I believe in legacy. I believe William James when he said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” I believe that the day my now-husband and I drove three hours to pick up my two younger half-sisters to bring them to live with me, will forever shape their futures. Just a over a year ago, they were trapped in a cycle of loneliness, poverty, crime, and abuse. Who knows where they would be today, or tomorrow, or ten years from now? All I know is that today, they are much different. Amid all of the sacrifices, hard times, financial struggles, discipline, court dates, tear-filled prayers, long conversations, and spent time, I believe that the laughter, lessons, truth, life, fun, freedom, care, family dinners, provision, and love is what will last. Having to give up my role as a sister and take up the role of a parent was not easy. Becoming their guardian at the age of nineteen was not what I had planned. Beginning a marriage as a family of four was not ideal. However, the generations of broken homes in our family stops with us. My nieces and nephews will have a different story to tell, and I believe that it will start here, with my sisters. The few short years that remain before they step into adulthood will define the rest of their lives. Because of this, my husband and I live the way that we do. We trade five-star dining dates for five dollar burritos and long talks. We exchange our days off for more hours at work to make ends meet. Instead of slowly waking in each other’s arms and enjoying a quiet breakfast for two, we spend our mornings solving the never-ending crises of broken hair straighteners and disappearing T-shirts, before rushing them off to school. Thankless days and doors slammed in our faces are far too-often our reality. However, at the end of the day, they are worth it. We are not investing in a project or plan, we are spending our lives on the most valuable. My little sisters are already so different than they were a year ago. They are growing into two beautiful young women, whom we pray will out-do us in their love as they grow older. We are so proud to know them. Do we strive for perfection? By no means, and we realize that is far from attainable. However, this will not stop us from giving them our very best, and all that we have to offer. Sometimes its not much at all, and other times it is more than we could have ever asked for ourselves. Although they may not realize the extent of our efforts now, they will one day, and in that day, our hope is this: That they would spend their lives on those that need it most; that they would love God by loving others… because we believe in legacy.
