A Good Name Follows the Children

One thing I have always believed is that a person should live in a way that does not embarrass the children.

Anywhere my children go, I want them to be able to stand straight when my name is mentioned. Not because I am perfect. Nobody is perfect. But because, by the grace of God, people should be able to say: your father tried. Your father worked. Your father helped people. Your father stood for something.

Titles come and go. Positions come and go. Money also moves. But the name a person leaves behind will reach places before the children arrive.

That is why a name must be handled with care. The work a person does, the way people are treated, the promises kept and the small kindnesses shown all become part of what the children inherit.

A family name is not protected by talking. It is protected by conduct. People may forget the exact speech, but they remember how they were treated when they had no power to repay you.

A good name is also inheritance.