A Legacy of Honor: No Matter What Comes Your Way, Finish Strong

by Marilynn Chadwick

Live a life of sacrifice and honor. Give yourself for the larger good. Put others before yourself. Don’t give up. Family is worth it. No matter what comes your way, persevere. And always do the right thing. These were some of the messages my parents taught me by example over the years.

Mom and Dad believed in dreaming big and always encouraged our dreams. Through the years, nothing brought them more joy than to watch their children and grandchildren (and now great-grandchildren) shine.

But the last chapters of life can sometimes be hard. Honor can be an uphill climb. For Mom and Dad, doing the right thing day after day required endurance, faith, and sometimes a good sense of humor. I watched their courageous battle and I agree with whoever said “Old age is not for sissies.” I watched my mom’s quiet and uncomplaining spirit even when she was in pain. And I still see Daddy’s cheerful attitude as he perseveres day after day.

“How did you do it, Dad?” I asked the other day, reflecting on how he loved mom until her last breath. “He just shrugged his shoulders and said matter of factly, “Your mom was worth it.” I look at their life in the light of the meaning of the word honor—to show a person respect and esteem. To treat someone as though they have great worth. Honor by its very nature is strong, solid, and above all, enduring. I’d have to say Mom and Dad are living examples of honor and a testimony to its high cost—not something you hear much in our “it’s all about me” culture.

Toward the end of Mom’s life, they had an especially difficult morning, which stretched Daddy to practically the end of his strength. Some days were harder than others. Later that day, Daddy quietly beamed as he told me about how Mom had looked at him that morning for a minute or so and then spoke these words with perfect clarity: “You are so patient. I am so proud of you.”

Just a few simple words from his wife who didn’t talk so much anymore. And yet Daddy wore those words like they were a medal of honor. And if you think about it, I guess that’s truly what they are.

Honor. A concept so simple even a child can grasp it. God set the bar low so that even the youngest and weakest among us can practice honor. But God has also set the bar high. People defend freedom, fight, and die for honor. Believers around the world honor Jesus by suffering for their faith. And honor inspires husbands and wives to love each other for a lifetime. In good times and in hard ones. Honor guards our marriages and sets them on solid ground. Honor protects friendships. Honor guards a culture. No wonder it’s so important in our homes. By teaching us to treat each other with honor, God has set before us the most noble and enduring way to live together—with a love that never dies. So that we can finish strong.

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This series is adapted from the book, 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Husband by Marilynn Chadwick. To download your free PDF copy of this book, please visit our website by clicking here!

A Legacy of Honor: Get an Education

by Marilynn Chadwick

Education was very important in our home. Mom and Dad were both college graduates back in the day when that was not common. Mom had been the valedictorian of her small country high school and Dad was a campus leader and played basketball at his high school, finishing early to go into the navy. He qualified for submarine school and left for his tour of duty, then returned after the war to go to college on the GI Bill.

Mom’s mother, my Grandmother Eunice, taught first grade for about 50 years. Sometimes when I would run errands with her in their small town in southern Virginia, grown-ups would stop and say proudly to me that my grandmother had been their favorite teacher and the one who taught them how to read.

I found my grandmother fascinating. One of eight children, her parents had died when she was very young, back in the late 1800s. She left home at an early age and somehow managed to go to college and became a teacher. Then she hopped on a cross-country train trip going west and taught school in various places along the way.

She made her way to Montana and eventually to Pasadena, California, where she taught for a few years, even attending one of the very first Rose Parades. She hopped on another train and made her way back across the country, stopping here and there to teach. I remember looking at photos from the time she rode by mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Finally, back in Virginia, my grandmother at age 38 married my granddaddy, a farmer. He had met the pretty young schoolteacher before her travels west, and I suppose he was holding out until her return. By this time, he was 48. They married and had my mom a year later—their only child.

My dad’s mother, Grandmother Lois (the irony of a Eunice and a Lois will not be lost on some of you), was another special role model for me, and I adored her. Like my Grandmother Eunice, she also attended college back in the day when few women did and played on the very first women’s basketball team at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. So you see why getting an education was its own “code of honor” in our family. My parents thought of education as noble. Even a responsibility, along with duty, sacrifice, and honor.

A heart that seeks to learn, grow, and receive from others is another mark of honor and, I think, helps to establish a legacy of honor in marriages and in families that is so lasting and so important.

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This series is adapted from the book, 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Husband by Marilynn Chadwick. To download your free PDF copy of this book, please visit our website by clicking here!

A Legacy of Honor: Telling Our Family Stories

by Marilynn Chadwick

Daddy happens to be one of the few remaining World War II submarine veterans. He and my mom vividly remember the war—they don’t take our freedoms for granted. So growing up, neither did we. One of the ways they helped us appreciate our heritage was to tell lots of stories—especially stories about our family. I grew up hearing about Daddy’s submarine adventures in the South China Sea. And about rations and blackouts, or brave young friends who lost their lives in the war.

Mom and Dad were also proud of our family’s long history in this country dating back to before the Revolutionary War. Captain Simon Hunt, from Daddy’s mother’s side, was one of the original 80 minutemen who fought the British in the famous battle on the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. It was on that bridge that the “shot heard round the world” signaled the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Our youngest, Michael Hunt Chadwick, loved hearing his grandparents’ stories of the Hunt family and his namesake.

Looking back over my life, I can also see how Mom and Dad’s values quietly shaped my own. They grew up in the South back in the day before the Civil Rights movement had ushered in change. They didn’t talk much about racism, but they lived a life that spoke volumes to me. I watched how they lived. To them, all people mattered. Everyone had worth. Everyone was equal. And all were welcome in our home. Black. White. Old money, new money, or no money. They treated everybody the same, and their simple, as well as honorable, example spoke louder than any sermon.

This is another telltale sign of honor. The quiet, unspoken, consistent lifestyle that points to prioritizing others above yourself.

Honor is established through testimony. As you share stories of honor and examples of honor, it becomes real to other people and they are able to emulate it as well.

I am thankful for my family’s stories that gave me a roadmap for how to continue to establish honor in my life as well, with my husband and with everyone around me.

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This series is adapted from the book, 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Husband by Marilynn Chadwick. To download your free PDF copy of this book, please visit our website by clicking here!