07 Mar 2010, Posted by Gary Taylor in General, No Comments.

My Grandfather, Pancho Villa

Thanks, Lance, for the introduction. My heart, my passion is fathering, being a life-long legacy dad. It never quits, fellas, even when they make the 18th year. They're still yours, still your greatest assignment–ever! Boys and girls, yours, will be men and women in the chaotic future they'll face even after we're gone. Your legacy is your impact through them to your community, your nation, the world, mankind.

So, no, you don't retire your fathering when they leave the nest (or you wish they would), when they marry and have children. Legacy, Dad? You'd better give it your all or you will have tears, not hear cheers when you approach The Gates and your imprint is measured for its true worth.

Stories pour from our lives as we move on down the road. May you be centered in His Story written precisely for you. May those vignettes of life, the pages you live in His Story, be from your renewed heart and indelible. Here's a fresh one a few days old.

I subbed for 3rd grade yesterday. My favorite grade; cowboys are still heroes.
Short of a full day's lesson plan, I reverted to the standby, an essay. "My
Grandfather"; "Write anything you want. If you don't have one, tell us your
dream grandpa." Then they read them. Touching. And I learned about all sorts of
grand fathers. All but one, including two fictional ones, were cool and loved.
Because most of their families still speak Spanish, we heard of a lot of old
world (Mexico) cowboys.

I learned as much from their faces as I did from their stories. As
they read, it showed me again that grandpa, popi, grand dad and papa are names
held precious to them. One lad talked with clear pride about his "grandfather"
Pancho Villa. A few questions affirmed the lineage but we upgraded Pancho to
G,G,G,grand father. Do we, do they, care about our roots? We revere those
mysterious heroes from our history that offer us strength. To some a bandit, to
others a hero; it doesn't matter much to Pancho Villa's GGGgs. What does matter
is he has a history. And Pancho Villa has generations that honor his name.

How better to be reminded of the significance of father and the grandfathers they'll become?
…"From the mouths of babes."