Leaving A Legacy

I know you are accustomed to reading humorous stories about Dude, Thing 1 and Thing 2- or Daddy and our two kids but this post will be a little bit different.
Today was my cousin's funeral. She and I were born the same day- same year! So she was just 37 but she left a nice legacy. One that her three young children and the rest of her family will be proud of. She touched myriad people in her short time here but we all know that God knows best.
Hearing people talk about her made my heart smile and got me thinking... What Will My Legacy Be? And especially for my kids.
We know that we can talk to kids 'till we are blue in the face but we have to remember that they sometimes do what we say but more often they do what they see us do.
It will soon be summer- time to hit the beach for some of us! Picture yourself walking on the beach, leaving your footprints in the sand. Then your child follows behind you- stepping in the prints you leave behind. Are you doing things that you want your child to see? Things that you want them to follow?
My cousin really loved life and showed it in everything she did. This trickled down to her kids. We, as parents, have this great gift! The chance to shape and mold our offspring in the way that we want. We may not always get it right but if we set the foundation... they will be okay. Sometimes they may veer off the road but we can trust that they will get back on.
They learn best from us- and we need to be their main teachers. We must be mindful of what we are doing and that they are watching and many times, whether we realize it or not, they are wanting to be like us. They are walking in our footsteps.
So again are we being cognizant of what we are doing and what we are passing on? We want to do things that others will talk about when we are gone. We want to leave a great legacy!