one of the ladies joined me at and shared about how much she had enjoyed my talk about finding passion, purpose and a pay cheque 50+.. She shared about how she loves to listen to stories from older people and would love to record them so that their families have them when they are no longer here to tell the stories.I know this is something I always encouraged my mom to do for us as she was the oldest in her generation and had many of the stories in her head. Now that she has died and I look at pictures, I wish I had taken more note of the stories because in many cases they are not recorded. This morning gave me a gift. A glimpse into her world and prayer life.

When my Mom died, I inherited most of her bibles and decided this year to use one of them as part of my daily quiet time. It is called the NIV Once a day bible and every day you read a section of the bible. A section from the old and new testament as well as a psalm or proverb. This morning as I was reading there were three sections underlined by my Mom and dated 25th February 2012. This was four days before the birth of my beautiful twin granddaughters, Chloe and Emma.

It is the story of Abraham and how he sends his servant to the land of his birth to go and find a woman to marry his son Isaac. Rebecca was sent by her family to Isaac with these words " Our sister may you increase to thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the cities of the enemies"  This story is in Genesis 9.

From Matthew 9 the section she underlined was " the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field."
In the reflection section at the end of each day she underlined: We are stewards of Jesus's domains and our goal is to have his mind and will and become faithful stewards of God's purpose.

We all love to remember the special moments from the past. The challenge is that we now live in a very fast paced world and Facebook even reminds us of these days. This morning Sarah reminded me of my prayer for her and Justin the day before the birth. I had found this beautiful photograph and it spoke to me.

This is my prayer for Sarah Katherine Smith and Justin Smith. Psalm 91. 
"Live under the protection of God Most High and stay in the shadow of God all powerful.

The Lord will keep you safe. He will spread HIS wings over you and keep you safe. His faithfulness is like a shield" Many blessings and prayers as we wait for the birth of your precious baby girls.

God's provision, love and legacy is part of all our lives. I am grateful for the legacy of my own family. We may now live on 4 continents, but share the same promise of love , protection and fruitfulness.

Chloe and Emma were born on the 29th February 2012. Tomorrow they turn 4. What a journey of joy it has been to watch and share with you over the past four years.

 I am so glad that My mom was able to meet you before she died.

 and that you took a long weekend from London last year to come and share in the legacy of her goodbyes from the family.

This morning I feel like my Mom has whispered from heaven. She prayed for us all during her lifetime and now protects us from heaven. My dad would have been 89 yesterday. Their legacy and family now stretches far and wide.

May we continue to love our families, celebrate life and leave a legacy as promised by God.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and love your neighbour as yourself.

Happy Birthday my darling girls. Lots of love from Granny LaLa.