I will never have another child.  And I will never have another grandchild.  That is all over.  My first grandchild was born in 1982--so she is 34 next week.  My last grandchild was born on the same day as my first one--thirty-three years later, and he (Tate) will be one year old next week. 

But great-grandchildren are on the way.  I already have two, and another is coming in a few months.  My family is big and getting bigger.

The other day I was looking at a picture of Ken and myself on our wedding day.  We look so young!!!  Little did we know what was in our future.  We certainly weren't thinking about children, much less grand-children.  And certainly not great-grandchildren.  It was just the two of us.  We started a new life.  And because of that, our future began to unfold.

Now all of that is in the past.  And my off-spring will fulfill their own futures.  I hope that I have had an influence in their lives for the good.  My grandmother had such an influence on me.  I would like to be half the woman that she was.

But maybe I can be good influence on the other people that God puts in my path.  My daughter Pat said, "Well you can't feed all the poor, but you can certainly feed the poor people that you know."  I agree.  You can't influence the world either, but you can influence the people you know.

Just live your life so that your influence is good.  You are a child of God.  Try and act like it.  The only God some will ever see is in your life.