~ My Journey to a Legacy Album ~

I am so excited, I just have to share my own Journey to a Legacy album! It just came in from my Creative Memories consultant, and, I love it! So, now that I have the album, I already know my first page, just gotta get it done :)

Do you have yours? If not, try to get it this month. Be sure to pick one that expresses who you are. Now that I finally have mine in my hands, I am looking forward to working on my album right along with you guys. I figure you all will keep me going 'cause I know I have to get pages done to share with you :)

If you have your special album, take a picture of it and send it to me ~ Once I get back to being able to give Scrapbookers Bubble Bath a little more time, I would love to create a gallery of our albums as well as the pages. My vision is us doing this together.

So, get out there ~ maybe even ask for yours for Mother's Day ~ and get the album that you want others to pull off the shelf when they wanna know more about the journey that helped create your legacy.

~ There's No Place Like Home ~

Now that you have the album picked out - now comes the fun part :)

As I mentioned earlier, unless you know exactly what you want to do in your first few pages, leave them blank - there will be some page ideas for the front page and first double page spread later.

Gather as many pictures that you can of the homes you have lived in. Don't forget childhood homes, first homes, your current homes, and even homes of loved ones that have been very special to you. Even if you don't have pictures, you can still create pages using the address in large font or sticker letters.

Now that you have the pictures of the homes you have lived in, create a page or pages. So much of who we are today has been influenced by where we lived. In these buildings we have made memories, learned about ourselves, the world, and Him. It is important to let future generations know where we lived and how each of those homes have contributed to the legacy we are leaving.

Create a page for each home. Below I have listed some journaling ideas as well as scriptures you can use to add His precious Word. These ideas and questions are taken from the He Keeps Us Faithbooking Devotional ~ There's No Place Like Home.

Journaling Suggestions

• List your top five or ten memories about each home
• How / When did you purchase each home?
  *Include of copies of any interesting documents
  *Sales contract
  *Home description
• What drew you to each home? Was it the price, location, atmosphere, land?
• Include before and after pictures of remodeling
• Write a letter to each home and include it in your album. Include special memories, lessons learned, life stepping stones such as births, deaths, education, jobs, pets, marriages, etc
• Where did you put the Christmas tree each year? Include a picture if you have one.
• Where did you celebrate special days such as holidays?
• Which room was your favorite? Why? Be sure to describe it if you don’t have a picture

Scriptures

• Choose for yourselves, whom you will serve. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord… Joshua 24:15
• Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labor in vain…Psalm 127:1
• See, I have engraved you in the palms of my hands. Your walls are ever before me…Isaiah 49:16

I am excited to hear your comments (you can leave them below). Let me know how it goes - I'd love to hear from you and even see your pages.

Next month's pages will be focusing on The Heroes in our lives. So, start digging through your old albums to find pictures of that special grandparent or friend.

~ Getting Started ~

So, now that we have a fancy new album (or have at least planned on getting one) :) , here are some things to think about....

~ The title page - Be thinking about a scripture, song, poem, and / or picture that you would like to be on the first page. What kind of legacy do you want to leave? What is a song or verse that has become your prayer, inspiration or vision? Spend some time thinking about this first page. We will spend a month on this very important first page - so, if you are unsure what you would like to do, just leave it blank.

~ The first double page spread - Do you want to put the story of your life, a brief time-line, a letter to your future generations or families? These pages can be key pages in your album that make an impact and set the tone of your album. I plan on typing out a letter to my children to hold onto Jesus and talk about His faithfulness and grace. We will spend a month on these pages also, so, feel free to leave them blank if you are not sure what you would like to do.

~ From the next pages on - Each month, there will be a new theme we will be focusing on using ideas from the He Keeps Us Faithbooking Devotionals. I am actually very excited about this book and these pages. I know if I was not being intentional about creating my Journey to a Legacy Book, I would never have taken the time to document these important parts of my life that are truly part of my legacy.

~ Journey to a Legacy Photo Album - Once we have created our pages, I would love for you all to share them with each other. If we get enough interest, I dream of createing an on-line album for us to share our pages. We shall see :)

So, dig through those boxes of pictures, come with me, and start telling the story of your Journey to a Legacy!

~ The Journey to a Legacy Book Name ~

I originally was calling this special book created to intentionally tell your story and leave your leagacy a Legacy of Faith Book, but, I have changed it to a Journey to a Legacy Book. Why?

Well, first, I think I have seen Legacy of Faith somewhere before, and, I don't ever want anyone to think I took their idea - so, to be safe, I thought I would come up with something else :)

But, most of all, I want these books to leave the legacy, and also tell the story of our life. We are on such an amazing journey, filled with life-altering moments, people and places. The legacy we are creating is a result of what we learn from and how we are changed by these moments. Our first car, our first love, our grandparents, pain, joy love and laughter all help make who we are and what we leave. So, these books are telling our Journey to a Legacy, so, there you have it! :)

Journey to a Legacy Books

If we want to leave the legacy, we have to be sure to tell future generations our who, what, where, when, and whys. However, none of us seem to find time to get to the subject of us. We are so busy getting our family's pictures in or being sure our grandparent's heritage pictures are preserved, that we rarely can focus on what we want to leave behind.

He Keeps Us devotionals are created to help you be more intentional about telling your story and leaving the legacy. These short devotionals are written to give guidance in creating our own personal books with our faith and stories. Each He Keeps Us focuses on a particular subject such as My First Car, My Favorite Hymn, or Autumn. Within the devotional there is a brief reading pertaining to the subject, some questions for reflection, and then ideas for creating a page in your book revolving around the subject.

While we should include our faith, including scriptures and stories in our family albums, a seperate Journey to a Legacy Book is still a wonderful idea to gather our words in one place for our future generations to read. Wouldn't you treasure, beyond words, a Journey to a Legacy album from your grandmother, great-grandmother, or even mother? And, so will your future generations!

Through Scrapbookers Bubble Bath products, He Keeps Us devotionals, and especially this blog, I pray I can help us all, including myself, to begin on a journey of leaving a legacy of faith that will give our future generations the answers to the questions we wish we could have from our heritage.

So, purchase a book that YOU love - one especially for you. Grab a few family members and friends. Promise yourself to do this for you and your family, and let's go girls!!!