Ancestries....

Ancestries .......

A friend showed me a little about the website, "ancestry.com" recently...I have never been one who delved into genealogy, but after working with my parents stories, I wanted to put my husband's side into some kind of form as well.

With my dad's side, he traced his family back to the revolutionary war and that was interesting.  Now, my husband's father can be traced, so far, back to the late 1700's here in the US... And with the computers we can probably go further...and those computers eat time....quickly...but efficiently...

And to what end....as we all inevitably end at the same set of parents...Adam and Eve...

We all have encountered sin, joy, laughter, hardships, decisions-good and bad, life's fears and sorrows, children and people of all temperaments...all kinds of encounters with  God through thousands of years..."there is nothing new under the sun"

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say,“Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. 

All through the Bible there are lists of generations, showing the lineage of families..how they were connected with one another and I think that is why we still do it....connectivity...where did we come from...and now we can do DNA testing that shows culture lines as well...

But we are urged in Timothy ....to be careful and not fall into controversial  speculations ....but are reminded that our goal is LOVE...as we are  reminded over and over in the New Testament...

1 Timothy 1:3-7 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. 

So, while history is fun, genealogy is interesting...I am reminded that I cannot let it consume my life and let other more important  connections go lacking...

Family, friends, people along the way....hugs for grandchildren, family, smiles and words of encouragement...I have a responsibility to the living...and the future....

Thank YOU, for giving me a connection to the past...through families long gone....help me hand down the Importance of You to the future...