A Shared Legacy
Jenny Patrick
Happy after-turkey-coma sisters! I hope you all had a delicious and gratitude-filled Thanksgiving! We found that with a smaller crowd there was more time for napping! Anyone who knows me well, knows that any day that includes a nap is Heaven for me!
My hubby and I watched a movie I can’t recommend but my in-laws recommended it to us. The movie is called Hillybilly Elegy and the language is so bad I think my ears burned off, but the story was so compelling and the ending made me sob!
(*Spoiler alert*) In the final scene the main character sums the movie up by saying....
“Twice I’ve needed to be rescued. First time it was mamaw (grandma) who saved me. The second time it was what she taught me, that where we come from is who we are but we choose everyday is who we become. My family isn’t perfect but they made me who I am and gave me chances that they never had. My future, whatever it is, is our shared legacy.”
The determination this grandma had to propel her grandson to a better place than she had known in life was so beautiful, even though her manner of doing it made me feel so much better about my own mothering shortcomings. I loved watching her redemption story as she fought for a better tomorrow for him. I loved watching him hold boundaries with his family and continue to choose a better life for himself over and over again. But what really got me sobbing is the part about the shared legacy. I have been feeling this so deeply as of late with my own ancestors. I feel them cheering me on and wanting me to create beauty in my life, even heaven here on earth! The song “Heaven is a Place on Earth” has been following me everywhere I go! I feel them and Jesus singing to me that I can in fact create Heaven on earth in my own heart and my own home RIGHT NOW! Okay! Yes, Please!
When I ask Jesus and my ancestors more about this and why it’s their message for me right now, I feel their desire for Zion to grow in my heart. Our shared legacy will be that we built Zion together! Each one of us, a few small steps at a time, we can cross the plains, we can survive struggle and hardship, we can be strengthen by our Savior, we can climb the spiritual mountains and turn our will over to the Lord and co-create Zion in our hearts first, followed by in our homes and in our lives and eventually in our communities! WE can do this! We are doing this! We are carrying the torch to Zion right now for all our ancestors as they cheer us on and find peace and healing through and with us as we turn to and build on the un-moveable foundation that is Jesus Christ.
Sisters, these are just some random ponderings from my heart, but I share them with you for whatever they are worth and my testimony that I know Jesus. I know He is alive and I know that we can feel Him and talk with Him and receive answers and blessings from Him RIGHT NOW! He is my very best friend and I look forward to the day I get to feel the nail prints in his hands and wash his feet with my tears of joy and gratitude. His love fills me with hope for Zion and for the great days that are to come!
With so much love for all of you! Amen!
Love,
Sister Jenny Patrick
Manor Neighborhood
Sunday School Teacher
