Pasting down something..

Today we had a family service where my cousin's pastor came to aunt's due to the recent pass away of my uncle. After all the singings & prayers, there was an opportunity for my cousins to say something in remembrance of my uncle. What I heard was...only good characteristics/actions will be remembered by people. When it comes to hard working sacrificing for the family...that kind of sacrificing love for the children just touches everyone's heart. It's always about a sentence that uncle said, or a decision that he made significantly changed my cousins' lives.

So this reflects to my view of everyone has certain influences in some extents. But what people choose to past down to their loved ones or even the next...next generations...all starts right now with their own decision.

It reminded me of a book I read...p. 59

"Most of us don't give much thought to the plethora of decisions we make as we go through each day. Yet the decisions we make today will affect our children, our grandchildren, and the generations to come. Too often, we think only about the here and now. The problem with that kind of thinking is it's not just hurting you; it's making life more difficult on those who come after you. The things that we don't overcome, the issues we leave on the table, so to speak, will be passed down for the next generation to deal with . None of us lives or dies to ourselves. A person's good habits as well as their poor choices -- the addictions, bad attitudes, and wrong mind-sets--all are passed down.

I like to look at my life as a few laps in the marathon that our family line is running. When my life is done, I'm going to hand the baton to my children. Contained in that baton will be my physical DNA, my traits, hair color, size, and weight. It will also hold my spiritual and emotional DNA. It will include my tendencies, attitudes, habits, and mind-sets. My children will take the baton, run a few laps, and hand it to their children, and on and on. Every lap that we run with purpose, passion, and integrity is one more lap that can be used for good by those that come after us. In a sense, the laps we run well put future generations further down the road toward significance and success.

We need to think about the big picture. I want to leave my family line better off than they were before. i don't want selfishness, addictions, or bad habits to diminish my life. I want everything about my life now to make it easier on those who will come after me.

Even if you don't have children, you're going to live on through the people you influence. Your habits, attitudes, and what you stand for will all be passed down to somebody.

But the good news is: Every right decision we make, every time we resist temptation, every time we honor God, when we do the right thing, not only are we going to come up higher ourselves, but we're making it a little easier on the generations that will come after us. Think of it like this: Each of us has a spiritual bank account. By the way we live, we're either storing up equity or storing up iniquity. Equity would be anything good: our integrity, our determination, our godliness. That's storing up blessings. On the other hand, iniquity includes our bad habits, addictions, selfishness, lack of discipline. All of these things, either good or bad, will be passed down to future generations. Now, if sicknesses and addictions and wrong mind-sets can be passed down, how much more can God's blessings, favor, and good habits be passed down through our blood?

We can build on the past. We need to understand that the generations are connected. You are sowing seeds for future generations. Whether you realize it or not, everything you do counts.

It's easy in life to think, well, I'm just a businessman or I'm just a housewife or I'm just a single mom raising my kids, going to work. I'm not going to do anything great. Be realistic.

No, you've got to learn to think more generationally. The fact that you're a hard worker, faithful to your spouse and family, giving it your all-you are sowing seeds for those to come after you. You may not see it all happen in your lifetime. You may very well be sowing a seed for a child or for a grandchild to do something great. But don't get discouraged. It's your family legacy. It's not just your life you are changing; you are literally changing your family tree!

In the same way, when you get up early, work hard, and have a spirit of excellence, you are making a difference in your family's future. Don't be shortsighted and so ingrown that if it doesn't happen right now, you're not going to be happy. No, you are sowing seeds that will reap a great harvest for generations to come.

Understanding generational blessings is something obtainable.