Will You?

I recently revised my will.  Since I’m single and have 2 sons it was pretty simple to do.  Sell everything, pay off my debts and split the remainder between the 2 boys. There were a few items of sentimental value though that I wouldn’t want sold and so I sat down to make a list of these things and designate where they should go.  Several of the things I listed would have no value whatsoever to anyone outside the family..the quilts my mom made for me, a couple of stuffed bears etc.  Some things are valuable but the added sentimental value makes them irreplaceable…the diamond necklace my mom gave to me, crafted from her original wedding band , replaced when my dad gifted her with a much nicer one in later years.  Depression glass that my Grandma Luke helped me start collecting when I was a little girl.  My mothers new wedding band, taken from her finger the night she died per her instructions and given to me by my dad a few months later when he had the words and mindset to give it me as she had wanted. My first Bible, tattered and yellowed with age in which the front inscription says to LeeAnn from daddy.

This got me thinking about how very little the things we place so much value on really matter.  If in 52 years of life I have only 10 things that mean enough that I would not want them sold when I die, then surely this drives home the point of how little material things do matter in the scale of overall happiness.

What I really want is to will my sons things you cannot see.  I want to will them my empathy for people in need.  I want to will them the ability I have to put people at ease.  I want to will them my quirky sense of humor so they can always laugh in the midst of a storm.  I want to will them my faith, faith that has been shaken many times in my lifetime but remained intact.  I want to will them the desire to be charitable, unselfish in their giving of time and money.  I want them to be decent, honest, Godly men of integrity and character. 

But since I cannot put those wishes on paper and force them to be so, I have not placed the desires of my heart in the written Last Will and Testament of LeeAnn LaFave Byers.  I have placed these desires in God’s capable hands.  I have asked God to guide the lives of my sons always and to continue to bless them.   And I know with 100% certainty that  God hears my prayers.  I pray for them a lifetime of love.  I pray that they will never lose hope and that they will always have faith in God.  This is my real will.