changing the faith of generations

Throughout our lives, we impress our legacy into our families with great joy. It is our way of leaving a mark on this world and influencing our children and grandchildren well beyond our lifetime. Our legacy matters! But if our legacy is the important things that we leave behind, then our lives need to be purposefully crafted to make a deep and lasting impact on those around us. 

One of the best ways to do this is to consistently examine our spiritual legacy. And I have to be honest, leaving a spiritual legacy for the future of our families is the biggest reason I started Red Dirt Recollective and this blog, Where Life And Legacy Meet. 

Everyone has a spiritual story. And yes, I mean everyone. Even if you don’t believe what I believe as a follower of Jesus, we all have made decisions about our spiritual walk. Whether we believe no God exists, pursue the God of the Bible, or have another belief, we have created a spiritual story in our lives. As we continue shaping our spiritual walk for our families, it is my hope that we pursue the truth until it is found. 

Mary in 1974

This has been a month of celebrating how our Legacy Of Love is given and I’m excited to share the impact of my mother-in-law’s spiritual walk with you. She passed away a little over a year ago and it’s a story I didn’t know until after she was gone. 

Mary, my mother-in-law, cared about outer appearances. Even in our small town in the 1970’s, she rose early in the morning to be well prepared for the day, dress nicely, and apply appropriate make-up. She carried herself with good posture. And to many she met, she seemed very proper and exacting. It was antithetical to how she was raised and may have even been a reaction to it. She was a lady in the proper term. 

But this beautiful outward appearance wasn’t surface deep. Mary believed the words God spoke in 1 Samuel were meant for everyone.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

While Samuel set out to locate Israel’s next king, God helped Samuel not make assumptions about who a person is based on appearance. God knows who we really are. The king He chose for Israel was David, the youngest son in the family who became one of Israel’s greatest kings. 

 God knew Mary’s heart just like He knew David’s. And in that heart was an understanding of her role in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

Mary, who was raised in the church, knew this instruction well. Bringing people to Jesus mattered because it is the mission of the church. And it’s God’s desire to be restored to His people through their faith in Him.  

And that’s why Mary’s spiritual legacy with Deb’s family began. 

Outwardly, Deb was like Mary, but she didn’t know God like Mary did. She never felt good enough for her husband’s Christian family. Easter and Christmas were the only times she showed up for church. It was so much easier to sleep in. But then something changed when the kids were born. Deb wanted them to have something she didn’t - a Christian upbringing like her husband. 

Deb had no idea what that small step would mean. 

And it got worse when she showed up at the church. No one there was like her. It was a conservative small town church in the 1970’s. Women wore bonnets and no make-up. They had long hair and wore dresses below their knees! Deb did not fit into that stereotype and in her words, “I felt like I was the floozie walking into the church and that I would never be accepted. I was too glitzy with bleached blonde hair and makeup.”

But then Mary and her husband, Bud, started attending the church. And do you know what Deb saw in Mary? It was something different. She saw a beautiful well put together woman. And that’s exactly what Mary was. But Deb saw more. “I could look at her and see something I couldn't see in the other women in church. There was something about her that I could identify with. I could wear makeup and dye my hair. I didn't have to give all those things up to still be accepted by Jesus.”

Deb watched Mary in the church. She saw a woman who was full of love and grace. A woman whose outward beauty and sweetly sung worship songs brought Deb closer to Jesus and into a place where she could experience nonjudgmental love and witness the joy Mary had.  

But Deb was still attending church for the kids and that meant reluctantly helping serve cookies one night at a kids program, Vacation Bible School. Mary and her friend helped that night as well. It was a simple task with no strings attached. But as the women worked, Deb couldn’t resist any longer.  She wanted the joy and love that Mary had. That night changed the trajectory of Deb’s family forever as Mary and her friend helped Deb meet Jesus and start her spiritual walk with Him.

Mary introduced Deb to Jesus. And it was the most important spiritual legacy she could leave. It changed Deb. But that wasn’t the end. Unbeknownst to Mary, that one act of love has impacted generations of Deb’s family. 

In Deb’s words, “Mary gave me something that no other person could give me and that was to know that God would accept me for who I was and what I was. God's salvation is the best thing that we could give our family. The fact that there's nothing, there's no money in this world, there's no possessions in this world that are more important than the fact that they love Jesus.”

Mary was purposeful about her spiritual walk. And it gave her a great God honoring legacy. 

Make your spiritual journey matter. Be willingly obedient to God by sharing Him with those he has placed in your life. Like Mary, your commitment to your faith walk and the tangible ways that you show who Jesus is can impact not only your family’s faith but give you the power to change the course of someone’s else’s family for generations. And that, friends, is the most important difference we can make. 

Stories that talk about our spiritual walk are some of my favorite ones to record. I hope you find a way to save yours. If you want our help contact me at reddirtrecollective.com/contact. But even if you do nothing else, share your spiritual story. It’s one of the best stories you can save and give away!

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody