As a child, I remember first hearing the expression, riding on someone\u2019s coattails. That sounded so funny to me back then. But as an adult looking back over my life, I\u2019ve ridden a lot of coattails.<\/p>\n
There were the dedicated teachers from whom I learned discipline, commitment and character as well as reading, writing and arithmetic. I\u2019m grateful for their influence and wonderful memories of time spent in their classrooms.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve ridden the coattails of family members who came before me, people I\u2019ve traced back to the earliest days of our country. There\u2019s the Civil War grandfather on my husband\u2019s side of the family who died from his wounds in battle, but before he died, wrote a letter telling his wife to raise their children for the Lord. Because of their faithfulness, my children have had a wonderful, godly dad.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s my maternal great-great-grandmother. Family members tell how as she was dying, she was praying for her children, grandchildren and future generations. I wonder how many times I\u2019ve ridden on the coattails from that sweet woman\u2019s prayers? It brings tears to my eyes as I think about this and look at my sons. Two of them are in ministry today preaching the gospel. The other is active in his church\u2019s music ministry. They\u2019re still riding on her coattails, on her prayers that have reached through the generations.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve ridden the coattails of my daddy, uncles and aunt who served in the military\u2014and thousands more just like them. Because of their sacrifice, we have the priceless gift of being free. We can sleep at night in peace and safety. And we can celebrate the 4th of July with family, fireworks and picnics of hot dogs and hamburgers, watermelon and homemade ice cream.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for all of these coattails\u2014for all who\u2019ve touched my life\u2014but as I sit here writing today, it makes me consider the coattails that I, in turn, will leave behind. <\/p>\n
Please, God, let future generations remember a woman who loved You, her family, country and others. Help them know that I prayed for them and that I was faithful to serve You. If others grasp my coattails, help me to lead them toward You. Amen. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a child, I remember first hearing the expression, riding on someone\u2019s coattails. That sounded so funny to me back then. But as an adult looking back over my life, I\u2019ve ridden a lot of coattails. There were the dedicated teachers from whom I learned discipline, commitment and character as well as reading, writing and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":28748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[62,25,31,69,13],"ppma_author":[474],"class_list":["post-20155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","tag-blessings","tag-family","tag-gratitude","tag-independence-day","tag-love"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n