I have been researching the ancestors associated with my family for the past ten years. A passion passed to me by my Aunt Mac. We had many discussions before she passed from this life, to join all those family members that she had been researching, at the family table in heaven.
She began her journey with genealogy when her son passed away. She explained to me that it was a way to work through grief. I wondered how researching the lives of family who had passed could do anything but bring more sadness. My many hours of research has done exactly what she said it would do. It has placed my grief to the back of my mind and given me opportunity to revisit my mom, dad, sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins for as far back as thirteen generations. Amazing people. Daniel Boone is my sixth great-uncle. His sister Sarah is my sixth great-grandmother. There are farmers, lawyers, preachers, housewives, soldiers in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. There are Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Church of Christ and Episcopalians there in my tree.
They are my history. There are threads of all of them passed down through the ages to me. You might be asking yourself, what in the world does this bit of information have to do with a blog about Jesus?
It matters who we are. It matters what we do with our life. Who we are does not end when we cross over to our eternal home. We have the opportunity to affect lives that we will never have the chance to meet. Never sit down and have a conversation about the good old days with them. If you search, you will find interesting people with interesting lives and stories of survival. You may find some similarities between your life and their’s. You will learn that many of their lives were focused on an abiding faith in God. A saving faith in Jesus Christ. You will learn that they lived during very difficult times. Women left to care for children, while their men went off to wars. Left to fight attacks coming at them from every direction. Many times with very little food and shelter. Their men fighting for country or in the case of the Civil War, often found fighting against their own family and friends. Brother against brother.
We all have a story. Our life matters now and the courage with which we live it now, will one day, should God tarry, quite possibly be researched by the generations of family that come after us. Write and record your journey through photos and your memories, for your children. Not just the great parts but the difficulties and how you made it through. A most important part of that record is what you did with Jesus. Where was He in your life? What part did He play in those stormy places?
I am encouraged and emboldened by the strength of the women and the courage of the men in my family tree. God seems to have been in the root system that anchored my tree to withstand many very difficult storms. The storms now may be different from the ones then, but they are still storms. It is a humbling experience to read of their hardships, their pain, their grief and their victories.
Scriptures For Today:
Joshua 24:15
15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (NLT)
Psalms 127:3-4
3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. (NLT)
Proverbs 22:6
6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. (NLT)
Prayer For Today:
Hello Father! Our families are such an important part of who we are. We look back to the past and the place You held in the lives of our family tree. We pray that we make You the center of our lives now and leave our own legacy of faith for those who come after us. We pray for humble spirits that never forget where our strength and help comes from. Forgive us of our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
©2015 Kathy Ledbetter. All Rights Reserved.
I love this! It’s one of your very best!