Hope for Life Blog

I know every grandparent says that their grandchildren are the most amazing and the most beautiful … but it’s only because we are sure that it is true. Avery Grace Gilbreth is our newest grandchild and everything is as new and amazing to us as it was with her brother, Jake Ryder, and her cousin, Anna Claire Ridgell. But I promise not to bore you with all the details, nor is this an article about family and resolutions to be the best extended family ever (though we feel that way). However, I do want to share with you the overpowering sense of legacy that we feel.

Just on our side of the family, Avery has four great-grandparents still living and they are all people of faith. We are people of faith, as are all of her aunts and uncles. Her parents are strong believers. I am confident that Avery will be a believer and carry on her heritage of faith, just as I believe Jake and Anna will. The world will not just be better because of them, but it will be changed because of them. All three of them were prayed for extensively before they were born (and even before she was conceived). And those prayers were not just for health and for faith, but that she would make a difference in this world.

I believe Avery, Jake, and Anna are destined for glory, honor, and immortality. That is her family heritage, and I pray it will be a legacy she chooses to follow. It is a decision that generations of her ancestors have chosen. But what her family has done really does not matter. It is up to her to make her own choice, just like we did. Some of those people of faith mentioned earlier have long legacies of faith, and some of them are first generation believers. It does not matter what your parents decided about Jesus, it matters what you decide.

So I pray for you, Avery, Jake, and Anna, that you each make a decision someday for Jesus. I believe that you will, and so will your children and their children after them.

If I can help you start a family legacy of faith … just let me know. Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org.