inheritance.

i took kristyn to school today, and was drinking my coffee on the way. after walking her to class, giving her the usual hug, kiss, and exhortation to lead and do her best and telling her i love her, i went back downstairs to drive back to the office. i got in my car and was struck by a particular smell. my mind drifted back...

it smelled like my dad's old truck, a flesh toned chevy pickup. i remember sitting next to dad in that truck some mornings as he went to work on saturdays, or running to town with him; the bench seat with the vinyl stripe down the middle; the island between the seats that held his stuff; the radio (don't remember if it had fm or just am?) with the knobs and dial that you had to manually choose where to stop...and the smells. it smelled like dad -- a little like smoke, a lot like shop grease and tools and work from his day. and it hit me this morning, the one i remember most but didn't remember then, was coffee. i remember the coffee cup sitting between us on the seat sometimes, his thermos and lunch pail there too...the smell of coffee mixed with everything else...

this came rushing back to me this morning as i got in to drive away. for some reason i found it captivating today...and i started to think. what will my kids remember when they grow up? will there moments for them, where they remember certain songs or smells, that remind them of growing up and trips to school with daddy? what will be the triggers that bring a flood of memory to them? what am i passing on to them that will stick with them the rest of their days?

what sorts of things will your kids inherit from you?

read: deuteronomy 6:5-9