Dear Grandpa
I’m sorry. I so deeply regret not making it in time. As it turns out, I was close to three full years late. You left this world in November of 2002 and it was September 2005 before I ever even hit the target. My most significant regret is not getting my life in order before you passed. I’ll live with knowing you did not, physically, get to see me put this puzzle called life together. You deserved better.
If only you were here now. My mission, values, objectives, are much clearer. That said, I still have many challenges and opportunities for improvement. However, I am no longer running wild like a heathen. I am taking purposeful steps to break repeating generational mistakes. In no way am I saying I’m perfect. No sir. I still lack plenty, and fall short even more, on a daily basis. It’s only with God’s grace I am learning to live with myself. I’m now, at 35 years old, okay with just being me. I’m okay with being broken and relying completely on Him like you taught me. That said, I’m also now okay and accepting of the blessings I’ve been promised. I’m completely comfortable in knowing I’ve been born the head and not the tail. I will no longer apologize for being blessed going in and blessed going out. Thanks to you, I know that’s just who He designed me to be.
Knowing and accepting all of this, I now feel free to make a difference. As a result I’m excited to tell you about a new opportunity I’m beginning. A journey with two great friends, guys that you would most definitely approve of. I’ve decided that I do have something to give. This gift is around learning, developing myself daily into a better person, and using my experience to help and teach others so they too may grow in leadership. Leadership in their families and leadership inside their churches. Leadership in their personal lives and inside their organizations. Leadership in any and all areas of life.
I just simply could not begin this journey without making things right with you. I couldn’t get started without saying sorry and letting you know I’m okay. I simply cannot think of leadership of any kind, without thinking of you. After all, it is partly your legacy I am continuing to develop and hopeful to pass forward to the generation to come.
Thank you for your example of how to treat people. I’ve never met another who loved God’s people the way you did. All people.
Thank you for the example of hard work and dedication. There was never a day I could recall, even during treatment, where you did not have a mission or something meaningful you were trying to accomplish.
Thank you for the legacy you built and left behind. Through all my years of personal struggle, most of the grace I received from others was as a result of how greatly they admired you, my grandfather.
Thank you for teaching me about character. Through every challenge we faced as a family, your character never changed. It was the same behind closed doors as it was out in the open. I’ve never met another whose character I admired more.
If there’s anything positive I have to share with others, it certainly came from God and I learned by watching, closely, your example.
Let’s begin.
Call to Action:
1. Who is that one person of tremendous influence in your life that perhaps wasn’t around to truly see your character develop into the man or woman God created? Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth (or with your keyboard in our case) here and put it behind you so we can begin this journey at GeauxLeadership together. A great sense of relief will come from doing so, trust me.
