What's Your Legacy?

A couple of weeks ago, a person gave a talk in church that I really enjoyed.  I don't really even remember the topic he spoke on, but what struck me was that he referred several times to the legacy of his mother and the lessons she had taught him.  Ever since then, it has been weighing on my mind what legacy I am leaving for my children.  I feel like I am always trying to seize moments to teach, but who knows if I am really ever getting through?  Sometimes children read between the lines and learn not what we are verbally saying, but what our actions are saying.  And sometimes, each child may have a different interpretation of what we view as important, based on their own colored lenses of life.  So today on our walk, I decided to ask one of my children what they thought my "themes" were; things that are important to me that I am trying to teach them, and this is what she said:

*That it is important to work hard.
*That we (as children) are the most important thing to you.
*The value of education.
*Learn to be independent.
*Family is the most important thing.

While I was initially impressed that these were things she could see that were important to me, I was also very aware of what notable things were left OFF the list.  Now I realize that maybe given more time, she could have come up with more things and maybe some of my teaching is lost somewhere in her thirteen-ness, but it nonetheless gave me pause as to what I need to work on communicating to my children.  Yes, the days are long in child rearing, but the years are short and sometimes I get panicked thinking, "Have I taught them enough?!"  And also, "Am I unintentionally damaging them in any way?"  Boy, sometimes I wish I could just shut my brain off and stop thinking and worrying so much!  Motherhood is not for wimps, that's for sure.