Harry cried as his dad, Andy, crushed the Lego creation Harry had spent the last hour building.
In a drunken stupor, Andy mocked his son.
“This is nothing to be proud of. How stupid. What a waste of time!” Andy spewed. Each word breaking off a piece of Harry’s confidence. He’d been so proud of this truck. Why couldn’t his dad notice the cool modifications he added? Why was he so mean?
Looking at Andy with pain in her eyes, Allie quietly and quickly escorted Harry away from his father’s drunken attack.
Wasn’t it bad enough Andy mocked her? Why did he have to attack their young son? What was wrong with him?
For the hundredth time, she wondered what she ever saw in Andy. He came from a good family. He was so fun when they were dating. They met at a church youth group and used to attend church together. What happened to change him into this angry, horrible man?
Her heart was still reeling from his command a couple weeks ago. “You stay away from that church,” he roared. “You hear me? God hasn’t done anything for me. Everything is gone. And what has he done to help us out? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! What good is he? No more, I tell you, no more of this church stuff. You aren’t dragging my kids there any longer.” And he slammed out of the house toward his favorite watering hole.
She’d listened to him and not taken the kids to church the last couple of weeks. But, Andy’s tirade wouldn’t stop her from reading her Bible and listening to praise music when he wasn’t around. She needed God. Especially these days.
So did the kids.
Especially Harry now that he was in his teenage years. Quietly, Allie continued to not only teach her children God’s truth, but to also live it out before them. She prayed for godly men to come alongside her children in the absence of their father. All the while, praying for Andy to return to God.
Eventually, Andy shut down his business due to some bad financial investments. The so-called friends from his business days had long since walked away. While he’d found a job fairly quickly, he’d just been fired for his poor attitude and for coming to work under the influence. His new “friends” weren’t much help either. The more Andy hung out with them, the worse he got.
When Harry graduated from high school, he headed off to attend business school. In Harry’s senior year, late one night Andy drove off the road and died. He was blindly drunk. In her grief, Allie, went through the financial and legal ramifications of Andy’s accident.
The funeral was a pitiful affair. Most who attended were Allie’s friends or the kids’ friends. Most of Andy’s so called friends didn’t bother to show up and those that did were already in their cups.
Allie interceded in prayer for her children. Would they follow the example of their father? Or would they choose to walk in the truth of God’s Word? Allie knew they would each make their decision in due time.
Her main concern was Harry. With only a few months left until he completed his business degree, she wondered what he would choose to do after graduation.
While in college, Harry connected with an ethical, honest businessman near the college who took the time to coach Harry. To Allie’s surprise and great delight, Harry decided to re-open the family business. There wasn’t much left, but he was determined to resurrect it and redeem the family name. It was going to take a lot of work to overcome his father’s reputation.
Through the encouragement and belief of his coach, Harry was determined to rewrite his legacy. Instead of believing the venomous words spoken over him by his father, he embraced the life-giving training of his coach.
Within the first couple of years, Harry’s business began to grow. More importantly, his reputation for honesty and integrity spread throughout the region.
He did, in fact, redeem the family name.
Two men. Father and son. Two different legacies. What made the difference? Read 2 Chronicles 28-29.
No matter the circumstances of your birth family, you have a choice today to establish your legacy. What will it be? Don’t believe the naysayers. It is your choice.
Capture the extra-ordinary in the ordinary today.
Kirsten D. Samuel
Aftershock Recovery Coach
8-week Program, Custom-paced Coaching, Remote, or In-person Sessions
