Well Known

By Debra Oaks Coe

I want to be well known as the old comfortable walking shoe is known to the foot that used it for years. Famous as the well-used work glove is to the hand it protected through many difficult projects. Famous as the frayed and bent photo is to the person who carried it for years

I don't want to be famous as the rarely worn dress shoe is to the once visited ballroom floor; beautiful, sparkling, and admired by the world, but impractical to everyday life. Nor do I want to be put on display and admired like fine China that sits in a cabinet, rarely used for its intended purpose.

I want to be known to my descendants as my great great grandmothers are known to me. Not always by name, but as women that cared more for future generations than for their own personal comforts. Women whose courage and pioneer spirit molded the good circumstances of my life decades before I was born.

I do not hope for my name to be known. Instead, I hope to help others recognize their potential and to feel that they are loved. I hope to do this for more than my circle of friends and family. I want to include strangers and even my enemies. I especially hope to be useful to those people who have generally been rejected by society because so many considered themselves better.

I pray for God to share His love and esteem of mankind with me that I might be His willing servant and help Him to be the one well known to others.