Latest / She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ / Simplicity in Living and Leaving a Faith-Filled Legacy

Transcript

Simplicity in Living and Leaving a Faith-Filled Legacy · She Speaks Life - Christian Women, Strengthen Your Faith, Bible Study, Grow Spiritually In Christ

• 0:02
  Hi listeners. Welcome to the.
• 0:04
  She speaks live podcast a weekly encouragement where we share our
• 0:09
  God's stories. I'm your host.
• 0:12
  Jamie Elizabeth and I am so glad you are spending time with us
• 0:16
  today to listen. Hi there.
• 0:21
  I am so glad you chose to listen to this episode.
• 0:25
  I am going to just love what we're going to talk about,
• 0:29
  because we are talking about spiritual Legacy, how to live
• 0:36
  it, how to leave it for the following generations.
• 0:41
  And I believe this is probably the most important values I
• 0:46
  adhere to because of the Eternal change.
• 0:50
  In it produces. I want to welcome you Kathy
• 0:55
  Howard she is the author of heirloom and she's going to
• 1:00
  share with us. What is spiritual Legacy?
• 1:04
  Why? It's so important and some
• 1:07
  practical ways that we can apply it to our lives.
• 1:10
  Hi, Kathy, welcome. Hey, thanks for having me.
• 1:14
  I'm excited to be with you. Oh my gosh.
• 1:17
  Well, I love this topic. This is the The big motivator
• 1:22
  for me to start doing what I was doing and leave it for my kids
• 1:27
  and give them something that you know, when I go I want them to
• 1:32
  share how much Faith mom had, you know, or Grandma hat.
• 1:38
  So I was like you know, this is really something that was
• 1:43
  important. I know you're going to talk
• 1:45
  about why it's important to the Lord and what the Bible says
• 1:49
  about it too. And And so I read your bio and
• 1:55
  you got a pretty good-sized family, you've got six grandkids
• 1:59
  and three adult children. So I know spiritual Legacy was
• 2:04
  definitely something that was big on your heart.
• 2:07
  So I want to hear how you know that got started for you and
• 2:14
  where it all began, right? Well, I was raised in a
• 2:17
  Christian home. I'd like to say I was going to
• 2:20
  Church. Even before I was born, my
• 2:22
  parents raised me and my brother to love Jesus.
• 2:26
  And as I started having children, I wanted to have that
• 2:29
  same atmosphere in my home that my parents did for me.
• 2:33
  And of course you know you look back and you think man.
• 2:37
  I was so caught up. I felt like I could have done a
• 2:40
  better job when I was a parent, you know, as busy moms can can
• 2:44
  attest to the fact that months go by and you think?
• 2:47
  Wait a minute. I haven't even breathed in the
• 2:49
  last. Few months much less think,
• 2:52
  intentionally about leaving a spiritual Legacy, right?
• 2:56
  I mean that was like, the last thing I was thinking when I'm
• 2:59
  having babies in my 20s and all I'm driving, I feel like I'm
• 3:03
  giving birth or nursing or, you know, not sleeping.
• 3:07
  The last thing I'm thinking about is leave a spiritual
• 3:10
  Legacy. So I mean just to kind of a word
• 3:12
  of encouragement. My my grown kids have have
• 3:16
  talked about as as they were growing up.
• 3:19
  They Have memories of me, you know, sitting early morning with
• 3:23
  my Bible or the. So we are, we are building a
• 3:26
  legacy even just as we on our own or pursuing Christ our kids,
• 3:33
  see that it creates that atmosphere in our home.
• 3:37
  And so we just need to grab some, some found moments whether
• 3:42
  it's carpooling driving, the kids to school, sitting in a
• 3:46
  doctor's office waiting for an appointment.
• 3:48
  There are so many things we can do and just those Little
• 3:50
  Snippets of time. Yeah.
• 3:52
  For sure. And just to clarify what is
• 3:57
  spiritual Legacy for those that maybe you're just like what?
• 4:02
  What is she talking about? Of course you know Legacy is
• 4:05
  something would leave behind, right?
• 4:07
  And so rather than a bank account or, you know, an antique
• 4:15
  piece of furniture which I have those two left down to me, it is
• 4:19
  it is something that That matters for eternity that you
• 4:22
  that you leave behind and, you know, we can't, we cannot
• 4:26
  believe for our kids or grandkids.
• 4:28
  That's something that's an individual Choice.
• 4:31
  Everybody has to choose Jesus on their own.
• 4:33
  But what we can do, and what the idea of spiritual Legacy is, is
• 4:38
  creating an atmosphere in our homes where Faith Can flourish
• 4:43
  anything we can do to remind our kids, how great our God is and
• 4:49
  make it Easier for them to embrace faith.
• 4:53
  That that's really the Legacy. That's that spiritual
• 4:57
  foundation. So, take us through some
• 5:01
  practical ways like, what can we do in our daily life.
• 5:05
  What did you do? And where did you see the fruit?
• 5:11
  Right? First of all was, was our
• 5:13
  example, right? Both my husband and - example of
• 5:17
  following Jesus ourselves. And and you know the first thing
• 5:21
  getting your kids involved in church, but there are some very
• 5:27
  additionally intentional things we can do like when my youngest
• 5:31
  was a senior in high school, I've been very involved with
• 5:35
  missions. And I've gone on a number of
• 5:36
  mission trips around the world and I took him with me on a
• 5:39
  church mission trip to Moldova, and it sort of changed his
• 5:45
  perspective. If you've ever been to, well,
• 5:48
  anywhere outside of the United, She's like, Mom.
• 5:51
  I just I never knew that there was this sort of need I never
• 5:55
  knew so I love getting to do that with with my son, taking
• 6:02
  him on a mission trip. So if it's just involved in our
• 6:06
  kids and local missions that something so easy that we can
• 6:10
  do, I love I've been sharing with with moms this idea of a
• 6:15
  gratitude prompt because one of the things scripture tells us
• 6:19
  over and over again. Is to praise God.
• 6:22
  Thank the Lord in all circumstances.
• 6:25
  Give thanks. And so this is something we can
• 6:27
  instill in our children's Hearts, by not really, making it
• 6:32
  a game. But for instance, we can hear a
• 6:35
  train whistle in my house. I mean, it's miles down the
• 6:38
  road, but we can hear the train whistle.
• 6:41
  And that has for our family. Become a gratitude prompt.
• 6:44
  You hear the train whistle? We stop and we.
• 6:47
  Thank God. Maybe just generally or
• 6:50
  Something specific and for families who can't hear a train
• 6:54
  whistle, it can be something as simple as the ice maker dumping
• 6:58
  its ice in the refrigerator in the kitchen.
• 7:00
  That's something that you're going to hear throughout the
• 7:03
  day. That just reminds you to thank
• 7:06
  God. And it's crazy how quick your
• 7:09
  kids will Embrace that. Mmm, that's good.
• 7:13
  I noticed for me, it's when the kids are seeing you reading your
• 7:19
  Bible or doing your devotions in the morning.
• 7:22
  I love how you said being an example and that's one of the
• 7:25
  examples. But what's funny?
• 7:27
  As you don't quite know what you're doing in the moment and
• 7:32
  so maybe later on your kids are saying, you know, oh Mom, I
• 7:37
  remember when you were, you know, going through that time
• 7:40
  and, you know, you just were diving into your Bible in the
• 7:43
  morning or, you know, something prompts them to remember that
• 7:47
  Mom took the time to go to the word.
• 7:50
  Or to be in prayer. It's not something to do in
• 7:55
  hiding or anything. And you know it's good to show
• 7:59
  that you're taking that time out to be with the Lord and so your
• 8:05
  your kids are whether you know it or not are watching you
• 8:08
  right. And they're absorbing everything
• 8:11
  like a sponge and you may not even realize that they even see
• 8:16
  you. Like there's not one time I
• 8:19
  really remember my kids you know paying attention to what I was
• 8:23
  doing. They do that.
• 8:25
  Oh yeah they do and whether it's mentioning Jesus to somebody at
• 8:29
  the grocery store when they're with you.
• 8:31
  Right. Yep.
• 8:32
  And they mention it later in some kind of conversation or
• 8:35
  story and it may not even be something you remember doing but
• 8:40
  that they saw you do. And so I just love that it is
• 8:44
  just the littlest ax, you know, it doesn't have to be some big
• 8:48
  thing like you're just Saying listen to something that's
• 8:52
  familiar and a house and be intentional and thinking of
• 8:56
  something grateful for that. Yeah, that you can think of.
• 9:01
  So helping your kids build that attitude of thankfulness, hmm.
• 9:07
  Recognizes who God is and what he's provided.
• 9:11
  Mhm, yeah. So true.
• 9:13
  And also I got to say serving in your local church, that's one
• 9:19
  way to Like we were involved in a plant church for years and it
• 9:23
  was all hands on deck and I gotta say that was like a
• 9:27
  Priceless thing, you know, just your kids just just sacrificing
• 9:33
  so much to, you know, help build the church.
• 9:38
  You gotta, you know, temporarily put things together when you're
• 9:42
  in a plant Church, most likely and then you have that are no
• 9:46
  tests. Yeah exactly exactly.
• 9:49
  So Any of those things, you know it's your actions and I love
• 9:55
  that. You actually wrote a book
• 9:59
  devotional called heirloom and you took what was special to you
• 10:05
  and what you were passionate about to put together. 52
• 10:10
  stories, let's talk about that, right?
• 10:13
  So it's crazy because as I told you I grew up in a Christian
• 10:19
  home and and we raise our kids in a Christian home less
• 10:24
  intentionally as I probably would have liked.
• 10:26
  But a number of years ago well it's only been 45 years ago my
• 10:31
  parents needed to move out of their home of 50 plus years and
• 10:36
  they needed a different living situation.
• 10:38
  And I was going through their house and I found this old
• 10:42
  beat-up box that had multiple things in it, but it was
• 10:45
  apparent. It had belonged, it was items
• 10:47
  that belonged to my great-grandfather on my mother.
• 10:50
  Side. And I found this letter written
• 10:53
  to him by his mother. So my great-great-grandmother
• 10:56
  and the letter was over 100 years old.
• 11:00
  Wow. And in this one particular
• 11:02
  letter, she wrote how she prayed for him and his children every
• 11:05
  day and the she wrote out this prayer and it was a prayer for
• 11:11
  spiritual growth, is really what it was.
• 11:15
  And first of all that thrilled me, because she was praying.
• 11:20
  Four. Her son's child, which was my
• 11:23
  grandmother, who grew up loving Jesus, and taught me to love
• 11:28
  Jesus. She was a big influence in my
• 11:30
  life and so I've really felt like my great-great-grandmother
• 11:35
  had prayed for me as her prayers kind of trickled down through
• 11:40
  the generations. Through my grandmother to me and
• 11:43
  it's so thrilled me, but then it challenged me because I thought
• 11:47
  wow, Whatever I'm doing now is not just impacting my kids, it's
• 11:53
  not just impacting my grandkids but it has the potential to
• 11:57
  impact even future Generations. It's not just for now and and it
• 12:03
  also challenged me to think more spiritually.
• 12:05
  You know, we all pray for our kids that they'll do well on
• 12:07
  their tests at school that they'll, you know, recover from
• 12:12
  their cold or whatever it is but how, what percentage of our
• 12:16
  prayers are for their spiritual? Well, be so good.
• 12:20
  I know, I heard Pastor along the way that said, pray for your
• 12:25
  kids to have a hunger for the word.
• 12:28
  That is like, the best thing, because you want them to hunger
• 12:31
  for the word and not the world, right?
• 12:34
  And I was just like, oh, and I just remember that and pray over
• 12:38
  that and you're right. I mean, it's like prayers never
• 12:42
  die, they just never die. And, you know, you may not see
• 12:47
  in your lifetime. But it will be the next, you
• 12:49
  know, maybe generation. And so, I love that importance
• 12:55
  of prayer. It is that letter really was the
• 13:00
  impetus for this book. Hmm.
• 13:03
  Because I wrote a devotion about finding this letter and it ended
• 13:07
  up winning a contest and getting on the proverbs 31 website at an
• 13:12
  editor, saw it. Awesome contacted me, and then
• 13:17
  that it ended up becoming This this book.
• 13:19
  That's so cool. Wow, God's favor over that.
• 13:22
  Yeah. Okay.
• 13:23
  So, what is your favorite story in your hair?
• 13:28
  And one book, I will tell you my favorite story there.
• 13:33
  Of course, I solicited stories from everybody.
• 13:35
  I know, right? Yeah, sure.
• 13:37
  Because the, the storm your stories there's but yes there's
• 13:41
  there's Bible stories. Of course Bible characters and
• 13:44
  every devotion is founded in scripture and there's
• 13:47
  historical. For people like Billy Graham's
• 13:50
  mother and how she impacted his life.
• 13:52
  But I got a story from old childhood friend who talked
• 13:57
  about her. I think it was her
• 13:59
  great-great-grandfather who was born in London, he was an orphan
• 14:05
  and roam the streets of London and when he was a boy, he was
• 14:09
  given a Bible by a stranger and he used that Bible.
• 14:15
  First of all, to teach himself to read and in the process God
• 14:18
  saved him. He was saved through that gift
• 14:21
  and years down the road. He ended up immigrating to the
• 14:24
  US settling in my hometown and became a solid Christian
• 14:32
  citizen. There that helped found a church
• 14:34
  and all this, but his grandfather was a spiritual
• 14:38
  mentor to my dad. And so that, that one small gift
• 14:45
  that it's really somebody else's family story.
• 14:48
  Re also impacted my family. And so that's I think that's my
• 14:53
  favorite story in the book. Oh yeah.
• 14:56
  And it just shows what stories can do in our lives.
• 15:00
  Right. That's why it's so important to
• 15:03
  share and write it down or voice your stories.
• 15:08
  Make such an impact in their lives.
• 15:12
  Wow. Okay.
• 15:13
  So what was the Legacy left for you?
• 15:17
  That You can share with us. So my dad, it's so funny because
• 15:23
  so, I've lost both of my parents in the last three years.
• 15:26
  And at my, at my dad's funeral, I heard stories about him.
• 15:33
  I had never heard before, and a lot of them had to do with his
• 15:37
  faith in the way that he helped people in ways that I did not
• 15:41
  even know. My dad was just, he was the most
• 15:44
  patient. And giving, man, that I knew.
• 15:49
  And and so I wanted to, I wanted to grow up to live a life that I
• 15:55
  don't know, was worthy of what he left behind, if that makes
• 15:58
  sense. He was a lay leader in the
• 16:02
  church and constantly pointed me to Jesus.
• 16:07
  I want to be like my dad and so that, I mean, that's, that's a
• 16:11
  like I said, my mom love Jesus, too.
• 16:13
  But she was a little Spitfire, yes.
• 16:16
  Of course, I do have some of that as well.
• 16:19
  Ya gotta love those people to yeah.
• 16:23
  Yes, my ring my spice, right? Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:26
  He is the life of every party but fun.
• 16:31
  Gal, I love it. Okay.
• 16:34
  So let's bring it back to the word.
• 16:37
  Yes. Where in the Bible does it
• 16:39
  reference Legacy? Or what's your favorite story in
• 16:44
  the Bible with Legacy? Hear it, man.
• 16:47
  There's there's so many. I was shocked when I started
• 16:49
  really digging in for this book, how much there was in scripture
• 16:54
  about Legacy. And I of course, I love
• 16:57
  Deuteronomy 6 where we're told that.
• 16:59
  As we go, you know, to share, talk about God and talk about
• 17:03
  his commands as we as we get up as we walk along, that's that
• 17:08
  day in day out. Moment by moment with your kids,
• 17:12
  with your grandkids, to talk about God, I love song. 78,
• 17:17
  which is what I'd read before, but sort of rediscovered for
• 17:20
  this book because it's a fairly long Psalm.
• 17:24
  But the first big chunk of it talks about, telling our
• 17:28
  children, our grandchildren, the Next Generation, all the mighty
• 17:32
  Deeds of God and and why we should so that they would know
• 17:37
  his command so that they would obey his commands so that they
• 17:41
  would have spiritual life. So it just Psalm 78, just lays
• 17:45
  it out, right? Right.
• 17:46
  Hmm. And so and I also love in Joshua
• 17:50
  when he first leads to the children of Israel Over the
• 17:53
  Jordan. And God tells him, ok, gather
• 17:56
  these Stones, the stones of remembrance and set them up.
• 18:00
  So that when your children ask you, why are they Stones here,
• 18:05
  you can tell them what I did. You can tell them how I how I
• 18:09
  held back the waters and brought you into the promised land and
• 18:14
  which is another. It's a, it's a Scripture
• 18:16
  foundation for another very practical way to leave a legacy
• 18:21
  and that's what I call spiritual markers.
• 18:23
  What I've heard Henry blackaby, call spiritual markers is to
• 18:26
  have physical objects in your home, that remind you of
• 18:29
  something. God did remind you of a god
• 18:33
  story. So that when your children see
• 18:35
  that your grandchildren, see, things that, you know, why I
• 18:37
  have that, this is why I have that, this is what God did.
• 18:41
  So I love, I love that story. I love those stones of
• 18:44
  remembrance. Wow, that is so awesome.
• 18:48
  I that's the first time I heard of that leaving physical things
• 18:52
  in your home to remind you. I love that I brought home.
• 18:56
  Yeah, thanks for mission trips, that have stories tied to them
• 18:59
  and there's all kinds of ways you can do it yet.
• 19:03
  Mmm, super cool, because I journal and I'll record what God
• 19:07
  has done and I'll put it in words but you know to have
• 19:12
  objects around and not maybe something necessarily that.
• 19:16
  You you buy I mean go outside and maybe you know pick up a
• 19:22
  rock and have it remind you of you know my life is set on the
• 19:28
  rock of the foundation of God. He is my rock and shield, you
• 19:32
  know, type of thing where you can remember that scripture or
• 19:35
  so, anything, really, that's cool.
• 19:38
  That's really cool. Even think of that.
• 19:40
  Okay. So anything else you want to add
• 19:43
  a with leaving spiritual Legacy? See any more practical ways.
• 19:49
  There's so many and the book is got 52 practical tips.
• 19:53
  But I love right now with my grandkids we've been thinking
• 19:57
  about how can we help the less fortunate those in need?
• 20:00
  One of the big things I love to do every year is take them to
• 20:03
  fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and love that we
• 20:09
  can do that love that they have the ability to track where the
• 20:13
  boxes go and share that with the In kids later on.
• 20:17
  Yeah, we did the shoe boxes as well, that is really cool to go
• 20:22
  shopping with them and having them pick out something for the
• 20:26
  child and my sweet daughter or she was at a conference and she
• 20:31
  ended up sponsoring a child. So she's literally I think like,
• 20:36
  I don't know, 14 15 at the time and she's like raises her hand
• 20:42
  sponsors a child and that really got us going like Sometimes our
• 20:46
  kids will speak to us and that got us going to sponsor children
• 20:52
  through compassion, and giving in our generosity and and
• 20:57
  leaving a faith Legacy. And that way also you know, our
• 21:03
  children will sometimes prompt that for us.
• 21:06
  Why not just us, right? We're giving hearts.
• 21:09
  Then we do right? Yeah.
• 21:11
  Okay, so what would you maybe leave as a takeaway?
• 21:15
  We Have to think big like this doesn't have to feel
• 21:20
  overwhelming to us because one small act like that Bible given
• 21:26
  to that orphan. On the Streets of London, we're
• 21:28
  not going to know how God can take.
• 21:30
  God can take the smallest thing and use it for his glory and to
• 21:35
  instill faith in our loved ones. So right on, thank you so much.
• 21:40
  Kathy well, where can people connect with you and dive into
• 21:45
  your book? I know, it's so amazing.
• 21:47
  You have like artwork in there. You have research with ancestry,
• 21:53
  like all kinds of tips and ways that people can dive into their
• 21:58
  family history, which is really cool, right?
• 22:01
  So where can people get your book and connect with you?
• 22:05
  Well, of course, the books on Amazon and in some bookstores,
• 22:08
  Amazon's the easiest Kathy Howard dot org, is my website?
• 22:13
  And course, I'm on Facebook and Instagram to But yeah.
• 22:17
  Kathy, Howard dot-org. So cool.
• 22:19
  And then I saw that you wrote, you've written 10 books, right.
• 22:24
  I think the council Levin now out.
• 22:26
  Yeah. Today's in a sort of an official
• 22:28
  launch day for the for a new one yet.
• 22:31
  Oh my goodness. You just writing them out left
• 22:35
  and right let's find some years. It's been some years that's a
• 22:40
  lot of books so I'm sure people will be able to check out your
• 22:43
  other books there on your author page.
• 22:45
  Yes. Yes.
• 22:48
  All right. Well, thanks Kathy for coming on
• 22:50
  here and sharing with us about one of the most important things
• 22:54
  that we as Mama's can do and grandmothers and thank you for
• 22:58
  speaking life to us today. So it's been fun to be with you.
• 23:05
  Thank you so much for listening today.
• 23:07
  I trust that God has encouraged you through this message for
• 23:12
  more information on this ministry and to access free
• 23:16
  downloads. Please visit my website at Jamie
• 23:20
  Elizabeth.com and sign up. You can also find me on
• 23:25
  Instagram and Facebook at Jamie Elizabeth she speaks life.
• 23:31
  That's Mea Elizabeth, she speaks life.
• 23:38
  Until next time, my friends. I pray God, reveals himself
• 23:42
  through your own life story.