Devotional 11-2-07

A Lasting Legacy—Remembering Dora
Through nothing of my own doing, I have inherited something of great value; something so precious I cannot put a price on it. I am heir to Dora. By worldly standards, she didn’t leave much. As a matter of fact, she lived long enough that everything she owned was “spent down.” The only material things I have to remember her are an apple butter kettle, a clay pot, and an assortment of Bibles. Dora was rich in the things that mattered, and I am legatee to her vast fortune of love and grace.

Dora was born in a rural farm county in central West Virginia. She lived her entire life in the county of her birth and is buried at the cemetery beside the old church building up the hollow. Dora married and had one child, my father. She was a bible scholar with a disciplined lifestyle that included daily bible study. As she worked in the kitchen, she sang the old hymns. Rock of Ages, Bringing in the Sheaves, Standing on the Promises, Blessed Assurance.

At her church on Sundays, the preacher would call on someone in the congregation for the morning prayer. Often, when I was visiting, he would call on Grandma. I was astonished at her beautiful public prayers—without notes and even without any advance notice. She did not get nervous about the thought of public prayer. For her, it was just carrying on a conversation; a conversation with someone she knew very well.

Dora’s life will not be memorialized in biographies. There will be no buildings or monuments bearing her name. No, her legacy is more lasting than any of that. She quietly and humbly lived the gospel; loving God and neighbor.

Paul said in his letter to the church at Ephesus, “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.”

Because of Paul and because of Dora and many other saints like them, we can live our lives for the praise of God’s glory! What better legacy! Thank you, Grandma!

Jeff Taylor