She lived for almost 85 years. And when she died last fall, Hallie Jefferson died a faithful steward of God’s many gifts. Hallie was a nurse by profession. She reared two boys and two stepdaughters. She also helped rear a child or two who had been dismissed from their parent’s home. Hallie was a woman of prayer, a woman who loved reading Scripture, a woman who could be found every Sunday in the fourth pew back on the pulpit side. She was a faithful steward of her time, her talent—and her treasure.

Not long after her death, we were contacted by her attorney and told that Hallie had remembered Christ Lutheran Church in her will. We had no idea of the amount of her legacy, but after filing the appropriate documents with the attorney, we received a check for over $27,000. The congregation council decided that, for now, it would be earmarked and placed in the Special Gifts Fund until it can be determined how best to use the money.

What about you? Have you remembered your church in your will? Or in a trust? Or with a life insurance policy? There are many ways in which to be a continued blessing after we are gone. Our faithful financial stewardship can continue to support the church we know and love, the church where we have worshipped and served, the church where we have been blessed by Word and Sacrament.

Several years ago, Carol and I received an inheritance when her mother died. We had already decided, through our will made years earlier, that we wanted to remember the congregations we’ve served. Our faithful financial advisor showed us how we could best do that through the Lutheran Community Foundation. After we both die, the interest accrued each year will be dispersed to those four congregations where I’ve been blessed to serve as pastor. It’s a way of saying “thank you” to God for allowing me to serve these incredible congregations, and a way of saying “thank you” to those congregations that have been a blessing to me.

Faithful stewardship often starts very early, when we’re children. It happens when parents help their children understand the joy of being able to give. A parent might say to their five year old—four year old? six year old?—“Here’s your weekly allowance. It’s one dollar. Of that dollar, ten cents is for giving away, ten cents is for saving, eighty cents is yours to spend as you like.” It’s called “the eighty-ten-ten” rule. And it works.

Indeed, wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if such a child grew up living faithfully in just this way? With ten dollars, a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars, and so on. Faithful stewardship is this life can then translate into faithful stewardship long after we’re gone. Hallie Jefferson understood that. And we thank and praise God for her faithfulness to the church—both in this life and in the life to come.