Kathy Howard - Heirloom: Living and Leaving a Legacy of Faith

                                                 

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Heirloom: Living and Leaving a Legacy of Faith

by Kathy Howard

Welcome, Kathy. This is a lovely book cover. What is Heirloom about?

It's a devotional with the theme of leaving a spiritual legacy. Heirloom shares 52 inspiring stories of faith and practical tips to encourage parents and grandparents to be purposeful in building a spiritual legacy by telling stories of the past that will impact our faith today.

What prompted you to put this together?

While cleaning out my parents’ home of fifty-plus years, I discovered a century-old letter written by my great-great-grandmother to my great-grandfather. In the letter, she wrote a prayer for her son and granddaughter for spiritual health and growth. Her spiritually focused prayer challenged me to evaluate not only the way I pray for my family, but also in general, how my faith impacts them. I realized I need to be more intentional about building a legacy of faith to leave behind.

What a treasure! So, how do we parents and grandparents build such a legacy?

These 52 heart-felt reflections reveal the seeds of our faith―seeds that sprouted and took root, growing through the centuries to today. Heirloom weaves these stories of faith and family history with Scripture, beautiful artwork, and ancestry research tips and techniques. Through these stories of persevering faith you’ll discover the potential your story has to impact future generations.

Here's a sample of the interior pages. 

What was the most fun part of writing this?

Heirloom includes faith stories from well-known Christians in history, the Bible, and from the history of everyday families. I looked for these everyday stories everywhere. I put out a request on social media, through my blog, in my newsletter, friends, extended family, and word-of-mouth. The stories that came in were fascinating. I loved the history and the commitment of those who were determined to follow Christ no matter the cost. The most exciting part was hearing about how the faith of these ancestors still impact their descendants today.

I can see how that would be exciting and encouraging. This is a beautiful book. It has the feel of a treasured scrapbook. What do you want your readers to take away from reading Heirloom?

I want readers to be inspired by the stories of faith, to grasp the far-reaching potential of their own faith influence. And I want them to be challenged to be more intentional about that influence and what they are building to leave their children and grandchildren.

About the author

Kathy Howard is a treasure hunter. She hunts for the creamiest chocolate, richest coffee, and cherished stories of faith. She also digs deep into Scripture, mining God’s eternal truths. Kathy has a Masters in Christian Education and has taught the Bible for more than 30 years in a wide variety of venues.

Kathy is the author of 11 books, including “Heirloom: Living and Leaving a Legacy of Faith” and the “meaty” devotional series “Deep Rooted.” Kathy and her husband live in north Texas. They have three married children, six grandchildren, and two accidental dogs. Find free discipleship resources at www.KathyHoward.org.

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Thank you, Kathy, for sharing this lovely book. I am honored to have a small story included and thrilled to have a copy.

I want to write the story about my life. Is that a memoir?

When you write your life story, that is an autobiography. 

When someone else writes your life story, that is a biography. 

When you write about a portion of your life, that's your memoir.

All memoirs will have some elements in common. 

•  Memoirs are written in first person, from the point of view of the author. Dialogue is a frequent choice to help the reader understand the setting and emotions within the story.
•  More than just dates and events, a memoir will share their feelings and emotions about their experiences. When done well, the reader will likely both laugh and cry with empathy for the author.
•  Often, memoirs will reveal a change or growth of the person during the course of the book, inspiring readers.
• Memoirs are not a detailed list of events. Rather, they include major life events with the purpose of entertaining, educating, or inspiring the reader. 
• Memoirs are non-fiction that include the emotions, realism, and inspiration elements readers appreciate from fiction. 

People write their memoirs for a variety of reasons. 

• Preserving their family history, with personal stories. Many include recipes and photographs.
• Spiritual growth while working through a traumatic event with insights into how they managed to survive and come out spiritually stronger. 
• A widely-known public figure, often a political, sports, or television personality, shares about their life. Often, they share about before they became famous along with insights into their life as a celebrity.
•  An astounding adventure that few have experienced. Often in dangerous or extreme circumstances. Perhaps a survival experience.
• A collection of episodes in a person's life that held importance and spiritual growth. These are usually connected by a common theme and include Scripture references with a devotion style.
• Transformational memoirs usually include how their life looked before they made a change and information about how someone else can make a similar change. These include leadership, emotional and physical self-help from personal experience.

Dear writer,

I encourage you to tell your story. We all have events we can recall that led us closer to God. Those stories are valuable and need to be heard. When you make the effort to record them for the coming generations, those blessings you received will be available for posterity. It's important for us to remember and pass that legacy to the generations who follow us.

“Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ Deuteronomy 4:9,10

Blessings,

Lisa

If you need a starting point, you might consider this book. It is a keepsake guided journal with pages for you to fill out answering questions about your life, your prayers, how you saw God at work in your life. 

Amazon link to learn more details about this book.

If you need more help, please check out the coaching and consulting information and packages I offer. If I can't help you, I will try to find someone who can. 

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