A Rich Woman I Never Met

I attended a funeral yesterday of someone that I didn't know.

The reason why I went is because I know one of her daughter's. She's one of my Zumba sisters. 

Our Zumba group is unique. We might have started out as a bunch of random people looking to exercise, but we end up, in a short amount of time, as family.

The lady who passed away was 87 years old. 

She had 13 children, 31 grandchildren, 48 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren.

This woman's legacy is something to be admired!

From what we were told, there are Pastors in her family. Two of her granddaughter"s sang and one said, "I am thankful that our Grandmother transferred God to her children, who passed it on to us." 

This woman was rich. Not money rich. But rich because she loved the Lord, and raised her children to do the same. I'm not sure when, but at some point, her husband passed away and she continued to raise 11 or 12 of those children on her own.

Her son spoke and said, "Mama raised us by herself. I didn't see anyone else. Well, she did have God though."

She taught them to love each other, go to each other if they had a problem, and stick together as a family.

In my friend Matt Ham's book, Redefine Rich, he talks about lives just like this lady.

She Recognized she was broken and at some point gave her life to Christ.

She Invested in others, not only her children, but her friends and church family as well.

She Choose gratitude. They told us that she was thankful for things, but she spoke the truth.

She Humbled herself with confidence. She planned her own funeral and asked her Pastor to be sure that's exactly what happened. 

I felt the love everyone had for her. I felt God move during that funeral. And in my mind I thought, "Ok, Jill, if she can raise that many children alone, you only have three, you can do this."

Her story gave me HOPE. It helped me see the legacy I want to leave. 

Are you living richly? Are you leaving a legacy? 

You don't have to have children do to this. 

However, single mom's, like myself, we would welcome the help from someone who cares. There are churches who need volunteers to help in the children's ministry, too.

But living richly and leaving a legacy is not just about children at all.

What will people say about us at our funeral? 

Will they tell of how well we treated them? Will they tell of the love of God we displayed? 

I want to live richly and leave a legacy that honors and glorifies God. Don't you?