Leave a Legacy

Never underestimate the impact of one life. I recently wrote a blog entitled, “Wonderful Life”, in which I describe how every life matters. Today, I want to share a real story of a life well lived and a legacy that lives on.

I was two-years-old and completely oblivious to the destructive path my dad was taking. Drinking, carousing, chasing money where ever it took him and at whatever expense. My mom was at her breaking point. My dad was drunk and left the house to stay that night with his friend Virgil. Virgil said he had something important to tell Dad.

Little did everyone know, Virgil was about to change the course of history.

Virgil told Dad to shut up and sit down (literally, those were his words). It was an intervention. Virgil told my dad that there was a God who loved him and could set him on the right path to restore his marriage. Dad cursed God for the first hour and continued to drink. His mom had died when he was nineteen and he blamed God for taking her away. But Virgil didn’t give up. Virgil explained that God loved Dad and had a wonderful plan for his life. After several hours, Dad passed out.

The next morning, for the first time in years, Dad didn’t want to drink. In fact, he poured his liquor down the drain. He went home and cried out to God to save him. God delivered him that minute from alcoholism and gave him a peace like he’d never known before. Because of Virgil, my dad became a committed Christian and began going to church with my mom. They raised my sisters and me to believe in Jesus, and now we are raising our own children in the Christian faith. I have five adopted nieces and nephews from China and Russia and they also know God loves them. They are not simply a mistake or forgotten by their birth parents. They are loved and God has a purpose for their lives.

But the story doesn’t end there. Because of the pain Dad experienced after his mom passed away, he had a passion for those who were hurting and on paths of destruction. He began a prison ministry in the federal penitentiary of Atlanta ministering to the worst of the worst in the world’s eyes. For the past 30 years, he has blessed the lives of countless prisoners and their families, seeing many released from prison and starting their own Christian ministries.

All because one person took the time to share with my dad that God loved him. Every life really does matter! You may be the one to share Jesus with someone who’s hurting. You may be the one to change someone’s life. What legacy will you leave?