Today I am thrilled to share with you a bit of the legacy of my friend, Pat. The story is about her mother. My friend, Pat, and her family own Camp Jabez, a Christian retreat camp located in Morganton, Georgia. It is a wonderful venue for youth groups and other retreats and group getaways. Pat has two grown daughters and six beautiful grandchildren. Enjoy her legacy story.
She came from Scotland through Ellis Island in New York Harbor when she was twelve years old. Her name was Eliza but a new life meant a new name, Elizabeth. With her were her sixteen year old sister, as well as her Mom and Dad. The parents left behind three grown sons.
What was it like for Eliza, a.k.a, Elizabeth, to leave everything she had ever known? Was she afraid, excited, expectant or full of wonder as they passed the Statue of Liberty?
The family rented an apartment in an area of New York called the Bronx. In those days many neighborhoods consisted of ethnic groups, immigrants who stayed together and supported each other as they adjusted to life in America.
When she was old enough Elizabeth did what many young women did during those times, she worked at a factory sewing garments. Her parents took her to a neighborhood church where she began singing in the choir. Not long afterward a young man from Pennsylvania was hired to play the organ and direct the choir. They fell in love and married. Three daughters followed and the years passed.
Elizabeth was my mother. The faith Elizabeth embraced was modeled for her by her mother and maternal grandmother. As a child I can remember bursting into my grandmother’s room in the evening and find her kneeling beside her bed, praying. My own mother, Elizabeth, would follow in those footsteps. The power of a woman’s faith can never be put into adequate words. But it can, if we let it, encourage others to fall in love with Jesus. The faith of my mother and grandmother did that for me.
Thank you, Mom, thank you.
Pat
