Today was supposed to be the day that we buried my father and said our final earthly goodbyes. Supposed to be. But due to an error on the part of one person, or maybe many persons, it didn’t happen. So we wait. On the car ride home, I thought about the what a ripple effect is and what happens,.

I have been thinking a lot since my father became ill and his death, how much of an affect he had on so many people and his ripples extend farther than probably even I can fathom. You’ve seen it and probably even done it, a time or two. Toss the little pebble into a body of water and if it bounces just right, it creates ripples, beautiful ripples, that only can happen because of that first majestic bounce on the water.

My father, in my eyes, was a great man. And most people would think that I am biased in my opinion, but when hundreds of other people share stores about him and the lasting effects of teaching and training and learning from him over his 73 years here on earth, I know that he was a great man. He touched so many lives. What is amazing to me, is he truly had no idea he was this man. Near the end of his life, he asked if he had done enough? And I thought it quite strange that he would ask such a question, but he was humble, always. He had no idea that living his life and doing the things he loved to do was actually creating a legacy to leave behind.

We all have the ability to leave a ripple effect in our lives. It is our choice to decide and determine, if the ripples we leave will be ones full of laughter and joy or sadness and sorrow. If we are lucky enough, and we need to make changes or look at life from a different perspective, we still have the time to make lasting ripples. They can be small or huge; it’s ultimately your choice.

God gives us free will. It is for us to choose how to use that free will that we are given. I think the best type of ripple I can leave is that I love.  I do the best I can, daily, to try to stay focused and look through the lens of Jesus when I am facing struggles.  Years ago, WWJD seemed to be everywhere.  Can you imagine, how different your live would be if you actually practiced WWJD(What Would Jesus Do)?

I can tell you this for sure, I am NOT perfect. I am broken in this sin filled world. But I am LOVED by our Heavenly Father and I am FORGIVEN.  There is nothing I can do to earn that. I chose to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and follow him since I was 11 years old. I do not belong to a religion, but to the body of Christ. I am the church. What I say, what I do and how I respond to those around me; hopefully, people see glimpses of the Savior.  There are many days, I must bow on these arthritic knees and pray for forgiveness, because I too, can be thoughtless and selfish at times. That is not the type of ripple I want to create.

In closing, the reason my father was such a great man, is many tidbits and stories, that are personal and can’t be shared, because I am not ready to do that, but the reason is because he taught me about Jesus when I was young and he modeled his life after the Lord. He was a very compassionate and forgiving man. He tried to see the good in everything and he loved unconditionally.

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)