What will others say?

Years ago I attended a funeral; she was my mom’s friend of many years. As I sat listening to various stories come from the front the large overflowing church I was overcome by the common theme in all the stories…she was a woman they longed to be. I remember leaving and thinking “I wonder if anyone would feel that way about me right now?”


Ask any parent if they are guilt free from their parenting of past days and they’ll laugh at you for being so silly to ask such a question. Ask any person who spewed harsh words in the moment if they regret doing so and they’ll give a look of “of course!” To say one can live regret-free or guilt-free is to imply that person never does anything wrong, never says anything wrong, never acts inappropriately and we all know that’s not possible.

My mom’s friend wasn’t perfect, I’m sure she had bad days and rough seasons of life. But it was clear to me the day of her funeral that her bad days didn’t define her, she didn’t allow them to become larger than who she was on the inside. Her legacy was a good one and that happened one good choice, one good word, one good action after another.

Today I encourage you to pause and reflect on your own life; what will people say about you at your funeral? I have thought about what kind of person I want to be for a long time now, something I use to never do. I work at becoming the kind of woman I long to be…the woman like my mom’s friend was…the kind of woman God will be proud to say “She’s my daughter!”

If you don’t like who you are then the good news you can BECOME.