What Is The Legacy You Are Leaving?

Today is Veterans Day. Today also marks the four year anniversary of the passing of my Grandpa Sorber. Grandpa, a veteran of World War 2 left an amazing legacy for myself and many others. Below is the transcript of what I shared at Grandpa's funeral. I hope as you read this you are encouraged, as I am, and consider the legacy that you are leaving.

As is true of many of you, through the years I had the privilege of spending a lot of time with Grandpa. We golfed, hunted, skied, fished, worked on cars, worked houses, worked on boats, and so much more.
One of the things that Grandpa helped me do is learn to drive, well kinda. Shortly after getting my permit, my dad had taken me to drive and let just say that it didn’t go well. A few weeks later Grandpa, Tom (cousin) and myself were heading out to the cottage and Grandpa asked me if I wanted to drive. I explained that I really couldn’t drive that well and that I had never driven on the highway. Grandpa assured me that I would do fine. He gave me the keys to his old red Ford F150 truck. We got in and headed out. Grandpa gave a few instructions and everything seemed to be going fine. As we were approaching the exit to get off the highway I looked over at Tom and Grandpa to confirm the way the we were going. Grandpa was out. He wasn’t nodding, or snoozing he was in a deep sleep. Tom and I both laughed and decided we knew how to get there. Twenty-five minutes later we arrived safely and Grandpa arrived well rested. 
I remember commenting to Tom in a bit of a joking manner, “Grandpa must have a lot of faith”. He did have a lot of faith, and his faith was no joke. He had faith in God and faith in me. He believed in all of us. His faith in God drove him to believe in others and that belief motivated him to serve and help others. Grandpa was always helping people. I remember countless times Grandpa helping people with their cars. Sometimes it was family, sometimes it was people from church, and many times it was strangers. I remember him checking in on shut-ins. He would bringing food that they need, taking care of their lawn work, or just having a conversation to see how they were doing. Grandpa even took in a an elderly man who was dying and had no family to care for him. I don’t know many people who would do that. 
Grandpa was always inviting people to his house or cottage especially for the holidays. If Grandpa knew someone who did not have some where to be for a holiday he would invite them to his house. When it was time to leave Grandpa’s farewell was always the same “Come again, you are always welcome.” Grandpa also cared for young people and not just in his family. He also cared for the foreign exchange student, those that lived in his basement, those he drove on the bus and those he encouraged at church. 
Grandpa could carry on a conversation with anyone. My guess is Grandpa is becoming fast friends with James the half brother of Jesus, the author of the book of James. James was all about living out what you believe. Having a faith that is showed by what you do. That’s what Grandpa was all about too. Grandpa’s belief in God and belief in people was always evident in how he lived. 
The verses that I think best describe Grandpa is James 1:26-27 (26) If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. (27) Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.