Treasures to Leave as a Legacy

As I think on the theme of Fabufit: How to Age Gracefully with Health, Fitness, and Happiness, I begin to think of what treasures one should leave as a legacy in this long life journey. Have you ever thought that thought? Maybe not, as I have not thought about it much before. I would like to leave some financial blessings, but more importantly, I would like to leave memories and wisdom.  Most of all, above all else, I would like to leave a legacy of what I have learned through the Word of God.

I’ve tried to begin this legacy by journaling through a new Bible the year before each grandchild’s HS graduation. In the journaling, I have tried to personalize and pray specifically over the child who I would be giving the Bible to.  Five are now completed and given on graduations. Four are to come.

My Dake’s Study Bible

Jim Rohn lists three treasures to leave as a Legacy:

Pictures, Your Journals, Your Books

Your Journals

Your Journals contain your wisdom and your thoughts. I have boxes full of journals and planners of years past Actually, I’ve not been so very consistent in recent times with my journaling. When my mom went on to heaven in December, I began going through many boxes searching to see if she had any journals I didn’t know about.  She had only a very few entries, but I loved reading them. This inspired me to begin consistent journaling again. It helps to have a dedicated book for the year to journal in.

Gratitude Journal

I also realize how rewarding it is to keep a gratitude journal and develop the gratitude muscle, which just like physical muscles diminishes with age if not used.

Your Pictures

Years and years ago I began creating scrapbooks. Back in the early days, there were no digital photos, no IPhone to select photos from, and no easy way to make any kind of a memory book. I remember using my camera to take 8-12 pictures (no retakes or deletes), taking the film to the store to be processed, and then coming home with my few photos to choose from. If I realized I wanted to duplicate any for books I was making for my mom or John’s mom, I then had to go to the negatives and find which ones they were, go back to the processing store, and have copies made. Only then was I ready to paste in a page or two of memories. (And I was creating a book of the entire year:(  Yikes! Oh, this was a difficult process.)

Time Spent

I doubt that few of these books given as gifts at Christmas, containing the entire year of photos, were actually appreciated in comparison to the time I had spent, which was hours and hours and hours.  I persisted. Eventually, digital photos came into existence with ways to take many photos and delete what wasn’t the best.  A blessing!

The Era of Digital Photography

This took my process from the beginning almost impossible process to handmade books putting printed photos into pages in a book and finding captions or icons to cut out and paste also. Next, years later, came a way to create a digital book online.  For so many years I used Creative Memories and made beautiful books. They still took many hours to create, but far less than before.  They changed ownership and I couldn’t really figure out the new process, so I changed to My Publisher. Loved this program too, but they went out of business.

Chatbooks

Then I found Chatbooks. I must admit I miss the wonderful page templates and many formatting features I was used to (especially with Creative Memories), but the ease of creation has almost made up for this. Erin at Crossfit had begun using Chatbooks 3 years ago to capture each month of her new baby’s life with the Mini Books.  I began my own Mini book series, which I still use. I’ve also created the larger 8 x 8 books for Graduation presents and many 6 x 6 books.

Chatbooks Code for $10 Off

What I may like best about Chatbooks is the online Chat Support. It is wonderful. Many sales pop up here and there so it is always good to have a book ready to go. If you use my referral code, you will receive $10 off on your first book and they even give me a $10 credit on my next book.  You then can get a referral code and give the same gift. Just go to chatbooks.com.

Here is your referral code 🙂 2CLWYWC9

When you invite friends to Chatbooks, not only will your friend receive $10 off their first book but you will receive a $10 credit! It’s a win-win!

Books You Read

This habit is one of the top 5 Keystone Habits you can develop according to Dream Coach, Terri Foy. Oh the things we can learn from the books we carefully select and read. My favorite is the Bible in many different translations. The Passion Translation has captivated my attention right now.

Find something you really want to learn about and then search of a book. I needed to learn about internet marketing and found Expert Secrets. Years ago I wanted to find out just how to know God’s Will. God’s Will for You by Gloria Copeland opened my eyes and changed my life. All of my library of books are highlighted and filled with notes. Some I review often.  My prayer is that these books will be a blessing to our children and grandchildren as the years travel by. Follow the link to the KCM.org website and for a small cost ($2.99) you can get a PDF of God’s Will for Your Healing by Gloria.

What Treasures Will You Create to Leave Behind?