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What will your legacy be?
December 15, 2023 | Tom Tavani, General Manager for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario
As we anticipate another year-end and enter 2024, we look back with gratitude for being able to do the things we love to do. However, there will also be a day when we can no longer do the things we appreciate most.
Recently, during a celebration of life visitation in a small farm town of a loved one who was far too young to enter heaven due to an accident, it really made me think of things I hold dear. Isn’t it funny how that works? We tend to get serious about certain things when we see tragedy or in other cases it may be bad business decisions, loss of a friendship, etc. We get home, talk about it for a while and then after weeks pass, we forget about it. If you’re like me, making plans for today, tomorrow, and into the new year seems like a common thing and we forget about who oversees our lives as stated in Luke chapter 12.
And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops. “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
Luke 12:16-20
Today, my dreams and ambitions have changed. Some big questions I ask myself daily are, “What will be the legacy I leave to my family?”
Did I store up all my barns but withered away relationships with my wife and kids? More important than all of this, “Did they see HIM in me?” What about you? Have you ever asked these questions and dreamed about what your legacy will be?
In my travels with the CFFO, I have heard many true stories about family farm succession planning with some stories being fantastic while others not so good.
Early next year the CFFO will be hosting the Annual District AGM Speaker Series with an emphasis on legacy and succession planning in mind with a Christian perspective. We humbly ask you all to join us.
This Christmas, I would like to thank all our CFFO Members for their stories, encouragement, and willingness to promote the good that the CFFO is doing in the farming community. Our commitment is to continue to challenge the government on farm policies that are unreasonable which in turn, hurt our food chain.
And so today, as farmers, what will your legacy be?
Tom Tavani is the General Manager for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy.