Our Family Tree

Genealogy

 

This subject has been floating around my head for a week or so now.  My bible study group is currently finishing up our study on Genesis.  This book has many lists of family genealogies.  The documentation of the very first family. (Genesis 5)  THE VERY FIRST FAMILY!  The tree starts with Adam and Eve...or I guess we should say with God.  He created and then fathered the first man and woman.  Then we follow the tree to Noah and his descendants.  (Genesis 10)  Then on and on until we end Genesis with Joseph. 

Many of us skip over these long lists of names!  Many of these people we know very little (or nothing) about them.  So what is the big deal?  Why are there so many genealogies recorded in the Bible?

 

I came across this article on the web:  http://www.unlockingthebible.org/bible-genealogy-and-jesus/

Kevin Halloran comes up with five great points about why they are so important:

 

1.  Bible Genealogies show that God cares about history

2.  Bible Genealogies show that God interacts with real people

3.  Bible Genealogies show that God can use imperfect people for His purposes

4.  Bible Genealogies show that God cares about families

5.  The genealogy of Jesus means that God understands our situation

 

It's a great little article and I would encourage you to read it!

 

Another great article I found came from Answers In Genesis:

https://answersingenesis.org/answers/biblical-authority-devotional/why-are-the-genealogies-of-christ-important/

"In our modern culture—especially in America—many families have little sense of heritage. We may have some family traditions, but most Americans don’t even know the names of their great, great grandparents or care where they lived, what they did, etc. Modern genealogy is primarily reserved for hobbyists. In contrast, genealogies were a deeply integral part of Jewish society at the time of Jesus. Land was inherited based on family lines, and those who could not prove their ancestry in Israel were considered outsiders."

Genealogies were super important!  Important for families and individuals.  They should be important to us, because we see that our Creator cares about us individually.  And most important, it was important to God, because he used them to direct us to the most important person on the list....Christ.  He used genealogies to direct us to the Gospel. 

I like to watch the PBS program called "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  In each episode, he uncovers the family tree for three famous people in our society.  It's very interesting!  The things they find out about their ancestors can be good...and sometimes not so good.  But none-the-less, it's intriguing!!  Every time I watch the show, I fondly think of my Uncle Denny (who was the genealogist in our family).  He dedicated so much time to research my father's line back to our roots, as far back as he could, to Germany.  As you sit and read the names, you wonder what their life was like, and what type of character they had as a person.  One was a town leader in Germany, he traveled to England and then on to America in 1710.  He made the voyage to this country, and now generations later...here I am!  Decisions and events, dreams and disappointments, marriages and deaths, changes in residence and jobs....they all lead to my father and mother meeting.  And then my life came out of this lineage. 

Coincidence?  Man's doing?  I'd rather think not!

 

The all so familiar verse:  "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to give you hope and a future."  Jer. 29:11

 

"The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.  From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."   Psalm 33:10-15

 

How I wish my Uncle Denny could be here to add Sue Ling to our family tree!  One day soon, our branch is going to grow!!  I don't know what the future holds...we may never have grandchildren to share family stories with...marriage may not be in her future.  As generations come and go, memories are lost and people are forgotten.  Wouldn't it be something, generations from now, if someone traced back the family tree and found us?  There we will be in a box...with a line drawn to a child...with Sue's name in it.  Will they know the story?  Will they know that this child of mine had her biological roots firmly found in China?  This little Asian girl was miraculously grafted into our family tree.  Our ancestral story will now become her story.  Her ancestral story will become our story as well.  To know the story of her genealogy would be fascinating to me.  Maybe there would be stuff uncovered that would be good, and maybe things we would rather not have known.  But somewhere, generations ago, the Lord was working His plan.  He was working all things for our good.  He was in Germany, bringing my ancestors to America.  He was directing Wilson's ancestors as well.  And He was in China, directing Sue Ling's ancestors too. 

 

A...MAZ...ING!!!

 

Psalm 145

A psalm of praise. Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
    I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you
    and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another;
    they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
⁶ They tell of the power of your awesome works—
    and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness
    and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All your works praise you, Lord;
    your faithful people extol you.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom
    and speak of your might,
¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures through all generations.

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
    and faithful in all he does.
¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall
    and lifts up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
    he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
    Let every creature praise his holy name
    for ever and ever.

 

 

 

"Light! Give Me Light!"

I was recently reading "Helen Keller: The Story of My Life" by Helen Keller.  I was struck with emotion as I read about the day she met her teacher, Anne Sullivan.  Her words:

"The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me.  I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects.  It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.

On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant.  I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps.  The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face.  My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring.  I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me.  Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this passionate struggle.

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen?  I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbor was.  "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

I felt approaching footsteps.  I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother.  Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me."

Amazing!  It is just amazing to contemplate Helen's life at this moment.  The "light of love shone on her that very hour".

Can you imagine?  She had no idea how her whole world was about to open up...how everything was about to become much clearer...how she was no longer going to be wandering around in this world without being connected to it.  And she was almost 7 years old when this awakening came!  Anne Sullivan would change her world by connecting her to it through the gift of communication.  Helen Keller would change our world by showing us that people with differences have so much to give to our society.  The contrast of what her childhood was like, and the woman she became, is inspirational.  But the most touching part of Helen's life is the relationship she had with her teacher.  Such love for one another...they were not only connected through communication, but in love.
 
I thought of our Sue Ling.  She is at the same age that Helen was when her life changed.  I want to hope that the day we meet our girl for the first time, it will be a turning point in her life.  That we will help bring her light and direct her to the Compass that knows her future. 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

An awakening in her spirit.  An opening up of the world to her.  She will leave out of the orphanage gate and begin to experience places, people, animals, things she has never known.  Her eyes will be opened, her senses stimulated, her mind will be broadened as she learns new things. 

 

How she will fill our world.

Wilson and I dream, often, about what it will be like the day we meet our daughter.  We get so excited about it.  I can only imagine that Sue Ling will wonder what is going on that day.  She will go on a long car ride that will take her away from everything familiar to her.  I can't imagine what will go on inside her mind.  She will know something unusual is happening.  She will know that she will be meeting her "Mama" and "Baba".

What will she think about it all?

 

She will be at the threshold of a new life, just as Helen was that day.  Our prayers are, that her response to us will be as fond as Helen's was to Anne.

That she will find love...that we will show her Love.

 

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"  1 John 3:1