Recently, I have been thinking about my late father in law, Ned Williams. Ned was an unusual man, a man of significant accomplishment. Beginning on a government survey crew, he eventually retired as Deputy Director of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Outdoor Reclamation. Ned travelled the world for business and pleasure. He and his wife, Hazel, sailed on cruise ships and freighters, going to Japan, China, Australia, Eastern and Western Europe. He even survived a train wreck! He was the patriarch of a large family that still remains close. As his final accomplishment, Ned told us that he wanted to live to be 97. Three months later, he died on his 97th birthday. Ned was a person of influence and we miss him. He is lovingly remembered, in the retelling of stories about his life. The Bible has much to teach us through stories, so let's listen to what the Bible says about the importance of stories:

We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old. (Psalm 44:1)

In today's passage, the psalmist tells God that he knows of God’s mighty exploits. How does he know about them? He says, "Our fathers have told us." Today, you and I need to invest our stories in the generations that follow us. Our children and grandchildren (and nephews and nieces, too) should know that God answered our prayers, led us to go places we wouldn't have gone otherwise, and was our trustworthy Companion along life's road. Those stories are meaningful to you and me and they can be meaningful to those who come after us as well. They can learn that God can be trusted by the ways in which He met our needs in difficult times. They can know that He cares about what happens to them by the ways in which He touched our lives; but they won’t know those stories unless we tell them.

Has God done good things in your life along the way? Does anyone know your stories? Let me encourage you to leave a legacy. Tell those stories of how God touched your life...to all the generations to come!