No, not the television show. I came across some family notes as I was cleaning out a desk drawer the other day. My cousin keeps a genealogy and while I've never had too much time for such things, I cherish the information given me by others.
You see, my situation is kind of strange. I have information about my mother's side of the family. I even have wonderful pictures of great-great-grandmothers and other relatives like those below.
My father's side, however, is a mystery. He was adopted. Not only was he adopted - I've been told when I set out to research the matter that the adoption was illegally done. Documents were falsified. Details were omitted. No telling where he came from. No telling who his people were.
Oh, there were plenty of stories about his origins. All were intriguing and vexing at the same time. One old friend of the adopting family told me he was related to a prominent family in town, but was abandoned in the trash because the mother had had an affair and he was the result. Folks at the courthouse in one county suggested he could have been one of the children of the Jewish "save the children" years of World War II. Another suggested that because of the location of the adoption - he might have been a child of part Native American ancestry. Back in the 1930's this wasn't too smiled upon unfortunately.
Wendy Lawton, writer, agent and sculptor of amazing dolls once looked at me at a conference and said, "You're Irish aren't you?" I told her I knew there was a very tiny bit way back on my mother's side, but on my father's side I had no idea. She told me very emphatically - "Oh, you're Irish alright. I can see it in your face." Probably the red hair and freckles didn't hurt either.
For a while, this inability to know my ancestry really bothered me. Who were my people? Where had I come from? It was driving me crazy, but at every turn I was denied information.
But then God began to very gently deal with me. The past became less and less important. My earthly bloodline was put aside for focus on my heavenly one. My earthly father--a man I barely knew as he and my mother had divorced when I was quite young, was set aside for a stronger relationship with my Heavenly Father. I slowly came to realize that all of our earthly life will pass away, but only the things that are of God will last.
Our genealogy here on earth is fun and interesting to be sure, but I want to encourage you today to be sure and do some work on your Heavenly genealogy.
Get to know your ancestors in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith. Dig in an acquaint yourself with your Heavenly Father and be amazed to learn who your people are--who you really are.
PS: Lena Dooley is posting an interview with me and book giveaway at her blogsite http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/. Be sure to check it out. AND
If you are in the Great Falls, MT area - I'll be speaking at the 1st Alliance Church on October 9th. This is a catered luncheon from 12-1:30 p.m. and if you want to attend contact Cheryl Jones 406-231-1823 for details.
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