Live to be a Blessing

Live to be a Blessing

On February 5, my grandmother, Jane Bratcher, passed away. She was 97 years old. God blessed her with a long and healthy life, and she was always quick to express her gratitude for her health and longevity. She used to say, “Craig, God has been so good to me. I can’t even remember the last time I had a headache.” Until her early nineties grandma lived alone after grandpa died in 1998. Then she lived with my parents until Christmas of 2015 when she developed a hernia in her stomach and had to have surgery. After that she lived in a nursing home until her death.

In addition to all the truly wonderful memories, she leaves behind two books that record significant aspects of her life. The first book tells the story of her life and the second the story of her life with grandpa. They probably wouldn’t be very interesting or mean very much to you, but to my family and me they are priceless because they reveal what she valued. Somehow, she was able to convey her heart and soul in those books.

I wouldn’t insist that you need to write a book or two about your life before you die, although you may want to consider that. But I do want you to give thought and prayer to what you can do to pass on a meaningful legacy and heritage to your family. The books grandma wrote mean so much because she meant so much. She invested her life into us and that is something we each can do with our families. God gives us only a limited amount of time. Family matters more than we think. May God give each of us a deeper love for our families and may he lead each of us to so live our lives that when we are gone our families will count themselves blessed beyond measure that we were part of their lives.