The Thing About Legacies

The Thing About Legacies

A new friend recently stopped me mid conversation and said, “You are kind of an old lady. I like that about you.”
 
He is not wrong.
 
I enjoy being in bed by 9:30pm, I like to take walks through my neighborhood. I enjoy gardening and baking and handwriting notes to send to my friends. I am not much for social media, do not care about the latest technology, and I like to eat dinner at 6pm. Matlock is a great show. Reading on the porch with a cup of coffee is just the best thing and to top it off, I love to embroider. Yes, embroider.  
 
Honestly, I have been this way as long as I can remember – an “old soul” so to speak. I like to think it is because I spent so much time with my Gramma during the formative years. After all, she was my very best friend and I miss her daily. She died November 6, 2013 – 8 years ago tomorrow. I guess this time of year is always reflective for me, remembering and missing her as much as I ever have.
 
Isn’t it funny how grief works? It hits you all of a sudden – blindsides you. Or, at least that is the way I experience it. And while I am so incredibly thankful she is in a much better place, I still wish I could pick up the phone to call. I would love to tell her about my job and the things I am learning. I wish she could have visited me in NYC. I would love to introduce her to my church family here – my dear friends who have become family. I wish she could see your kids worshipping at Kids Camp or come to the Drive-Thru Nativity. I wish she could see that my baking has improved, that I am more patient, and that Jesus is more my friend than ever before.
 
She would love my house, filled with so many of her things. The dining room table from her parents, the one that held her and my Grandad’s wedding cake on their wedding day. Her mom’s sewing table-where I learned to sew (she would not be surprised to know that my sewing skills have not improved). The aluminum tin in my pantry with her hand-written label: brown sugar, powdered sugar.
 
So at the observation, I thanked my friend. I told him he was not wrong. And I left smiling at the compliment and thinking of the woman who had such an impact on the woman I am today.
 
Isn’t that the thing about legacies? They go on. They keep going on. And here is the deal – we will all have one. And it will either point to Jesus or it will not. My Gramma has an incredible legacy – one that keeps pointing me (and others) to Jesus. I am just so grateful that I called her “mine”.
 
One of her favorite passages was Philippians 4. It is no surprised the chapter has been highlighted in my mind the past week. V. 11-13 were underlined in her worn Bible:
 
"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

I could not possibly count or write down all the ways my Gramma, Marie, lived this out. Of course, she was not perfect, but peace radiated out of her. In sickness and in health – in poverty and plenty – she walked with Him and relied on the strength given her by the Spirit. I saw that strength long before I knew the source. And I learned.
 
I have been working on this embroidery piece for a while now – and while I stitch, I can’t help but think of Gramma. Because she taught me. My prayer is that we would learn to be content in Christ Jesus – relying on the strength the Spirit gives that we may be able to say: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. So our children will learn the same. Because I assure you, they are watching and they are learning. What are we teaching them?
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