Wednesday, May 7, 2014

A Lunchbox Legacy

Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also…Proverbs 31:28a 

Packing a lunch for our children may seem to be just another mundane task of motherhood but leaving a legacy for our children is a lot like packing their lunches for life.    We want them to be equipped and healthy; physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally

A Lunchbox legacy is very specific to the responsibility of “mothering.  It is not just a legacy of personal character or accomplishments.  One job that we are going to look at from a different perspective today is packing lunches.  What can be more innocuous? Less important in the grand scheme of things?

There was one such mother in the bible that packed a lunch for her son one day, just like every other day.  This mother was doing her normal job of taking care of her son, making sure he had something to eat as he left the house for the day.  She didn’t realize that she was doing something really special or that she was doing something that God would use for His great purpose.  The story I am talking about is the little boy who gave his lunch that his mother had packed that morning – five loaves of bread and two fishes – to Jesus to feed 5,000 people.  I am sure his mother never imagined that the lunch she packed her son that morning would be used to perform a miracle by none other than Jesus himself. 

When you are packing your child’s lunch, you put a lot of thought into it.  You plan ahead.  Sometimes you get them involved.  This gives them ownership in their own legacy.  You add good things for them.  Just like in the story, The mother fills the lunchbox and God uses it for whatever purpose He has.  We put into their lives every day the things that will help them to become who God intends and to be used for His purpose in life.  We “pack their lunch” for life.

The Lunchbox represents much more than just a physical provision to get the child through the day. Every day the mother invests herself with her presence and thoughts– packing the child’s lunch.   She puts notes in the lunchbox – I’m praying for you, I love you…This is the subtle, everyday building of a legacy.  Her thoughts are not on the lunch but the day ahead for this child.

Leaving a legacy for your children is like packing their lunch.  You want to give them things in their lunch that are good for them, things that will sustain them and satisfy them.  You want to pack healthy food, food that nourishes their life.  You want them to trust that you will give them good things.  You want them to have faith in you to pack a good lunch for them.

The real question around the Lunchbox Legacy is “does my child have what they need to succeed today?”  You want to give them things in their lunch that are good for them, things that will sustain them and satisfy them.  You want to pack healthy food, food that nourishes their life.  You want them to trust that you will give them good things. You want them to have faith in you to pack a good lunch for them.  The Lunchbox of Life needs to avoid junk food that looks good and may taste good but lead to emptiness.  Be careful what you feed your children.  False values lead to empty lives.  It is part of our jobs as mothers and certainly part of the legacy we want to leave to pass on authentic faith and Christianity along with godly values. 


Scripture to Claim:
Behold, all of them are false; their works are worthless, their molten images are wind and emptiness. Isaiah 41:29

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