Every year during this time, when we celebrate our heritage as a nation, I also like to take some time to reflect on my personal heritage.
In my younger years, I didn’t give much thought to what I had inherited from my parents except to the extent of what was obviously different – my physical characteristics: They had blue eyes, while I have green eyes and once I reached my teenage years, they were both much shorter in stature than I was.
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Spiritually, they had not accepted Christ as their personal saviour, and we didn’t go to church as a family. When I asked if I could go with friends who invited me, it was always a firm “no”. It is not lost on me that despite this, when I finally stepped over the threshold of a church and the altar call was given, I immediately gave my life to the Lord and was saved.
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Growing up, our home was not always a happy or peaceful place to be. Yet I knew that they loved me the best way they knew how.
As I grew older and importantly, as I grew in my relationship with God the Father, so too did my understanding of the challenges they faced raising three young children in a foreign country, and the toll it took on their marriage and their finances.
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Since their passing, and as God has continued to work in my heart, I have found myself reflecting more and more on what they instilled in me despite their own shortcomings and the hardships they faced building a new life in a country far from family and friends.
My parents were not perfect, and there were many situations that resulted in loss, pain or great disappointment for us their children, but it must be said that we gained so much as well, including:
-We stand up for what we believe in even when it costs us something
-Giving up on a person or a situation is not an option
-We are fiercely loyal
-We are not afraid of hard work and going the extra mile is second nature for us
-Excellence in all we do whether big or small, seen or unseen is important to us
-Just because things are a certain way now, does not mean it will always be like this – change is possible
-We are not afraid to start over again and try new things.
This is their legacy in the midst of poor decisions and lost opportunities.
I am well aware that it is a gift to be able to look back and reflect in this way, and my heart is filled with gratitude for what God has done in me that affords me this perspective on my life.
For I believe that God sets all of us in families, and that He uses our experiences to shape us for His purposes in this life and that nothing is in vain or goes to waste in His economy.
Similarly, He sets each of us in a nation even if that means we move from the nation of our birth to another nation at some point in our lives, which is what happened to me.
I pray for all of us who call South Africa “home” – may God grant us the ability to overcome the loss, pain and disappointments of our collective past as a nation and move forward with hope and compassion in our hearts, ready to embrace all that is good in our country while trusting God for more of Him in every sphere of government and society.
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