As a project for the Museum of the Bible’s Women of Legacy Book, I was given the opportunity to write my 250 world legacy story. I would like to challenge you to do the same. It’s a great exercise for your reflection and one to continue to return to throughout life to review. Life is uncertain and delicate as the recent COVID global outbreak has reminded us, The pandemic has woken the world to the fragility of life. A prepared legacy statement for loved ones may be the single greatest and lasting gift of love you could leave behind.
Here’s the one I wrote;
I was born fiercely independent in Reno, Nevada on Independence Day, July 4th, 1955. The only daughter and third child to a God-fearing French father and English/Irish mother, I learned early to cherish relationships. I was raised surrounded by a culture of desperation in a city known for sin – Las Vegas, Nevada – and at five years of age, learned the sting of death with the passing of my younger brother Robbie. My discovery of the value of a relationship with God came from observing my mother’s faith grounded in prayer and Bible engagement. Her life revealed to me that a broken world seeks temporary happiness, but God brings more – lasting and eternal joy. Though life often seems like a roll of the dice, I have learned lasting contentment is only found in a life focused on God Almighty. Attending Oral Roberts University, I acquired a degree and a husband Phil Cooke. Together, we shepherded two beautiful daughters, Bailey Christine Cooke and Kelsey Taylor Cooke-Guerra, her husband, Christopher, and our two grandchildren, Kennady Renn and Clyde Oliver as well as guiding others through the lens of media to embrace God’s redemptive story. As I enter the last phase of life, not knowing the ending point, I pray the certainty I’ve found in God’s redemptive gift of Jesus to be my chosen lasting legacy. He is and forever will be the only Way, Truth and Life. Philippians 2:12-16.
As you prepare your legacy statement, ask the Holy Spirit to speak into your heart and mind for the words that will resonate. Be prepared to take your time. Write it out and leave it for a few days and then come back to it to reflect a bit more. There isn’t a good or bad one, so don’t get judgemental or try to make it perfect. Let it reflect you, your personality, faith and hope. Think about a singular lesson, or life changing incident that affected your worldview and that you would want others to ponder. You are a legacy of God who knows and sees your life and wants others to hear your story and journey with Him.
Leave a lasting legacy!
