Today my Grandpa (90 years old) took me out to lunch. I was asking him about who impacted his life the most. He said it was his uncle Arthur. Arthur really loved the Lord, thoroughly knew his Bible, and genuinely lived out the Christian life.
Among other friends, he also mentioned Jim Elliot, who he was friends with in college. My grandpa was explaining to me about the impact “brother Jim” made on all the students at Wheaton.
“Why do you think he made such an impact?” I asked.
“Because Jim had a real relationship with the Lord … and loved to talk about him,” my grandpa replied.
In every generation the Lord is raising up Jim Elliots and Uncle Arthurs. Some are more known, some less known. What really matters, when all is said and done, is that our relationship with Christ is real, vibrant, alive, and the best part of our lives. That kind of life will make an impact on others. However, our focus is not on “trying to make an impact,” but on loving Jesus with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind!
Our grandparents and great-grandparents can have such a deep impact on our lives. Thank you for this Grace! I miss y’all. 🙂
Brooke
Excellent! Great post! We don’t all need to be known by lots of believers, we just need to work at living for Him just where He has us right now!
I love this reminder, Grace. You can change lives as a famous missionary or a virtually unknown Uncle. 🙂
That is so true. My new years resolution is to build a strong relationship Jesus Christ.
This is so true, and something that I have also seen in my life. It’s our relationship with Jesus Christ that really counts. Thanks for sharing Grace. 🙂
So nice Grace! What city are you in?
Great post, Grace!!!
Ahhh….this is precious (and encouraging!) Why do we as believers often fail to talk of the Lord to others, just because of what they might think of us. If we love someone and spend time with them it is natural that we should speak of them!
Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments! Bobbie, we were in Cedar Rapids. We were on the 16th floor of the Double Tree hotel, so at one of the highest places in town. 🙂
Thank you for this post, Grace! Short, sweet, very effective reminder about what’s important in life!