If I have done my calendar calculations correctly, I will post this episode on Thanksgiving Day; timing, as it turns out, IS everything! I have been struck by two things this year as I have worked to create essays and podcasts about how we make a legacy: first, gratitude and thankfulness are the roots of every good attitude we carry in life, and second, we live in a time when, because of the ubiquitous availability of information and the immediate gratification that brings, our culture no longer generally values thankfulness, let alone responding with grace when someone does us a kindness.
This sort of explains the emphasis I have felt this year. I tend to write in seasons; next year, I might have an entirely different focus within the parameters of legacy-building. I purposely focus on frameworks with many facets so my mind and pen can wander and not end up sounding like a broken record.
When considering why we are/should be generous, I have repeatedly told my family that we are because “we have and others don’t.” I believe that if there is any kind of resource that we possess that others need, we should be willing to supply it. Of course, this begins with a faith that if I do this not out of some self-seeking motivation but sincerely to help someone else, God will continue to provide for me and my continued generosity and service to Him. He has, after all, been faithful—stunningly so—for the last 59.5 years, and I have yet to feel I have been made a pauper because I gave someone what I had that they needed. I say all that to say this: as we celebrate Thanksgiving and as you listen to this podcast, let the expression of your gratitude be why somebody else can be thankful.
I am so thankful to share this journey of pen and paper and microphone… love and gratitude with you. Enjoy your family, the bounty of the earth, and God's grace today.
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