Family
Through the years, I have heard many people groan about reading the genealogies that God included in the Bible. That is sad. God included those long lists of names for His own perfect purposes. Family is a major theme throughout God’s Word. His inspired genealogies are one of the ways that God teaches us how important families are to Him.
By the end of Genesis 2, God has told us about the first marriage; and by the end of chapter 3, he has told us about the birth of their first three children and of the terrible sin one of those children committed against his brother. In chapter 5, God gives us the Bible’s first genealogy, which begins:
This is the book of the generations of Adam.
In the day when God created man,
He made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female,
and He blessed them and named them Man
in the day when they were created.
Genesis 5:1-2
In Genesis 12, we learn that God told Abram (whom He later named Abraham) that he will bless all the families of the earth.
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Genesis 12:2-3
The book of Psalms speaks of generations many times. Here is one example:
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Psalm 33:11
In the first chapter of Luke, we learn that John the Baptist is to be a forerunner before Jesus and that part of that work involves family love.
It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children . . .
Luke 1:17a
First Timothy teaches us about our responsibility to our families.
But if anyone does not provide for his own,
and especially for those of his household,
he has denied the faith
and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8
This verse has encouraged me to think more and more about the relatives that God has given to me, not only my precious husband, children, children-in-law, and grandchildren, but my extended family, too. Like every family, we are a mishmash of sinners, but every one of us is also a precious creation God made in His very own image. I know that I remind us over and over again that we are made in God’s image, but what an amazing reality that is—and what an important reality to remember in all our personal relationships—and even in how we feel about every individual in the whole world.
Last week Ray and I had an opportunity to spend time with some very distant cousins. We went on a five-day trip with my fellow descendants who are members of the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society. I have written about Timothy Demonbreun and his ancestor Pierre Boucher several times, both in blog posts and curriculum. Once each year the society plans a trip to some place where Timothy lived or to a place associated with his relatives or acquaintances. Last week we went to two French communities which lie along the Mississippi River, Sainte Genevieve in Missouri and Kaskaskia in Illinois. French settlers founded Kaskaskia in 1722 and Sainte Genevieve around 1735.
Four descendants and the spouses of three of us had met before when the society traveled to the hometown of Timothy’s great-grandfather, Pierre Boucher, in Boucherville, Quebec, just outside of Montreal. Ray and I were blessed to be on that trip. We seven are from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arizona. Except for our son, John, and his two sons, who were able to be part of the group on Friday and Saturday, Ray and I had never met any of these other cousins in person before. The ones we had never met were from Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
Most of us were able to be in Sainte Genevieve by 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, when we met for a quick meeting to introduce ourselves and receive our schedules for touring on Thursday. I expected the meeting to last maybe a half hour, but it lasted for over two hours. What a wonderful time of introductions and storytelling!
Ray and I returned home late Sunday evening, filled with joyful memories of wonderful days filled with renewing relationships with the folks we had met in Canada five years before, spending fun times with our new cousins and their husbands and wives, learning about French colonial culture, . . .
Interior of the Bolduc House
in Sainte Genevieve, Missouri,
built in the late 1780s
Exploring history we had never known before—both family history and the local histories of these two French towns on the Mississippi, . . .
Catholic church, rectory,
and home of the “Liberty Bell of the West”
in Kaskaskia, Illinois
Soaking in the perfect weather God provided every day, . . .
Reconstructed Fort de Chartres,
French fort first built in 1720,
in Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois
And seeing beautiful scenes of God’s creation.
Mississippi River overlook in Illinois, near where
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their crew
camped on a slate rock bank in November of 1803
I’m looking forward to taking you on a picture tour of colonial New France over the next few days.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven
and on earth derives its name,Â
that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power
through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . .
Ephesians 3:14-17a