Billy Graham celebrated his 99th birthday this week and I wanted to say a few words about him. He is perhaps one of the most beloved and respected men of our life time. He has lived a life of integrity, grace and example.

Today, it is so special to see a person that lived what he taught without reproach and without scandal. I have never heard a bad word spoken about Billy Graham and by all accounts, he has lived his life like an open book and still to this day, puts God first place in all he does.

The following is a very short, yet very powerful one paragraph bio on Billy Graham.

He started his crusade ministry at the age of 28 in 1947 and was in the national spotlight by the time he was 30 years old. Billy Graham has preached live to over 215 million people in over 400 live crusades in 185 countries around the world. With TV, radio, film and webcasts he has reached over 2.2 billion people with the gospel and over 3.2 million people have received the gospel of Jesus Christ because of him. He has been the pastor to many US Presidents and world leaders and is very simply the embodiment of one of the most beloved men of all time.

I could write 100 pages on Billy Graham and what he accomplished but I wanted to make one other point in this blog. Every one of us, if we live long enough, will tell the story of our lives to the future generations of our families. We should all strive to have our story, like Billy Graham’s be one of consistency, love, compassion, unfailing grace, standing for principles we hold dear and being a person of integrity. That is the story we all would want our great grandchildren to know about us when they hear about our life and who we were. One of the greatest gifts you can give your family is the legacy of a good name. KT