Mmmm…Cheesecake! It’s February now, which means that it’s time to make a cherry cheesecake. Actually, I made it yesterday. I love cheesecake! Growing up, my mom made cherry cheesecake in February. And I have carried on the tradition in my home.
I also like peach pie in the fall, as soon as the Colorado peaches come to the grocery store. My mom always made a peach pie at that time. It was so fun to also have the cinnamon pies that she made with the extra crust. And then on New Year’s Eve, I need Chex Mix. Yep, Mom made that, too. I’ve been married for almost twenty-four years and I’m still craving the things that I had growing up. Kind of interesting.
As we prepare to have our oldest child get married and send another child off to college soon, I wonder about the legacy that we have given our children. My love for God’s Word came from my parents. I saw both of them reading their Bibles every day. And they taught me how to have a good marriage. They always prayed together before my dad went to work and then hugged each other when he came home. We had family times and family devotions. Those were some fun times!
My husband is a wonderful man who loves God and we have done these same things in our family. And all of our children trusted Christ between the ages of four and six and have continued to walk with Him. All of us parents know Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it,” (NIV). We would all like this to be a promise, but it’s not. It’s a probability. In fact, I know parents who are wonderful, godly people and still have prodigal children.
I love Deuteronomy 6:5-9 when Moses told the Israelites, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates,” (NIV). Okay, I can’t say that I’ve written God’s Word on my forehead, but I have definitely talked about God and His Word with my kids all along our daily lives.
So, here’s what I want. I want the legacy that I leave for my kids to be just like that craving that I still have for cheesecake in February and peach pie in September. But I want it to be for the things of God. I want them to “seek God first” and I want them to know that living for God is more important than the things of this world, just like Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” (NIV).
That’s what I want for myself and for my family. That and cheesecake!
Lori Schulz 