What Will Be Your Legacy?

He was known as Preacher. I was simply Ms. Catherine.

He had been battling cancer for many years and although no one wanted to admit it, deep down we knew he was losing.

I was busy putting the final touches on our new Welcome Center for the children’s area as he walked up the hallway toward my office. With each footstep, he slowly shared these words with me,

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”

At the time, I had never heard the poem nor its origin, but the words were a welcome encouragement to a very long day. They were not the first inspiring words he had ever spoken to me but they would be among his last.

Preacher was one of the most encouraging leaders and mentors I have ever known. It is a part of his legacy.

He wasn’t just my boss or my Pastor. He was the kind of leader that others would do anything for and not because he would reward them for it or could promise them some kind of future payback. He inspired people because he willingly invested his time into building others up and equipping them to become all they could be.

He saw potential when others saw mediocrity. He shared his vision when others hid plans for fear of future competition.

Under his stewardship, a new bread of leaders were developed and because of his legacy, the seeds he planted years ago continues to see new fruit to this day.

When people have an inspiring leader, it makes them want to do everything in their power to be as good as those around them believe they already are.

Whether you are a Volunteer Coordinator or the CEO of Google, you will leave a legacy to someone. What that legacy will be depends entirely upon you and the way you choose to teach, treat and lead those whom God has entrusted to you.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave? Resolve to make it happen starting today!

What is Your Debt Repayment Plan?

As the new year begins, many of us will focus our efforts on the pursuit of becoming debt-free. I can think of no greater feeling than to know that I have repaid all that is required of me!

• Debt comes in all shapes and sizes. 

Some of us have “looming debt” – debt that we have chosen to ignore and if left unpaid, could result in the loss of something valuable (i.e. a car or home). 

Others have more experience with “long-term debt” – debt that will take so long to repay that envisioning life without this burden is almost inconceivable (i.e. school loans or credit cards we have been consistently making only minimum payments on). 

The list goes on and on but many of us get so bogged down on what we owe financially and ignore that which we owe in gratitude. 

• To reap the biggest reward – focus on your largest debt. 

We all have someone in our life whose impact has been so strong that without them, our path in life would have been much rougher. For my family, it was a man who over twenty years ago took my husband under his wing and mentored him into a career far above our imagination that continues to sustain and reward us even today. Without his willingness to step-in and see the potential in a young newlywed, we can’t imagine how different our lives would have become.

There are many things we consistently do wrong, but one thing we really try and focus on is extending the same encouragement, advice and opportunities we were given to people God puts in our path. Sometimes it costs us money or time but just as often, it requires so little of us that we feel ashamed at how small of an effort it took to help them. 

• No matter how you label it – debt is debt and eventually it must all be repaid 🙂