διάλογος: Family Friday

The last few months of a president's term is a time in which the president normally focuses on "legacy building." Unfortunately for the current president, now is not such a good time for that kind of activity. It just goes to show: if you wait until the end to start working on your legacy, you might run out of time.

There's something about having a child that makes the legacy-leaving deal fairly urgent. The statistics on how a child's worldview and personality are shaped in the first three or four years of his life coupled with the importance of a father's influence on his son's life are enough to make any conscientious dad sick to his stomach. For me, legacy building has to start now. I'm in the process of working to build a foundation for my son today that will shape the entire trajectory of his life. That's staggering.

One of God's blessings to Casen is to have Grandparents and even Great-Grandparents who are still busy building their legacy. His Great Grandfather poured a godly legacy into my mom's life. His grandfather's (Boppo and the yet-to-be-named Fat Boy) poured into Kari and my lives. And we're working to carry that legacy on. Kari and I are fortunate to have a godly heritage that goes back several generations, and we're committed to carrying that on.

It's especially neat when those generations touch. This past week, Casen got to meet his Great-Grandparents, with both sets of his grandparents. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there, but Kari snapped some pictures so I (and you) could share in the moment.

Casen's great grandma (Memaw) and great grandpa (Pa). Memaw's maiden name was Knox - Casen's middle name. We're able to trace Casen's godly heritage on my Mom's side all the way back to the 16th century Presbyterian reformer named John Knox. Although there's some distance between me and 16th century Presbyterian Reformed theology, the fiery determination (some call it passion, others call it bull-headedness) doesn't skip any generations.